How to Write Better Essays

Linear notes

This is, perhaps, the most familiar and widely used note-taking strat-

egy, because it adapts well to most needs. As we’ve already seen, at uni-

versity the exams we prepare ourselves for are designed to assess more

than just our comprehension, so notes in the form of a series of short

descriptive paragraphs, and even the list, are of little real value. Exams

at this level are concerned with a wider range of abilities, including our

abilities to discuss, criticise and synthesise arguments and ideas from

a variety of sources, to draw connections and contrasts, to evaluate and

so on. To do all this requires a much more sophisticated and adaptable

strategy that responds well to each new demand. It should promote our

abilities, not stunt them by trapping us within a straitjacket.

Linear notes are particularly good at analytical tasks, recording the

structure of arguments and passages. As you develop the structure,

with each step or indentation you indicate a further breakdown of the

argument into subsections. These in turn can be broken down into

further subsections. In this way you can represent even the most

complex argument in a structure that’s quite easy to understand.

Equally important, with clearly defined keywords, highlighted in capital

letters or in different colours, it’s easy to recall the clusters of ideas

and information that these keywords trigger of.

In most cases it looks something like the following:

A Heading

1. Sub-heading
   (a)
   (b)
   (c)
   (i)
   (ii)
   (iii)
   e.g.
   (d)


2. Sub-heading
   (a)
   (i)
   (ii)
   (iii)

96 Research

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