Essay Exam Success and ADHD

Essay exam items often contain several related questions. In order to receive full credit for your response, it is generally expected that you respond to all of the smaller questions that were asked. Using a Google search for “essay exams,” I found the following exam question:

What is the role of language and speech in the study of religion by outsiders, and also in the expression of spirituality by members of a religion especially as they try to define God, and their relationship to God? What different types of language, speech and sound have we encountered in  the study of religion and why is each of them both problematic and also indispensable to the Hindu religious community? Are different kinds of speech, language and sound used in different contexts, if so, why?

My approach to this question (or questions) is to break this into as many subquestions as I can. I’m going for maximum points, so I don’t want to miss anything. My first approach is to break this down at every point I see a question mark:

1. What is the role of language and speech in the study of religion by outsiders, and also in the expression of spirituality by members of a religion especially as they try to define God, and their relationship to God?
2. What different types of language, speech and sound have we encountered in  the study of religion and why is each of them both problematic and also indispensable to the Hindu religious community?
3. Are different kinds of speech, language and sound used in different contexts, if so, why?

This gives me three questions to answer. If I answer each of these, I will likely do well on the test, but here’s the thing... individuals diagnosed with ADHD often have weak working memory. That means that all the little subtleties and threads that are included in each question may get lost. For example, for question #1, they may get the “role of language and speech in the study of religion by outsiders part” but write long enough that they forget their role in “the expression of spirituality...” part. So I suggest breaking this down as much as you can. I find that it is helpful to rewrite the stem of the question for each part of the sentence. Like this:

1. What is the role of language and speech in the study of religion by outsiders?
2. What is the role of language and speech in the expression of spirituality by members of a religion as they try to define God, and their relationship to God?
3. What different types of language, speech and sound have we encountered in the study of religion?
4. Why are language, speech and sound problematic for the Hindu religious community?
5. Why are language, speech and sound indispensable to the Hindu religious community?
6. Are different kinds of speech, language and sound used in different contexts, if so, why? (Since there’s an “if so, why,” I can already predict the answer is yes, even though I know nothing about this topic.)
7. Why are different kinds of speech, language and sound used in different contexts?

If you wanted to, you could break this down much further by separating out the language and speech parts of the sentences. For, example, “What is the role of language and speech in the study of religion by outsiders?” could become two sentences. “What is the role of language in the study of religion by outsiders?” and “What is the role of speech in the study of religion by outsiders?” This might be overkill, but again, I’m going for maximum points because I want a good grade, so I want to be SURE I don’t skip anything.

I prefer using a table to make sure that I have answered every single part of the question. 

Questions	Responses
What is the role of language and speech in the study of religion by outsiders?
What is the role of language and speech in the expression of spirituality by members of a religion as they try to define God, and their relationship to God?
What different types of language, speech and sound have we encountered in the study of religion?
Why are language, speech and sound problematic for the Hindu religious community?
Why are language, speech and sound indispensable to the Hindu religious community?
Are different kinds of speech, language and sound used in different contexts, if so, why? (Since there’s an “if so, why,” I can already predict the answer is yes, even though I know nothing about this topic.)
Why are different kinds of speech, language and sound used in different contexts?

If this is a take home test, I would literally make this table and answer every question first. In graduate school, I actually turned in tables like this and was told by professors how easy it was to grade my exam, since the answers were all so clear. On the other hand, you might want to put this back into a long narrative paragraph. This is your decision based on your preferences and your predictions about the professor/instructor who is teaching the class. 

If you are taking this test in class, I use your pen or pencil to draw a dark line after each question mark, then underline any lists that are there. For example:

What is the role of language and speech in the study of religion by outsiders, and also in the expression of spirituality by members of a religion especially as they try to define God, and their relationship to God?

Even scribbling down very short answers to each part of the question ensures you won’t miss a single detail when you go back to write your long essay. 

Good luck!