Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 5

How to Present Answers in Bar Examination/ Law School Mid-Term Exam

Answering questions in the Bar Examination involves basically two aspect: (1)
form; an! (") substance# $he guielines provie are esigne to ensure that an
examinee may better communicate their answers# $hey coul also be useful in
answering exams at law schools as most of them prefer to imitate the bar
examination to prepare their stuents#
FORM
%orms refer to the physical presentation of the answer to appeal aesthetically
to the examiner# $hese inclue but are not limite to guielines for (1) margin!
inentation an proper punctuation! (") erasures! an (&) spacing# 'roper form is
necessary as you must min that an examiner will chec( the answers of multiple
examinees#
'roper margin shoul be observe in answering question at the bar exam#
Equal with shoul be use at both sies# %or example! if on the right sie! a margin
of one (1) inch is use! the with of the margin on the left sie shoul also be one
(1) inch# An examinee must train himself to write with invisible margin# )ome
examinees use a *+shape cut+out from acetate paper for mar(ing margins#
,owever! before using such! permission must be sought from the proctor# -orrect
punctutation must be observe in sentences! an the .rst sentence in a paragraph
must always be inente#
Erasures must be one by stri(ing through the answer intene to be erase#
/o not cross out your erasures# $his will be consiere as mar(ing your examination
boo(let# 0f no space is available for changes in your answer! inicate the page that
contain it# ,owever! some examiner may consier this as not following instruction#
1eave one space in between paragraph#
An examinee must always write concisely an clearly# )entences shoul
contain only about "2+"3 wors! while a paragraph shoul contain only about 4+12
lines# 0f longer sentences are neee! an examinee can use punctuations such as
comma an collon to express brea( in or continuity of thought#
$here is no nee to restate the whole question# %or example! in answering the
question 56ay an illegitimate chil of an alien mother an a naturali7e %ilipino
father acquire the citi7enship of his putative father85 instea of restating the
question in eclarative form! an examinee can simply state! 59es! the illegimate
chil can acquire the citi7enship of his father#5 $his way! unnecessarily consuming
space in your boo(let is avoie# :emember that each answer requires one page
which only contains 13 lines#
A sentence must always express a complete thought! but it must not be
absurly shortene# 0nstea of writing! 5,e run# ,e went to the /ean;s o<ce#5 write
5,e run to the /ean;s o<ce#5
A paragraph must contain coherent sentences organi7e uner a singular
topic# 0f the paragraph is about the legal basis of your answer! all sentences
containe in the paragraph must refer to the legal basis of your answer#
,igh+faluting wors must be avoie# $he use of simple wor is more
avisable as this ensures universal comprehesion# %or example! instea of 5pillori7e5
use the more familiar 5penali7e#5 :epeately using the same wor in a short answer
is not avisable#
,anwriting is also consiere in so far that it must be legible! an oes not
require unnecessary e=ort from the examiner to comprehen# %or consistency! an
examinee must answer only in one style! either in cursive or in print# >eep in min
that answer boo(lets use in the bar examination are similar to composition
noteboo(s# 9our hanwriting must be more roune to suit the spacing of the
boo(let# *se one color of in( throughout the examination# %ountain or sign pens are
the preferre writing implement in the bar#
/o not use abbreviation# *se 5shall not5 instea of 5shan;t#5 )imilarly!
acronyms for the )upreme -ourt such as 5)-5 is iscourage# 0n referring to the
)upreme -ourt! use 5-ourt5 or 5)upreme -ourt#5 6embers of the -ourt shoul be
referre with their respective title# 0f retire! write 5retire5 or 5former5 as in 5retire
?ustice :egalao#5 /o not be casual in referring to the @ustices by using their .rst
name# Arite 5?ustice -arpio+6orales5 an BC$ 5-onchita#5
Acronyms can be use if they are acceptable# %or example! 5*B5 is generally
unerstoo to refer to the 5*nite Bations#5 Ctherwise! full meaning of acronyms
must be presente .rst# %or example! use .rst 5$he 'onti.cal *niversity of )to#
