Discussion of past paper - two
Marjorie Henry, Contributor

Many, if not all of you who are sitting the external examinations this year have already begun to do them. In another few days you will be writing your first geography paper - the essay paper (Paper 2). I promised to discuss the question I gave you last week in today's lesson, but with the examination so close at hand, let me deviate a bit and take some time to give you some general reminders on how you should approach your examinations.

To begin with, I do trust that you have spent adequate time preparing. That is to say, you have:

• revised all that was taught in your classes.
• done additional reading on the topics using your syllabus as a guide.
• attempted to answers questions from past examination papers as you revised the different topics.
• sought help from your teacher when you were in doubt about any aspect of a topic.

You see, adequate preparation reduces fear and anxiety in the examination. Remain focus, think positively and aim for the highest and the best results, that is, grades one or two.

Here are some other pointers for you:

1. Read ALL the instructions on your question paper carefully. Pay special attention to the number of questions you are required to answer. Let me remind you again that for geography you MUST do a total of FOUR questions; Question 1 from Section A and ONE question from each of sections B, C and D.

2. Take the first three to five minutes at the start of the examination to read through, quickly, the entire question paper.

3. Do NOT rush into a decision on which question to answer or you will regret it. Read through the entire question first and ensure that you can do all parts of it.

4. Answer the easier questions first, that is, the questions for which you are best prepared.

5. Before writing, PLAN your answer. Jot down points for the answer and try writing them in an organised manner.

6. Ensure that you complete ALL sections of the compulsory question, that is, Question 1 - the map reading question. This question also carries the highest marks.

7. Time management is crucial. Use all the time allotted to you, but leave time to read over your answers in order to correct mistakes or add anything you feel is missing. May I suggest that you spend about 40 minutes on Question 1 and 30 minutes on the other questions. The remainder of the time is for checking.

8. Write CLEARLY, using a blue- or black-ink pen.

9. Draw diagrams in pencil but label then in ink. These must be neat and properly labelled and well integrated in your explanation. Please note that it is possible for you to score maximum marks for a question by producing a neat well-labelled diagram. Wherever diagrams can assist you in giving a good, clear answer, even if you are not asked for them specifically in the question, it is advisable for you to use them.

10. Make sure you understand the KEY VERBS or COMMAND WORDS in the question. Remember, these tell you what to do. In addition, use the marks allotted for each part of the question to guide you in how much to write. Lengthy responses do not necessarily mean more marks.

11. At all times, use clear, simple sentences with good grammar.

Work well and may every success be yours.

I will return to the matter of answering Question 3 from the June 2008 paper in the next lesson.

Imani Duncan-Waite, marketing and communications manager of Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB), addresses students and lecturers prior to the start of the second JFF/UTech/JMMB advanced level one coaching course at the University of Technology recently. - Contributed