This document provides strategies and templates for writing successful timed essays for college exams. It recommends reading the exam carefully and analyzing questions to focus on known information. A sample time budget allocates 18 minutes for planning, 18 minutes for outlining, 90 minutes for writing, and 54 minutes for revising. Body paragraphs should be short and take notes for future paragraphs. Templates are provided to help structure responses. Resources like handbooks and guides on academic writing are recommended for additional support.

1. Timed Writing Workshop
Writing for College Success

2. General Strategies
 Read the exam carefully
 Analyze the questions – focus on what you DO know
 Look for key terms:
-Information words: (define, illustrate, summarize)
-Relation words: (compare, contrast, apply)
-Interpretation words: (support, synthesize, analyze)
 Plan your answers (see a sample time budget on the next slide)

3. Sample Time Budget
Planning and budgeting 18
Developing an outline 18
Writing 90
Revising, editing and proofreading 54
Change the amount of time needed for the essay in minutes to see
how much time you should approximately spend on one essay
180
18
18
90
54
TIMED WRITNG BUDGET
Planning and budgeting Developing an outline Writing Revising, editing and proofreading

4. Writing the Body Paragraphs
 It is probably best to keep these short due to time
constraints.
 Try to think ahead as you are writing, and take
notes for any ideas you may have for the next
paragraph as you go along.
 Don’t pad your answers just because you are timed.
 If you run out of time on an essay but still have
material to write, make note of a few points of
your outline in the margins.

5. Writing the Body Paragraphs Cont.
 What and So What
 What: Details/evidence/text/topic statement
 So what: Why is it important? How does it relate to your main
point/topic sentence/thesis statement?
 Use Connectors and Transition Words and Phrases
 Furthermore, in other words, for example, consequently, on the
other hand, subsequently, yet, in summary, equally important,
conversely, of course, granted, therefore
 Sample Format: topic sentence, provide support, provide
explanations, link idea to next idea/topic sentence

6. Revision, Editing, and Proofreading
 Condense your current revising, editing, and proofreading
strategies.
 If you can, proofread for punctuation and spelling errors as you go.
 Sometimes, quick revision is necessary:
 Read for clarity
 Cut out repetitive words and phrases

7. Templates
 In recent discussions of ____, one issue has been whether __________.
On the other hand, some argue _________. According to this view,
_________________. In summary, the issue is whether __________ or
__________. My own view is _________ because _________.
 Convention wisdom indicates/acknowledges ________.
 One implication of X’s assentation is that ___________.
 In the discussion of ________, one controversial issue has been ________.
On the one hand, _____argues _______. However, ____contends
___________. My own view is __________ because _________.
 I believe that ________________ because __________, _____________,
and __________.
 It can be argued that __________________; however, ______________
and _________ need to be considered. Therefore, I believe
___________________ because _____________, __________, and
__________

8. Activity
 Create your own templates to use on one of the following prompts:
Prompt—English 846 Final exam (2.5 hours) Select three (3) of the authors and
texts we have read this semester and examine how each author argues that greed
and materialism function in our lives in the U.S. Explain who is mainly guilty of
greed and who is most affected and how. Finally, explain what you feel, and
analyze the larger impact of your views.
Prompt— English 110 Final exam (2.5 hours) Select three (3) of the authors and
texts we have read this semester (one poem, one short story, and one play), and
compare the characters the authors have created in order to examine the
pressures women in particular face. Describe the gender-based expectations
placed on these women and examine the impact. Finally, examine the connecting
patterns that transcend location and time era in regards to the attitudes toward
and treatment of women.
Prompts found here:
http://www.skylinecollege.edu/skyenglish/11TimedWriting.pdf

9. Resources
 Essay Exams. Chapel Hill: Writing Center at UNC
Chapel Hill, 2010. Print.
 Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C. (2014). They say, I say:
The moves that matter in academic writing (3rd
ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.