Learning Quotes

[Adagio]

I'm not sure this thread belongs here, I wasn't too sure where to post it. Anyways, I have a closed text A-level examination in January on Austen's Emma. I was wondering if any of you guys know good methods of drilling quotes into your head? I need to remember many quotes, and the exam being a closed text means I don't get a book (what a pain). Any suggestions?

[Mr. Vandemar]

Write them down. It usually takes me about a page of the quote (22 times).

Then I just read it over...and I'm good.

It's a huge waste of time, but it works.

[LitNetIsGreat]

You could also add visual images to help too.

[AmmieMarie]

Write them down. It usually takes me about a page of the quote (22 times).

Then I just read it over...and I'm good.

It's a huge waste of time, but it works.

I also find this method the most effect for me.

[LitNetIsGreat]

You could also add visual images to help too.

OK, seeing as I am obsessed with memory at the mo, it seems, I will show you what I mean. Say you want to recall the first two lines of Shakespeare's sonnet no.1:

From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose will never die

What you do is to pick out the keywords from each line. In the first line I would take "fairest creatures" and the word "increase." What you could do is imagine a field of cows happily munching away in a field and a farmer choosing two of the fairest creatures to breed with. Then all of a sudden the two cows magically increase into four, complete with a loud popping sound, (thus using your visual and auditory senses). This should be enough to remember the first line.

In the next line you imagine a large bowler hat which rhymes with that in the middle of the field. This gives your memory the first word. The key words of "beauty's rose" is very easy to remember by imagining a wild, vivid rose, magically appearing out of the ground and it flies into the sky never dying. You then have your second line. Easy.

I used this method when I had to recite this sonnet and give a short speak about it for a class. That was two years ago, but the complete sonnet is still lodged in my mind quite easily, though the "filmic image" I used fades away as it is no longer needed for recall. Also the farming imagery help to remind me to talk about how this sonnet at the start is very practical, a farm-like sort of piece. It talks of choosing a mate on a very practical level as the narrator tries to convince the "young man" to settle down and to propagate the species. The image of the rose is of course universally associated with love and somewhat allows for the practicalities of life to lead to genuine love and passion in a loving relationship. So I used the images not only to remember the poem, which I did, easily, but it also helped me to remember the commentary I gave upon the poem.

Simple.

[dafydd manton]

'Tis said that writing something once is as good as reading it seven times, so it's time to get out the old quill, me bucko. All the best with it!

[lit4fun]

Simply write down the quote try to memorize it, put it away for about an hour. Then go back to it write down who said the quote and what they were talking about at the time. Use this as your study guide when trying to recall your quotes.

[Dori]

Read it aloud until you are utterly bored of it. Then write it down until you are utterly bored of it. That way, not only do you say and write the quote, you also hear it and see it. If you want to, lick the paper you wrote the quote on.

The last part won't work usually, but the rest should.

[Lokasenna]

This may sound slightly barmy, but it certainly helps me. Print off copies of whatever you wish to memorise, and (assuming you have one - you might need to improvise!) stick them on the outside glass of the shower door. Think about the amount of time you spend in the shower, and with nothing really to occupy your mind while you do so - it sounds mad, but it does work!