The great science writer James Gleick writes in today’s NYT about the future of books: As a technology, the book is like a hammer. That is to say, it is perfect: a tool ideally suited to its task. Hammers can be tweaked and varied but will never go obsolete. Even when builders pound nails by […]
Understandably, new law students stress over how to write essay exams. In my Civil Procedure class, I run multiple review sessions including an essay exam writing workshop. For the workshop, I hand out tips and techniques on doing Civ Pro essay exams in my class. Although the materials below are geared towards Civil Procedure and my class in particular, some may have relevance to other first-year classes. Keep in mind that other professors may have differing expectations, so the suggestions below may not be applicable to your class.
Substantive considerations:
Argue the facts presented. A common error on essay exams is failing to argue the facts provided. Sometimes I see relevant facts omitted from the discussion. Other times, students change facts or invent facts that aren’t in the exam. Sometimes this is because students don’t want to discuss the issues presented. You can’t do that. However, if you believe that additional facts are needed for your analysis, state what those facts are how they would affect your analysis.
Focus on the issues raised. Do not raise irrelevant issues. Use your judgment as to the main issues that are likely to be worth more points. Minor issues are likely to be worth fewer or no points. You get no points for “negative issue-spotting.”
Do not be conclusory. Always be Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, i.e., provide the “because, because, because.” (Think of the lyrics to “We’re Off to See the Wizard.”) If you state a conclusion without indicating (in that sentence or surrounding sentences) “why” or “because,” then you’re probably being conclusory. Conclusory is bad.
Web archiving is a topic of great interest to me and the subject of an article I’m writing. Part of the paper addresses the Bush administration’s questionable conduct regarding the content of the White house website. For example, the White House website’s robots exclusion file — a mechanism that can be used to ask search […]
The new Star Trek trailer has had mixed reviews on the internet. Me, I think it’s frakking awesome. Sure, the trailer is mostly action, but that’s ok. It’s is trying to attract an audience beyond the pointy-ears-and-forehead-ridges wearing set, and does so successfully. Based on watching the trailer (repeatedly) and reading around the web (see […]
