How to Study

Class Participation
Most teachers take each student’s class participation into account
when giving grades, no matter how many pop quizzes they pull or
how many term papers they assign. And, you may have discovered,
there are teachers out there who will mark down even those students
who “ace” every paper and quiz if they seem to disappear in the 
classroom.
Score: If you are always prepared for class (which means, at the very
least, reading all assigned material, preparing assigned homework and
projects, and turning them in on time), actively participate in dis -
cussions, and ask frequent and pertinent questions as a way of both
trumpeting what you already know and filling in the gaps in that
knowledge, give yourself an A. If you fail in any of these criteria, give
yourself a B. If you aren’t sure where the classroom is, give yourself
a C.
Chapter 1
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How to Start Out Right
11

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Writing Paper and Preparing Oral Reports
Preparing any sort of report, written or oral, is 90 percent perspira-
tion (research) and 10 percent inspiration (writing). In other words,
the ability to write a good paper is more dependent on your mastery
of the other skills we’ve already discussed than your mastery of 
writing. If you are an avid reader, familiar with your local library, a 
veteran online researcher, a good note taker, and capable of breaking
down the most complex topic into the manageable steps necessary
to write a paper, you probably turn in superior papers.
Score: If you have already given yourself an A in library skills, library
and online note taking, time management, and reading, give yourself
an A. If you feel you turn in relatively good papers but definitely lack
in any of these areas, give yourself a B. If your idea of writing a paper
is photocopying the pertinent Cliffs Notes and recopying the summary
in your own handwriting, give yourself a C.