{"id":15855,"date":"2011-12-05T11:09:01","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T16:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=15855"},"modified":"2011-12-05T11:09:01","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T16:09:01","slug":"professor-mittens-exam-taking-essentials-for-essay-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2011\/12\/professor-mittens-exam-taking-essentials-for-essay-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Mitten’s Exam Taking Essentials for Essay Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s Note: This month, faculty members are posting on their exam taking tips. This is the\u00a0third post in the series.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Law school essay exams are a completely different kind of essay exam than what students might be used to.\u00a0 Here, Professor Mitten shares his essentials for taking law school essay exams.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carefully read question at least twice and sort out what happened.\u00a0 It may be helpful to draw a chronological diagram of the parties\u2019 conduct.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Determine the question(s) that you are being asked to consider.\u00a0 For example, it may be broad (e.g., discuss the parties\u2019 respective claims) or very specific (e.g., consider A\u2019s claims against B).\u00a0 Some professors (like me) will give you credit only for answering the question asked.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Identify each plaintiff\u2019s claims and address each claim separately.\u00a0 For example, in torts, tell the professor who (plaintiff) is suing whom (defendant) for what (tort)?<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Identify the applicable rule of law that governs and list all elements (i.e., what must plaintiff prove to prevail?)<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carefully analyze plaintiff\u2019s legal theory, which requires: i) considering all elements of the applicable rule; ii) using the given facts; and iii) arguing both sides\u2019 respective positions.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Based on your analysis, determine the likely resolution of plaintiff\u2019s claim by an impartial third party such as the judge or jury.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Identify and analyze defendant\u2019s affirmative defenses while following the steps in #3-6.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Know what you want to say before writing.\u00a0 The best answer is not necessarily the longest one.\u00a0 Rambling B.S. and\u00a0verbosity will negatively affect your grade.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Spotting and fully analyzing the issues raised by the facts are far more important than having \u201cthe right answer\u201d (since there may not be one).\u00a0 Organize your thoughts carefully, express them briefly, and then move on.\u00a0 When writing, keep in mind that your answer needs to be clear, concise, and complete.\u00a0Your answer should reflect the product of following #3-7.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Exercise proper time management when taking an exam.\u00a0 You may assume that the recommended time for each essay question corresponds to its relative point value, so allocate your time accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s Note: This month, faculty members are posting on their exam taking tips. This is the\u00a0third post in the series.] Law school essay exams are a completely different kind of essay exam than what students might be used to.\u00a0 Here, Professor Mitten shares his essentials for taking law school essay exams. 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Carefully read question […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,48,122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-education","category-marquette-law-school","category-public","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}