Reading and Writing for the Bar Exam - New

7/30/2019 Reading and Writing for the Bar Exam - New

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READING AND WRITING FOR THE BAR EXAMINATION

I. CHOOSING A REVIEW CENTERA. Choose a review center which has a good schedule of subjects, minimal

discrimination (for the provincianos), and of course, low enrolment fee;B. A review center which is near to your dorm or place and the examination

center (La Salle) is better. This is to avoid traffic jams and wasted time;

C. A well known review center is not a guarantee that you will pass the bar.The measure of your success is how well you were able to prepareyourself for the examination. It is suggested that one that is convenient toyou and offers fair memory aids and materials;

D. In any case, measure each option according to its advantages anddisadvantages;

II. CHOOSING A PLACE TO STAYA. You should be near to your review center, place of examination and

immediate help;B. Well ventilated and lighted, peaceful;

C. With labandera to wash for your clothes and someone who will bepreparing your meals or a nearby eatery, canteen or restaurant;

III. PREPARATIONA. Prepare a timetable and strictly observe it.

Example of a timetable: (if your pre pre-bar review is one year prior to bar exam)1-2-3-2(3) [mirror technique (martial arts?) integrated]1 month per subject; 2 weeks per subject; 3 and 2 (or 3, without rest onSaturdays) days per subject;

1 month per subject (Sept. to Apr.: 8 bar subjs. 8 months) [comprehensive]Sep: Political Law

Oct: Labor LawNov: Civil Law (can be extended and overlapped with other subjects)Dec: Taxation LawJan: Mercantile LawFeb: Criminal LawMar: Remedial Law

Apr: L.E. and P.E. (can be shortened to just few weeks to accommodate R. Law)

2 weeks per subject (May to Aug.: 8 bar subjs. 4 months) [focus: frequently asked barquestions and legal provisions; fast paced]

1st and 2nd weeks of May: Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises (can beshortened to 1 week to accommodate Remedial Law)3rd and 4th weeks of May: Remedial Law

1st

and 2nd

weeks of June: Criminal Law3rd and 4th weeks of June: Mercantile Law1st and 2nd weeks of July: Taxation Law3rd and 4th weeks of July: Civil Law1st and 2nd weeks of Aug.: Labor Law3rd and 4th weeks of Aug.: Political Law

3 days per subject (September: 8 bar subjs. 20 days) [focus: frequently asked barquestions orlegal provisions; fast paced]

1st Sunday Mon. to Tue: Labor Law (or Mon. to Wed.)1st Sunday Wed. to Fri.: Political Law (or Wed. To Sat.); Sat. rest (optional)2nd Sunday Mon. to Tue.: Taxation Law2nd Sunday Wed. to Fri.: Civil Law; Sat. rest (optional)

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rd

Sunday Mon. to Tue.: Criminal Law3rd Sunday Wed. Fri.: Mercantile Law; Sat. rest (optional)4th Sunday Mon. to Tue.: L.E. and P.E.4th Sunday Wed. to Fri.: Remedial Law; Sat. rest (optional)

B. Worry only about meeting your timetable (without jeopardizing your studyquality) and nothing else. Congratulate yourself if you have met yourtimetable.

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C. Be mentally and physically active during the hours you should be takingthe examination and study on these hours.

D. Do not study with a full stomach. Eat only when the need arises.E. Do breathing exercises if you are feeling sleepy when studying. Ten deep

inhales and exhales every time will help. Others suggest psychotropic

substances help such as those in cigarettes, coffee or chocolates.F. Get a hold of those materials which are substantially complete but notlengthy. One or two reviewers each subject with memory aids will do. Amaterial is useful for review if it can answer most questions or problemsposed.

G. Do not study depending only on the subjects weight. A subject that isoverlooked or disregarded might fail you.

H. ReadAnswers to Bar Qs by the UP Law Center. Be careful to note theapplicable laws and jurisprudence each examination year, how a problemis phrased or worded and answered.

I. Read recent SC decisions 2 (or 5) years prior. Note especially the

landmark, novel etc., cases and highlight the gist.J. Note and mark the frequently asked bar questions (objective and problemtype), and codal provisions. When time constrained, study only these.

K. Some recommend that you have to memorize what you do notunderstand, others, understand what you cannot memorize. You canchoose which one that suits you.

L. It is not uncommon that there are questions in the examination that arespecially designed to rattle you. Expect also far-fetched, unrelated, unfairor erroneous (creatively prepared) questions.

