HOW TO SUCCEED ON ESSAY EXAMS
Before the exam
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Have a study strategy: Look at your class notes and the text. What items
did the professor emphasize or seem to have a passion about? Think of
questions the professor might ask on the test. Make a list of ideas and have a
friend do the same. Narrow down to the most likely questions and make sure
you learn as much as you can about those topics. Make lists of important
information like who, what, when, why, how.
Don’t procrastinate. Study sections every day. Write down the most
important ideas from that day’s study so you can review shortly before the
exam. Try to get sufficient rest the night before the test, and drink plenty of
water before you go into the test. Both will help you with alertness.
Once you have the exam in hand
Before you start writing: Before you even look at the questions, jot down
points you are worried you will forget: dates, names, terms, formulas, etc.
Once you have those items safely on the paper, you can relax and read the text
questions with less anxiety. This is not cheating–the facts came from your
head!
 Plan your time. If there are three questions, and you have one hour, plan to
be ready to move to question two after 20 minutes. 
 Read the questions and circle key words so you know exactly what you are
being asked to do. You might choose to rewrite the question in your own
words, but double-check to see that you have covered all requirements. 
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Thanks to Professor Marcella Norling for sharing these questions from her OCC
ethics class.
1. Explain Aristotle’s idea of the virtuous person, and describe how we should
work towards becoming virtuous. Include his “function of a person.”
What must you do? You must do three things 1) explain what Aristotle’s virtuous
person would be like 2) describe the steps one much take to become that ideal
person 3) be sure you have explained Aristotle’s notion of the “function of a
person”–write everything you remember hearing or reading about this concept.
2. Explain the difference between ethical egoism and psychological egoism.
What are some arguments for, and against, ethical egoism.
What must you do? 1) You must compare two kind of egoism and explain the
differences between them. 2) You must give arguments for and against ethical
egoism.
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Make an outline, plan, or even a list of points you will include. The benefits
of an outline are you don’t get caught up in the writing and forget to cover
some sections. Your “roadmap” will keep you focused and on target. Also, some
instructors actually give points for items mentioned in the outline that the
student ran out of time to address in the essay. Also, some questions are
much easier to address if they have been organized in outline form. Notice
how Dr. Norling’s second question is outlined below:
ETHICAL EGOISM
VS
PSYCHOLOGICAL EGOISM
1 TRAIT OF ETHICAL
1 OPPOSING TRAIT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
2ND TRAIT OF ETHICAL
OPPOSING TRAIT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
3RD TRAIT OF ETHICAL
OPPOSING TRAIT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
You should find as many ways of comparison as you can think of. Then you are ready to
address part two.
ARGUMENT FOR ETHICAL EGOISM
ARGUMENTS AGAINST ETHICAL EGOISM
1.
2.
3.
These outlines can be abbreviated lists of differences. Do the charts quickly, just to
organize your ideas. Then refer to the chart as you write your essay and add details and
explanations to the topics on your list. Always tell as much as you can remember about each
point.
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If you have time, revise and edit. You probably won’t have time to
rewrite, but you can make corrections by neatly crossing out errors and
writing the corrected version above. Double check the question to see
that you have answered all that was required. 