When only 15 days left to the devilish semester exams of dreaded Semester exams, there’s no need to feel completely frightened even if you’ve procrastinated the entire semester. Isn’t this something we all do; sleeping in, binge-watching our favourite shows and being highly involved with the extracurriculars (“History hi toh hai, ho jayega”) till the realization of doomsday suddenly dawns upon us?
When the ‘ek mahina’ that had been the last hope is already half gone and here we are, still procrastinating on how to open the notes and forge a friendship with them! Here are some tips for a smart study to conquer the History Semester exams in the leftover ‘aadha mahina’ :
1. It’s already high time and not exactly feasible to read each of the books and articles prescribed in the professor’s long reading list. Skimming through the course material works best in this scenario, highlight the main points and try to understand the gist of everything and accordingly shape up your answer. For a visual learner, mind maps and tables work well.
2. Try to study in groups of 4-5 people. All study buddies can divide the course material and prepare answers for the questions allotted to them. This is extremely helpful at a time when you don’t have time to prepare answers for all important questions. Barter Rocks!
3. To have a diversified answer, bring out arguments of important scholars and try not to miss out on any perspective. This helps in making the answer non-biased and enhances its quality. Underline the names of all important scholars in the answer and present the debates in a systematic manner. History is all about debates after all!
4. It is imperative to go through the textbook thoroughly in order to have clarity about the chronology and facts. Textbooks present different arguments in a clear, lucid manner and provide a basic framework for the answers.
5. Select specific 5 questions that you are sure will appear in the question paper and prepare accordingly. This can be done through a thorough skimming of the previous year’s question papers and 10 years as certain questions tend to get repeated every year! Work on your strong topics and you can ace the exams.
6. Digital guides aren’t helpful when it comes to subjects like History. Textbook reading is a must and readings cannot be compromised.
7. Lastly, try to be in touch with the professors and seniors because in such a crisis situation, they tend to give extremely helpful, semester saving advice. Also, have questions prepared beforehand and the professor can fill you up on important information. After all, who doesn’t want their students to pass with flying colours!
Put the nauseating anxiety to rest and try to be as systematic as possible. And let’s keep our doodle-filled planners for the next semester. All you historians, we can build our ‘Rome’ in 15 days!
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