DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
BA in Philosophy - University Of London, International
Programmes
HTML https://philosophyuol.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: General Discussion
*****************************************************
#Post#: 86--------------------------------------------------
Essay Length
DIR By: Heraclitus
Date: July 23, 2012, 2:50 am
---------------------------------------------------------
This is a question I've been meaning to ask for some time.
What's the expected essay length/word count in an exam? In this
year's exams (my first), I generally filled in around two or two
and a half double-spaced pages (i.e. four/five sides) per essay
with the third dropping down to one and a half (3 sides).
#Post#: 88--------------------------------------------------
Re: Essay Length
DIR By: waveletter
Date: July 29, 2012, 10:22 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Hello Heraclitus & welcome to the UoL Philosophy Forum!
To be honest, no one is really sure how long the exam answers
should be.
I manage to fill one whole exam book with my ugly cursive
script. One time, I went over into a couple of pages of the
second book. Generally, I try to leave the better part of a
blank page after each answer; that way, I can go back and add
some additional thoughts.
One other student, it may have been Adele, I'm not sure (and my
VLE access has been inexplicably disabled), said she typically
filled three (3) exam books. I don't know how that's possible.
Maybe she leaves massive gaps between paragraphs or overall
points. But still: wow.
I would say that you are writing enough to get high marks. It's
really a question of how you answer the question. You need to
define the terms involved, identify what line of philosophical
thought you are engaged in with the question and answer, then
lay out the standpoints on the question, and, finally, engage in
argument yourself with the line of thinking that is exposed by
the question. If you write just a page or two, you can show you
understand the concepts and the question, maybe you can give a
single answer to the question, but in that space, it seems to me
that you can't detail alternative replies and engage in the
argument along your own lines.
Lately, I've been trying to (give the standard) answer the
question outright in the very first paragraph. I might not agree
with the standard answer, and maybe in the last sentence of that
paragraph, I'll say something to the effect that the standard
answer has been challenged and that the challenges are
successful, or even that the challenges are unsuccessful, but
they need to be defended in another way. I've been trying to be
more rhetorical in my answers. This takes some time and space,
though.
Maybe some of the other forum lurkers have some insight?
It seems like the students that get the highest marks are more
argumentative and less exegetical in their replies. Just from my
recollection of prior chatter about this topic. My marks have
been in the mid-60s, pretty good, but I haven't been able to
break into the Bernard level just yet.
That's all I can suggest. There are some sample essays on the
forum. Are they about the right length by your lights? Thanks,
stay in touch, and welcome again! --Ron
#Post#: 124--------------------------------------------------
Re: Essay Length
DIR By: Heraclitus
Date: December 22, 2012, 11:07 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Hey Ron,
Thanks for the reply and the tip (leaving a blank page after
each answer).
To be honest, I haven't got round to reading any sample essays
yet and I don't think it would do my confidence any good if I
did. :)
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1