This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Open book exams, limit on annotation?

AshJames

2

Hi there,

Is there a limit on how much you can annotate a text?

Does your text get checked?

Reply 1

mollymustard

14

There is a limit, I'm not sure what the rules say but I think its something like 'light' annotation is allowed so its really open to interpretation.

You text may be checked by the exam invigilators at your school, or it may only be looked at if an external examiner comes in to check on the schools invigilation.

If you get caught with too much invigilation you can expect to have around 10% of your marks deducted I believe.

Reply 2

.Ed.

11

Yeah it is limited and may or may not be checked. However many of the notes you write in class can be easily remembered so only detailed points need remain in the boot.

Reply 3

rainbow drops

17

We're not allowed any. Which is really ****ing unfair, seeing as the year above us were allowed it and we had to rub all their notes out of our books. The Duffy poems collection I got given had absolutely loads of writing in it.

Reply 4

redux345

1

We're not allowed any. Which is really ****ing unfair, seeing as the year above us were allowed it and we had to rub all their notes out of our books. The Duffy poems collection I got given had absolutely loads of writing in it.

At least you can take your book in, no memorising quotes etc.

Reply 5

rainbow drops

17

redux345

At least you can take your book in, no memorising quotes etc.

I can't for my Measure for Measure exam, I have to memorise Shakespeare quotes!

Reply 6

*pitseleh*

20

Of the four books I studied for A2, two of them were used for coursework (1984 and The Handmaid's Tale), and I had papers on the other two (The Miller's Tale and Dr. Faustus).

I didn't get to take Faustus into the exam at all, but my copy of The Miller's Tale had quite a lot of annotation in it. It wasn't checked, but I wouldn't have minded if it had been because we were told that it was okay to make plenty of explanatory notes; it just wasn't alright to write out whole paragraphs of information, or anything.

Your teacher should know how much you can get away with - why don't you ask? :smile:

Reply 7

Cooro

14

At my college, we have exams where we are given anthologies beforehand which we work on in the months before the exam, and we take these into the exams. Our annotation rules are that we can underline parts, and write the odd word or little phrase as guidelines, but not full sentences or paragraphs. They don't check beforehand, but if the invigilators saw that you had annotated beyond the extent these rules allow while they're wandering around the hall during the exam, you can either have the book taken off you, or you're disqualified from the exam. I've never known either happen to anyone before.

These are only the rules I've been told by my English teachers, though. It might be different for you, so as pitseleh said, ask your teachers what's allowed.

Reply 8

Louisdf

1

In my open book exams, the invigilators never checked anyones.All they did was drink coffee and read the paper.But seriously it's only a problem if you have huge essays on the blank pages at the back.

Reply 9

Mrgd291190

16

rainbow drops

I can't for my Measure for Measure exam, I have to memorise Shakespeare quotes!

Me too! King Lear is not easy!
All I can recall off hand are things like "man more sinned against than sinning", "come not between the dragon and his wrath" and "the bow is bent and drawn, make from the shaft"!

Reply 10

angelmxxx

14

for my AS open book exams, i'm allowed 3 words per page and a little highlighting - so i've organised a colour key for important themes and highlighted 1/2 words per pg and the top right corners

Reply 11

.Ed.

11

rainbow drops

I can't for my Measure for Measure exam, I have to memorise Shakespeare quotes!

Do you have a quote list at all for measure for measure ? I made one but lost it and lack motivation to make it again.

Reply 12

.Ed.

11

angelmxxx

for my AS open book exams, i'm allowed 3 words per page and a little highlighting - so i've organised a colour key for important themes and highlighted 1/2 words per pg and the top right corners

THats very stingy , for my As s I had much more than that.

Reply 13

Elly_H

We were told that annotation had to be minimal, no more than a few words on each page; but I don't recall it ever being checked.

Reply 14

aspiringlawyer

My god check!
I had a HORRIBLE experience with English last year. We had our TS Eliot anthologies and my entire class had been religiously annotating them for months, to the point where there were more annotations than text. Our english teacher told us that was fine...but about three days before the exam a friend bumped into the head of english who peeked and her book and FLIPPED, saying her book was 'grossly over annotated' and that if she'd checked that before the exam (and she did check every single book and ripped out a few pages of some people's books, though thankfully only things like contents where they'd made brief notes') she would have had to rip out 'every SINGLE page'.
This was AFTER I'd spent a two full days of revision time meticulously copying out my annotations from one book toanother so it was neater and colour coded.
My friend told our entire class, and we all descended on Waterstones to buy ourselves new texts and spent a further day or two copying out. Worst week of my life.

MORAL of story: Check and don't assume you'll get away with it as one or two girls from my class did. They didn't (but only had a page or two ripped out, and just chose questions not involving those poems).

Oh, and my school costs 12 grand a year.

Reply 15

.Ed.

11

aspiringlawyer

Oh, and my school costs 12 grand a year.

and you buy your own books... good old taxes buy mine.

Reply 16

aspiringlawyer

.Ed.

and you buy your own books... good old taxes buy mine.

haha. exactly. to be fair we don't ususally have to. its just we were on study leave and there was no way for the school to get them to us in time.

Reply 17

fweefwee

1

Does anyone know whether things like using pen isnt encoraged? I have used highlighters in one of my texts, but the entire class has aswell. What would be considered over-annatation?

Reply 18

River85

17

There's no clear rules on how much is "too much". Try and use your own short hand an abbreviations. I'd say no more than 1/4 of the page. You probably won't have your annotation checked but an invigilator has a right to check it, so don't risk it.

For those who are complaining about having closed book exams, back in the old days they would study texts such as Homer's Odyssey. Needing to know that by memory.
Now that's difficult, you've all got it easy.

Everything in my A-level was closed book. John Donne, Chaucer, Webster's "The White Devil", Wuthering Heights and Death of a Salesman. Quotes from Death of a Salesman and Wuthering Heights were easy to remember.

Reply 19

Rubix

There is an open book exam?! :eek:

Open book exams, limit on annotation?

Related discussions

Articles for you