M.A legible handwriting (observing proper margins), a correct grammar andlogic, and reasonable opinion on the question might save you if you are

not sure with your answer.N. Have a time to unwind.O. Call to your Divine Providence whenever possible.

IV. EXAMINATION PROPERA. Sleep and wake up early.B. Eat light breakfast specially the one you are used to.C. Check whether you have with you all the necessary things to bring.D. Dress comfortably, reserve a jacket and wear waterproof shoes.E. Do writing warm-ups.F. Reading at this moment will generally not help you anymore, but others

suggest otherwise;G. Do not argue with your fellow examinees or with whomever about what

you or they know, or at least not this moment.H. Observe proper sitting posture to avoid back pains.I. If you are feeling nervous or tired, do breathing exercises.J. If not answering, rest your arms and hands.K. In each Sunday of the examination, you have 4 hours in the morning (240

minutes = 12 minutes each item in a 20 question examination) and 3hours in the afternoon (180 minutes = 9 minutes each item in a 20question examination). Reserve 3 to 5 minutes (included in the 9 or 12minutes per item) to mentally arrange the answer in your mind, and thenwrite with normal speed to avoid erasures.

L. After you are done, leave the examination premises quickly and keep toyourself what happened inside the room.

V. READING FOR THE BAR EXAM (Read this before you ignite for review)A. Memorization

- To help you memorize, picture the words into images and relate it toeach other by linking. Having it in mind will help you remember the



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definition, enumeration etc. Or you may try memorizing the keywords in adefinition or phrase;

- When using mnemonics, each letter of the alphabet should have acorresponding similar sounding word. Example: A ace; B - bee etc.

The letter mnemonic should be the keyword of the definition or paragraph.This is because if you forget the exact word in the definition or phrase, bypronouncing the letter-word equivalent, you can at least guess theforgotten word;

- Take a 2 to 10 minutes rest after 1 hour of reading. This will help you tosort things out. Reading for long hours without breaks may drain you.

After the 2 to 10 minutes break, have a quick review and preview of whatyou have learned, and then continue your study.

Example: 8:00 9:00: Articles 2 30, Civil Code

9:00 9:10: Break (rest your mind)9:10 9:15: Quick Review and Preview9:15 Start of the new topic

B. Speedreading and speedlearning

- Fast readers read chunks of information at a time. This means they reada few words at a time instead of word by word. By reading in chunks, youwill learn to be a faster reader.

- Try to picture what you read. If the text refers to a 'bear', think of a bear.

Picturing things will help you remember and understand what you read.

- Try not to say the words in your head when you are reading. This willslow you down.

- To save time, read quickly the material and mark the importantkeywords (words! specially the nouns and verbs or if not practicablesimple phrases). After quick reading, you can assess the material whetherit is worth reading at all, otherwise, proceed to the next topic or material;

- Remember that the reason why you are reading the material is to find theanswer in the examination;

To read fast and comprehend fast1. Procedure

a. Strategies to speed read. (or use the software RocketReader)

i. One factor in slow reading is subvocalization.The process is that, if we are reading silently, ourthroat muscles betray very subtle electrical signalsfrom our brain, as if these are being engaged inspeaking. Our reading speed is thus largely controlledby our speaking rate. You could try reading aloudfaster, using the same material you tested on, andyou will encounter certain barriers to the process ofspeeding up, such as your ability to pronounce thewords and control the movement of your eyes line by



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line without skipping. This exercise demonstrates thatwe can only go so far if our approach is rapid speech.

To break this habit, you can read while uttering aseries of letters or numbers (my suggestion is hum a

song or a nursery rhyme while reading). With this,your mind is forced to focus on the printed text andabstract the ideas directly. (The fact is that theprocessing speed of the mind is much faster thaneither silent reading or oral reading speed. Thus, thefaster you read, the faster you process.)

ii. Another factor depends on some of ourphysical and mental aspects of the reading act. Werealize that attention, emotion and cognition havestrong effects on the reading rate. If you are alert and

fully concentrated on the task of reading, your readingrate goes higher. While to some extent you cancondition your mind to becoming alert and focused, italso helps to work on to your reading setup. Yourposture should be erect, from your buttocks to the topof your head, your head and shoulders relaxed, yourheads raised up and positioned very slightly forward(following the Alexander technique). This is a naturalposture of your upper body assumes when you arealert and attentive, and by a neat psychological trick,this is also the posture that induces alertness and

attention.

The setting for your reading also matters. A straight-backed chair with armrests and a table at a standardheight (about 29 inches from the floor) is prescribed.