$omas (*)$)5 after which you may procee to use 5*)$5 as its acronym#
Asie from possible technicalities! the goal of form is to ma(e your answers
as aesthetically pleasing as possible# 0t aims to eliminate istraction from the
substance of your answer# 'ut yourself in the place of the examiner# ,e will be
teiously chec(ing hunres of answers from the examinees for the next six
months# ,e is li(ely to be less incline to give his full attention to improperly
presente answers#
SUBSTA!E
$here are two ways of answering in the bar exams: (1) /irect attac(; an! (")
four+paragraph form# $he .rst is less time+extensive# ,owever! the secon one is
commonly use by bar+top notcher even though time+extensive#
Answers are recommene to be presente in four+paragraph form:
1# AB)AE:# :esponsive answer
"# 1EDA1 BA)0)# 0entify the relevant legal basis
&# A''10-A$0CB# Apply the legal basis to the question at han
E# -onclusion# :estatement of the responsive answer#
SAMPLE "UEST#O$
5May an illegitimate child of an alien mother and a naturalized Filipino father
acquire the citizenship of his putative father?"
)ubstance refers to the (1) responsive answer! (") legal basis! (&) logic an!
(E) grammar#
9our answer must be responsive to the question# 0t must provie the
information as(e in the question# 0f the question is answerable by 5yes5 or 5no5
answer it with either a 5yes5 or a 5no#5 0f the question calls for an enumeration!
enumerate; if for a e.nition! e.ne# $his shall be your .rst paragraph# %or
example! in answering the question you may answer it with 59es! the illegimate
chil can acquire the citi7enship of his father5 in your .rst paragraph#
9our legal basis is the law on which your answer is base# 0n law school! you
can not answer a question without legal basis# 0n bar examination! you are
expected but not required to cite the speci.c provision in the law# 0f your answer is
base on @urispruence! you may simply state 5*ner the prevailing 'hilippine
@urispruence#5 0t is of course! more commenable if an examinee can cite the
speci.c provison# $his forms your secon paragraph# 0n answering the question!
you may write 5*ner the present -onstitution! chilren born of %ilipino mother or
father are citi7ens of the 'hilippines5 or 5'aragraph "! section 1! Article 0F of the
present -onstitution states 5($he following are citi7ens of the 'hilippines) those
whose fathers or mothers are citi7ens of the 'hilippines#5
0n the thir paragraph! you must apply your legal basis to the facts of the
question# 9ou may answer 5)ince the illegitimate chil is born of a naturali7e
%ilipino father! uner the present -onsitution! the chil is a citi7en of the
'hilippines#5
9our conclusion is a restatement of your answer# 6a(e sure that they o not
contraict each other# 9ou may answer 5$herefore! the illegitimate chil can acquire
the citi7enship of his father#5
9our answer must be logical# $his means that it is coherent! oes not fall prey
to logical fallacy! an 5follows#5 $he most common mista(e in logic is non-sequitur
statements# An examinee must properly show how point A reaches point -! by going
through point B an plotting the connection between each point# Cutlining can
help you maintain coherence in your answers#
-orrect grammar must be observe# )u@ect+preicate agreement shoul be
followe# 0f you write in the 5present tense5 observe the 5present tense5 all through
out# -orrect spelling is highly encourage# Drammatical lapses reuce the
persuasive power of your answers as they show your wea( comman of the English
language# $his may istract the examiner from the substance of your answer an
can be a emerit against you#
0n case of oubt! (eep in min that these guielines are recommene to
facilitate ease of communicating your answer to the examiner#
BC$E:
Majority of the guidelines were culled from a lecture on egal !esearch" #he
example question was adapted from an assignment on the subject" $owever% they
are not entirely faithful to the lecture" #he writer too& liberty in transliterating it to
terms he can best understand" $e also added some insights of his own" 'ny defect
lies at his fault"
(ne of the more authoritative reference in writing is the styleboo& by )tuart
* +hite" 'n old edition can readily be downloaded from the ,nternet" !emember
that practice ma&es perfect"

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi