4x6 Cards

A quick tip for studying for exams: use 4x6 cards. Get a stack of blank cards, enough so you have one for each source on your reading list. Across the top write the Author's last name, the full title of the book, and I put the year of publication in the upper right hand corner. On the next line write "T:" followed by the thesis of the book or article. I try to keep it rather concise, no more than two lines on the card. Next, write "A:" and list all of the main arguments, sub-theses, or other pertinent information from the book. The bottom four lines on the card I use for methodology "M:" and relevance "R:". Just like you don't need to read the whole book to understand it's historical context and relevance, you don't need pages of notes on each work. When it gets time for your exam you're not going to remember much more than you can fit on a 4x6 card anyway, if that. This method is revised from the one I used for my minor field reading list, with the most important change being relevance. By thinking about some of the broader themes each work addresses while you're studying it prevents you from having to go back and re-consult items. I find the 4x6 card method useful because it allows you to physically move texts from one grouping to another and assess how adding or subtracting a given work affects the trend you have established. It also helps to see the cross-pollination and layers involved between areas of history such as nationalism, culture, identity, colonialism, etc. Finally, always remember to consult book reviews on the works you read for you list and compare others' thoughts on the book to your own? If theirs don't make sense it creates more questions and provides insight into the field. Book reviews also help you get through your list quicker, which, in turn, provides you more time to actually study your notes rather than cramming in as many books as you can at the last minutes. I've found that an average of two works per day got me through my list fairly quickly (I had already read or was familiar with about half of the 130 or so books on my major field list and notes I had on those sped up the process even more).