Aaren Marcarian

Professor Lee

HIST007B

25 April 2023

Essay Exam #2 Reflection

The Essay Exam #2, like the Essay Exam #1, was an essay exam which had three sets of

questions given to us, one of which we were instructed to write a short essay about for the exam.

The set of questions I chose to answer, out of the two given, consisted of mostly questions about

the Cold War, and the corresponding wars in Korea and Vietnam. The reason I failed this exam

was very similar to the reason I failed the essay exam prior.

However, in this case, I don’t have my physical graded exam, due to class meetings

ending, so I can’t really look over it and analyze exactly what went wrong. I honestly did study

for the Essay Exam #2 more than I did for the Essay Exam #1, because I knew how much it

would impact my grade, and I really wanted to get a good grade on it. The failure within my

thinking was that I never went to a writing tutor. I never learned how to properly write a history

essay exam, and I think that was what got me. I wrote a more extensive study guide, and I want

to say that I did review more than the first time. However, I think my fatal flaw was that I didn’t

make any progress on learning how to structure the essay, or how to write it better.

Moreover, what I’ve learned from bombing this exam as well as the first, is that my

strategy isn’t working. I should have visited the writing center and gotten help from a tutor about

writing the essay exam. In a way, I partially did study less because instead of my study guide

being an actual practice essay, it was mostly just answering the questions directly, in an outline

form. I did have notes, and I did learn the material better than the time before, but I’m sure my
writing must have been off. Again, I can’t say exactly what I did wrong, but I’m sure I had some

writing issues that needed to be addressed.

A lesson I learned from this exam, especially after taking the Essay Exam #1, is that if I

thought I knew it the first time, having bombed the exam, it will be the same case the second

time around. I should have learned from my mistakes, and put more time and effort into the essay

structure, rather than just learning the material. And another thing I was reminded of when taking

the exam, was that I should always show up on time. I saw other students taking a multiple

choice exam, which I didn’t know was an option, because I was making it to class late every

time. I must have missed the information announced in class, leading me to miss the opportunity

of taking the multiple choice exam. Seeing other students take that exam really stuck in my head,

the fact that I need to be making it to class on time, so I don’t miss out on opportunities that I

otherwise would have had. Even though I failed this exam, I can safely say that I did get a few

valuable lessons out of the experience.