what are philosophy exams like at bristol?

Miranda

hi, any second years care to share what 1st year exams are like?

Reply 1

andy5788

Are you a 1st year philosopher? And if so do I know you? lol....

Reply 2

organised_chaos

i would love to know what they're like...havent even started revision yet so i guess having a clue about what to expect might give me a kick up the arse...

Reply 3

andy5788

Aren't there some past papers at the dept office? I know there are for 2nd and 3rd year exams, I'm planning on having a look when I get back.....

Reply 4

Rugar

They are pretty much identical to the questions set in lectures; it is basically, 1 lecture= 1 essay topic. All questions are in essay format, roughly 45 minutes suggested time for a question.

Do about 3-4 arguments in the essay; they prefer you to say a good and in-depth argument rather than saying lots of things. Don't show off and demonstrate how much you know, just argue very hard, the knowledge will make itself known if you argue well.

You don't need to read that much far beyond the reading list; they don't want you at 1st year stage to do wider reading (you might read the wrong thing, or not properly understand certain papers). The questions are straightforward and you should do well if you have thought for yourself, went to the lectures and did lots of reading.

Second year, however, is a nightmare and you are supposed to feel completely lost (and it always involves Two Dogmas of Empiricism!!!)

Reply 5

Rugar

Andrew Pyle's guide to writing essays (exegesis, criticism, construction) is INVALUABLE, read it

Reply 6

Miranda

Rugar

Andrew Pyle's guide to writing essays (exegesis, criticism, construction) is INVALUABLE, read it

where do I get that?
also, does that mean it is possible to prepare an entire essay beforehand, since we know pretty much what the questions will be from lecture titles?