Writing Paper and Preparing Oral Reports
Preparing any sort of report, written or oral, is 90 percent perspira-
tion (research) and 10 percent inspiration (writing). In other words,
the ability to write a good paper is more dependent on your mastery
of the other skills we’ve already discussed than your mastery of
writing. If you are an avid reader, familiar with your local library, a
veteran online researcher, a good note taker, and capable of breaking
down the most complex topic into the manageable steps necessary
to write a paper, you probably turn in superior papers.
Score: If you have already given yourself an A in library skills, library
and online note taking, time management, and reading, give yourself
an A. If you feel you turn in relatively good papers but definitely lack
in any of these areas, give yourself a B. If your idea of writing a paper
is photocopying the pertinent Cliffs Notesand recopying the summary
in your own handwriting, give yourself a C.
Test Preparation
The key to proper test preparation is knowing what material will
be covered and what form the test will take. Weekly quizzes or
unit/chapter exams usually cover the most recent material. Midterms
and finals cover a much broader area—usually all the subject matter
to date. Multiple-choice tests, essays, lists of math problems, and
science lab tests all require different preparation and apply different
test-taking skills. Knowing the kind of test you’re facing will make your
preparation much easier.
So will creating a list of questions you think your teacher will most
likely ask. By periodically reviewing your text and class notes, you’ll
begin to identify the areas in which your teacher appears most inter-
ested ... and on which he or she is most likely to test you. As a final
trick, prepare a list of 10 or more questions youwould ask if you were
the teacher.
12 How to Study