Marking Up and Use of the Tort Book - Rules for Use of the Book in the Test and in the

Final Tort Examination

You are permitted to make markings in your book that will assist in your learning of tort law.
For instance, you may underline or highlight an important passage with different colours of
highlighters, according to your own practice. You may also make notes in the margins of the
book that help clarify for you the meaning of a particular passage in the book. These sorts of
markings are normally made during large group classes and tutorials, or during your own
reading of the book throughout the year. The markings should be relevant to the passages on
that page. Thus, you are not permitted to copy into the book passages from other sources, or
to create summaries of the law on blank pages. You are only permitted to make notes to
explain or clarify passages on the pages where those passages appear. This can include
references to recent case law not discussed in the book but taken up in lecture. You can if you
like, in due course, insert indexing tabs to mark the topics and sub-topics in the book, for ease
of reference. You can write the names of the topics and subtopics on the tabs, but you must
not write notes on the tabs. Do not put stickers or other such things on the pages of the book
as a means of creating space for more notes.

These rules have been established because on the one hand it will be useful for you to have
access to the book in the test and in the final examination (thereby avoiding the necessity of
memorizing case names). On the other hand it is important that you not misinterpret the
purpose of bringing the book to the test and examination. It is not to facilitate a short-cut
route to passing the test or examination without learning the material. The test and
examination questions are very challenging. There is enough time to provide a full analysis of
all of the issues of each question, assuming that you attend to the analysis and writing
directly. But there is almost no time to consult the book for content. Students who do spend
time consulting the book in the examination lose valuable thinking and organising and
writing time. Their answers are likely to be superficial, rote, and probably incomplete, due to
the loss of time. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that a carefully and meticulously
annotated text book will ensure a good result. It may very well cause you to have a bad result.
Best to learn the material and use the limited time available in the test and examination
wisely, in thinking, analyzing and in organizing your answers.

If you have any doubts about what markings are permissible, please consult Rick before you
make any marking.