Exam Prep -> Converted!

Having the CLS strategy of the week be exam prep for a person who rarely has exams can be a little challenging. However, every week in my Design History class, we had to write a short one-page paper, which topics can range from the history of chairs, to describing how a room looks. Last weeks paper was about advertisements. You had to choose an ad for perfume in any magazine you liked, and then go into detail about it. I, of course, chose Beyonce's ad for a perfume called "Heat Rush" because it just sounded awesome! However, once I got to this point I found myself staring at a blank word document, wishing the paper would write itself.

I first set up an outline and listed the main points that I wanted to write about in the paper, and then from there I better formed my thesis. Before I new it I had a half a page of information written! I started to write the topic sentence for each paragraph and then slowly fill in the information I had listed for each topic. I used a topic outline for this, and wrote down each of the main points that I was going to elaborate on. This paper seemed like a breeze because it was over before I new it!

Having a topic outline helps plan out the paper and it is an advantage to have it pre-planned out because it helps to better the flow of your thoughts. When there are already main points to talk about you never have a chance to stop and think about what to write because you know what comes next. Also planning out and doing these strategies is the kind of learner I am, so I can absorb the information better.

Both the source outline and the topic outline (adapted to writing papers) helped me stay focus on what I need to get done and instead of wasting time on facebook and stumble upon I have it all set up already, so there was no time lost. I really recommend these strategies for when you have to write a paper. It is unbelievable how much is helps. Because lets be honest, writing a paper the night before is stressful and know one needs that!