Coming up with examples

[Jeanette]

Anyone want to share how they come up with specific examples when writing about some random topic? I don't want to sound foolish by quoting people or mentioning events and finding out that I got the details wrong. When I write an actual paper I'll come up with examples but then I'll go back and check sources to make sure what I'm writing is accurate. One of the GRE books suggests thinking of your favorite book/area of research/quotation/historical figure and somehow fitting it in--won't it sound awkward if you're trying to make your quote fit the topic rather than the other way around?

[maple_leaf]

Originally Posted by Jeanette

One of the GRE books suggests thinking of your favorite book/area of research/quotation/historical figure and somehow fitting it in--won't it sound awkward if you're trying to make your quote fit the topic rather than the other way around?

I think that's one of the ways, but perhaps not the most effective one. I try to think of a book/tv show/quotation that will be related to the relevant topic. If I can't think of any, I just use anecdotes ( I have to get advice on whether it's appropriate to do so).

[Jeanette]

Personal anecdotes? Or anecdote that you remember from history or the news etc? I don't think personal anecdotes would go over well, but if they came from some official source then that's probably okay.

What I'm thinking of doing now is reading through the NYT the day before the test and taking notes on all the main stories in all the categories: world events, science, art, etc. So whatever topic they hit me with I'll have something current that I can work it in with.

[geek_goddess]

mmm.. I dunno. It's likely to stress you out during the exam if you want to remember a particular example from NYT and can't, when it isn't really required. Princeton Review gives silly advice anyway, that many people follow, and there will probably be a lot of essays quoting Hamlet and the like

I usually like to use examples which are very particular, from my subject, or from my interests- usually I find it easy to give an artist as an example for originality or social involvement, or a particular discovery in physics for knowledge. Then I can be sure that my example fits in, because I know it well. I like to start with the example, and refer to it again at the end.

It is also easy to 'paraphrase', when you can't remember a quote directly.

But then again, my writing scores are less important for me than my quant, so I'm not trying too hard.