How to memorise an essay in one night
Although it’s not recommended or ideal, a lot of times, you may need to memorise an essay in one night. So, how do you do that?
Before you start memorising your essay, you should ensure that you have a deep understanding of the text you’re studying and the analysis you’ve chosen to unpack.
First of all, you should start by breaking the essay down into smaller, more manageable sections. That will ensure that on one hand, you maintain your composure and on the other, that your brain retains information faster and easier.
Once you have prepared your sections (eg. Introduction and paragraph one can be the first section, paragraph two and three can be the next section and paragraph four and the conclusion can be the last section), you will start by reading the information aloud, as though you’re practising a speech. Do this a couple of times until you start to recall aspects of the section off by heart. You will realise that this is happening once you begin reading the start of a sentence and you’re able to complete it by memory.
If you’re not a visual learner, you may want to try rewriting the essay by hand a couple of times, until the essay becomes easier to recall. By consciously making an effort to read through each word in your mind, will allow you to become very familiar with the contents of your essay.
After you start recalling aspects, try hiding your notes and writing the essay using the information you remember. This will allow you to further test if you’re able to adapt on the day even if you don’t remember the entire essay.
When you have mastered the above, try writing your essay by heart under timed conditions to check whether stress and pressure influence your ability to remember the essay. If so, note which sections you tend to forget so that you can go over them again.
How to memorise an essay fast
Even though every student learns at their own pace, there are some guaranteed methods to memorising an essay in 2 hours. Here are some steps that can help you do that:
- Divide the essay into manageable chunks
- Comprehend the main arguments and points of the essay
- Use mnemonic devices such as acronyms to remember key themes, quotes and techniques
- Employ repetition whether that is in the form of reading the essay multiple times or writing it down
- Try active recall by quizzing yourself after you’ve learnt each section or paragraph
- Memorise information in chunks by remembering the key idea which groups together all the points made in the paragraph
- Stay focused by minimising distractions
- Take 5 minute breaks to rest your mind and boost retention of information
- Sleep well the night before to ensure maximum information recall
- If all else fails and you still believe that you don’t know your essay, try memorising the quotes instead
How long does it take to memorise an essay?
A common misconception is that it takes students the same amount of time to learn an essay off by heart. The reality is that everyone’s memory and learning style is different. That means that learning an essay may take from one day to several weeks.
In order to figure this out, it is important to start preparing for exams in advance by using the methods mentioned above. In that way, you’ll ensure success and will prevent much unnecessary stress in the process.
Should you memorise essays for HSC English?
There is much controversy surrounding the topic of whether students should memorise essays or not. Although this largely depends on the preferences of each respective student, it is important to acknowledge that the HSC modules place a focus on critical thinking and analysis. That means that students are encouraged to adapt and think on the spot in order to craft essays which will be insightful and will directly engage with the question. Nonetheless, it is equally important that students adequately prepare for exams, whether that is by studying the in class textual analysis, participating in seminars, writing practice essays, memorising essays or a combination of the above.
Alternatives to memorising essays
Those who are opposed to the memorisation of entire essays emphasise the danger of failing to engage with the HSC question and of memorising information which cannot be adapted to specific questions. However, that shouldn’t worry you at all, since there are alternatives to memorising essays. These include:
- Creating an Essay Scaffold
Essay scaffolds are outlines of your essay. What that means is that they are incomplete essays which allow students to adapt on the day depending on the stimulus, whilst providing them with the security of having a solid structure. An example of this is as follows:
Introduction:
→ William Shakespeare’s historic morality play Henry IV Part 1 (1597), facilitates an insight into the dichotomy between Christian humanism and Medieval Scholastic cosmology, through the witty manipulation of an Elizabethan standpoint and interpretation of Tudor historical events.
→ In doing so, Shakespeare…(link to question and purpose of Shakespeare and themes)
Paragraph 1 (2,3 and 4 will look very similar to this):
→ “Henry IV” offers an elaborate meditation on kingship and authority…(answer the question)
→ Personification of England and imagery of disorder in the opening of the play “Shall daub her lips with her children’s blood…civil butchery”, foregrounds the disunity in England, as the central tenet of the divine displeasure for the disruption of the Chain of Being. [link to question]
→ Moreover, by providing an examination of the younger generation and contrasting the calculating and “madcap” Prince Hal to his courageous and “gallant” foil, Hotspur, Shakespeare further explores the relationship between principles and monarchy. [link to question] The motif of time in “Shall we be gone?” acts as a structural device to reinforce the idea that political life is in relentless motion, as well as to juxtapose to Prince Hal’s patience and Aristotelian virtues which foreshadow his monumental redemption and apotheosis.
→ [Linking sentence]
Conclusion: This will be written on the day
- Memorising a Quote Bank
Another alternative to essay memorisation is creating a quote bank. Although this might not offer the security or confidence that an essay or essay scaffold offer, it allows you to freely adapt to any question by creating insightful and sophisticated thesis statements and arguments that will directly derive from your understanding of the stimulus. This allows you to break free from the constraints of a pre-prepared essay and is the perfect solution for students who excel in time management and writing on the spot.
An example of this includes:
Common Module Essay - 1984
Paragraph 1 → Totalitarian regime and oppression
- Paradox: All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.
- Stream of consciousness: I don’t suppose anything happened to her nobody cares what the proles say typical prole reaction they neve
- Self-reflexive epiphany: It was, he now realised, because of this other incident that he had suddenly decided to come home and begin the diary today
Paragraph 2 → Language and Storytelling
- Hyperbole: even the monologue had dried up
- Irony: It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words
Paragraph 3 → Rebellion
- War imagery: Their embrace had been a battle, the climax a victory. It was a blow struck against the Party. It was a political act
- Epizeuxis: whether [Winston] wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER or not, it made no difference
Overall, in preparing for the HSC, you should choose the study method that you feel more comfortable with and that will ensure maximum performance. As long as you have confidence in your writing, everything is possible!
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