Shreeprakash Sharma
Principal, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Mamit, Mizoram
Unlike the general beliefs, passing an examination with good percentage of marks is not only the matter of long hours of self-study. In fact, it is also the matter of how you write answer to the questions asked in the examination. Because writing answers in examination is an art which plays a vital role in the final result of a student.
Here are given a few salient ways to write your answers which will substantially help you score good marks to finally achieve the results you might have ever dreamed -
1. Write question number correctly and legibly
From the experience of over 20 years as a teacher and examiner of scripts of board classes of X and XII what I have found that question numbers written by students are painfully very awkward and dangerous. Students simply scribble the numerals which cannot be legibly read nor clearly identified.
This is really a sad situation which gives birth to confusion and finally examinees have to incur loss of marks beyond their wild imagination.
So it is very essential to keep in mind the following points while writing the numbers of questions you are answering in a paper -
(A.) Always write correct number of question you are to write answer of. Suppose, if you are answering question number 5, then it must be written 5. Incorrect question number irritates the examiner.
(B.) Numerals must be written in standard notation. Do not write them carelessly lest they should be difficult to decipher. The way you write a figure must not be mistaken for some other numbers. For example, 7 must not be written as to be mistaken for any other number.
(C.) It is advisable to write the question numbers in bold. You also need to encircle the question number so that the examiners may very easily find out which question they are evaluating.
(D.) If a particular question has a few sub-parts, those too must be written correctly, boldly, clearly and legibly. These sub-parts too may be encircled for the easy observation and fast identity.
The aforesaid practices of writing the numbers of questions may seem to be very futile and trifle but they play vital role helping you get the score and the result you deserve and dream.
The incorrect, haphazard and sub-standard manner of writing the figures not only irritates the examiner but also unfortunately proves to be the reason of bad scoring and unexpectedly the poor results.
2. Be careful of objective-type-questions
The objective-type of questions is also usually called as multiple-choice questions. A sizeable number of such sorts of questions are asked in the examination. And, most importantly, these questions are very highly scoring because they only test the memory retention capacity of the students. The answers of these questions are simply information or facts or figures for which very high level of intelligence and understanding is not required.
However, objective - type of questions may be asked in multiple ways. The answers to such questions must be written in full sentence or in word or words -
Example:
Question 1. When did Simon Commission come to India?
The answer to this question can be written in the following two ways -
(1.) The Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928.
Or
(1.) 1928
In case of multiple-choice questions, answers must be written very carefully. Example-
Q.1 Which of the following is called as the fourth estate?
(a) Press
(b) Defence
(c) Education
(d) Film industry
Answer: (1.) (a) Press
Or (1.) (a)
Sometimes, for the objective - type - questions where alternative answers are not given, correct answers need to be filled in the space or gap provided.
In this case, the correct way of answering the question is to write the answer with the question number and underline it.
In case, choices are given, students must write answers with serial number like a, b, c, d, 1, 2, 3, or 4 preceded by question number.
There are also more sorts of questions which have Yes or No option given. To answer these questions you must clearly write Yes or No with their question numbers.
3. Short-answer -type questions
These types of questions usually carry 3 to 4 marks depending upon their nature of toughness. Answers to these questions are also instructed to be written within the word limit of 150 to 200. In this case, students must adhere to the given word limit fairly. However, if you are answering 20 to 30 words in excess of the aforesaid word limit, it is not taken as very seriously or as violation of instruction. But it is always beneficial to write in the prescribed word limit. Doing so is also essential for the time management.
4. Long-answer-type questions
Long-answer-type of questions are based upon the holistic and intensive study of the entire syllabi of subjects. That is why they make the synopsis of the syllabi. These questions carry 6 to 8 marks and that is why they substantially affect the final score and results of students. These questions have also the word limit of around 300 to 350 words.
But here too, it is not any hard and fast rule. You may write your answers in excess of 50 to 100 words, sometimes even more if your time allows and answers so demand. Here, the rule of thumb is it that so long as your answer focuses on contents and keeps relevance to the question asked, going beyond word limit up to a certain level is not an aberration.
While answering these questions, you must take the following points very seriously in your mind -
(A.) Start answering these questions with the brief introduction of the topic concerned or the definitions of the related topics.
(B.) Laws, rules, theories, theorems. principles must be stated wherever necessary.
(C.) Answers must be divided in smaller paragraphs.
(D.) Each paragraph must contain important contents and points not discussed earlier.
(E.) Use diagrams and graphs wherever essentially required. If these have not been demanded in the question, avoid wasting time upon them.
(F.) Label your graphs and diagrams clearly with their titles at the top.
(G.) Formulae and their derivations must be written clearly and stepwise.
(H.) Keep answers clean and do your best not to make any overwriting and cuts. If you commit any mistake, which has fair chance to be done, do not spoil the page to correct it. Do not smear it. Simply draw a line across the word or words and beside it write the correct answer. This way your scripts would appear very neat and clean.
5. All about answering numerical questions
Numerical questions carry various denominations of marks, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8... and so on. But for all sorts of numerical questions, you must keep in mind the following points to gain good and full marks -
(A.) Proceed stepwise to solve these questions.
(B.) Formulae must be written very clearly. Also explain the various symbols and notation used in the formulae. It shows good attitude and culture of the students.
(C.) Overwriting in calculation must be avoided at all costs.
(D.) Write figures or numerals exactly correct and in their standard notation. Here again do not write the figures hurriedly and carelessly.
(E.) You must do rough works either at the margins of the same page or on the pages before the last page. At the top of these pages you must write rough or miscellaneous.
Points you cannot afford to forget
No doubt, passing an examination with good marks is more the matter of way of answering than the intelligence. Apart from the good command over the subjects, an aspirant must learn the art and secrets of how to perfectly write answers which ends up leaving good impression on the examiner and providing him or her marks of his or her aspiration and choice -
Never forget these points while answering questions in examination-
1. You may start writing answers preferably from the 3rd page of the answer copy. However, starting answering on the 2nd page would not put to any disadvantage.
2. Answering questions in sequence or in serial order gives you an edge over others who answer haphazardly. But, here too, again it is not any rule. You may answer any question first you feel very confident of.
3. You must leave a few lines’ gap between two consecutive answers. The bottom line is that answers of any two questions must not overlap each other otherwise you may lose the marks of one of two answers mistaken by the examiner for the answer of a single question.
4. Always write entire chunk of an answer to a question on the same page or pages in sequence. Spreading your answers on different pages is not considered good at all.
An examinee must understand that examination is not the test of sheer booking knowledge gained over the certain academic period. It is also the ordeal of nature of your culture, schooling, discipline, upbringing and many other inherent personality traits which are so beautifully and surprisingly reflected in the way you write answers to the questions in examination.
Feedback can be send to spsharma.rishu@gmail.com
