How to Write Better Essays

Memory is ‘integrative’: we remember things best if we can fit them

into what we already know. We remember wholes, rather than isolated

parts, so, if we’re going to remember something, it must make sense

in terms of what we already know. It must fit within the structures

we’ve already created for ourselves, or within those that have already

been created for us, as in advertising jingles or traditional songs.

Although this may seem, at times, trivial and contrived, there’s no

doubt that there are occasions, when we’re presented with an unstruc-

tured list that cannot be broken down into its own categories. In these

circumstances a mnemonic may be the only answer.

But no matter what way you choose to help your memory, just

remember: what we store in our mind is not isolated facts, but complex

clusters of information and ideas, centred on some familiar keyword

or concept. We may create these ourselves, or we may be forced to find

them in a familiar jingle. But when we hear, read or recall them they

trigger off the whole cluster. This explains why the structured note-

taking techniques like pattern and linear notes are so effective. But if

you can’t generate your own structure, be prepared to use the rhyming

jingle or a familiar line from a poem. They will certainly work better

than a mere list or an unstructured summary.

In the next chapter

Planning in this way makes our revision and the exams themselves

so much simpler. In the next chapter we will look at what you can do

to make sure that you’re able to reproduce the same quality of essay

within the exam as you can outside.

Planning for the Exam 165

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