A chair with a small adjustable support for the small ofthe back is even better. You may also use abookstand to keep the plane of the pageperpendicular to your to your sightline, and keep yourhands and arms from getting tired (You can also dothis when you are already taking the examination).Natural light through the windows, coupled withfluorescent lighting, provides good illumination forreading. If you use a reading lamp, position it suchthat its light strikes the text from the left (alsoprescribed for writing). An ambient sound may alsohelp you relax but choose the sound that will not putyou to sleep, or get your attention away from yourreading (such as popular songs like Wowowee).Instrumental music which has the tempo of about onebeat per second has been proven to induce alphawaves in the brain, which signify a kind or relaxedalertness.

If you are interested in the text, you tend to readfaster and understand better. To induce this, try to becurious about or even intrigued by the information inthe text. Another is to react emotionally (positive) tothe text, even if it is non-fiction. Feeling happy abouthaving learned something is a good combination of



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curiosity and positive emotional reaction. Thenegative emotions have to be avoided though,because they tend to bring down yourcomprehension.

VI. WRITING FOR THE BAR EXAMA. Discourse1. Unity

a. Focus on a particular topic. All ideas should be relevant to themain point.

b. Length of answer should be a function of generality orcomplexity. Do not at the outset think of filling up three or fivepages of writing, rather, think of ideas you would like tocommunicate in the piece of writing and their sufficientdevelopment would determine the length of your text.

NOTE, however, if the examiner asks for a brief answer orexplanation.

2. Integritya. Text communicates your intended meaning completely such

that your reader will be able to comprehend and evaluate yourtext by itself.

b. Adequate development. Answer should be supported.

3. Cohesivenessa. Answer should read smoothly.

i. Use transitions1. Coordination joining equal or related ideas2. Subordination joining ideas and clarifying the

relationships between ideas of unequalimportance

ii. Words that can be used:Examples:

TIME RELATIONSHIPfirst, second, third later, nownext, last duringbefore, finally earlier

finally after meanwhile then

SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPoutside beforeinside aheadbeyond beneathbehind near here above

COMPARISON OR CONTRASThowever neverthelessyet in like manner likewise on the contrarysimilarly insteadnonetheless conversely

CAUSE AND EFFECTthus sothen because of therefore on the account of as a result since



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accordingly consequently

ADDITIONalso secondbesides as welltoo in additionmoreover furthermore

EMPHASISindeed in other wordsin fact especiallyeven

EXAMPLESfor instance as an illustrationfor example that isnamely in particular also

COORDINATING DEVICESCoordinating conjunctions Correlative Conjunctions

and but either or or nor neither nor yet so not only but also

Conjunctive adverbs; nevertheless, ; moreover,; consequently, ; otherwise,; however, ; indeed,

SUBORDINATING WORDSComparisons

As though just asAs if as much as

As well as

Addition or identificationThat whereWhich whomWho whose

Time relationshipsAfter untilWhenever whenBefore whileSince as soon as

Cause and effectBecause whether So that provided thatIn order that

ContrastsThough whereas although

NB: use coordination and subordination inmoderation, in logical places, and at appropriatetimes.

b. Succeeding developers should be relevant with supportingdetails.- Good for explaining

B. The Form of Answer1. Use of syllogism (deductive reasoning)

- Establishing a general principle and then drawing conclusionsabout specific situations, facts, examples etc.



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a. Example

All Bicolano dishes are spicy. (Major premise)Bicol Express is a Bicolano dish. (Minor premise)Bicol Express is spicy. (Conclusion)

Deconstruction:

Bicolano dishes spicy(subj.) (pred.) (Major premise)(Middle term) (Majorterm)

Bicol Express Bicolano dish(subj.) (pred.) (Minor premise)(Minorterm) (Middle term)

Bicol Express spicy (conclusion)(subj.) (pred.) (The sweet marriage

(Minorterm) (Majorterm) of minor and majorterms)

NB: The orders in which premises and conclusions arestated are not significant from the point of view of logic.Frequently, the premises come first, and the conclusionfollows. But it is also common for the conclusion to appear inthe first sentence and the premises after it. Sometimes theconclusion precedes in a one-sentence argument. Whenarguments offer several premises in support of theirconclusions, those premises maybe given numbers, orletters, or they maybe enumerated as first, second third, etc.,or otherwise indicated through the use of premise indicators.(ex. since, because, for as, for the reason that, etc.). It isalso not necessary that the conclusion be at the beginning orat the end of the argument. It maybe sandwiched betweendifferent premises offered in its support.

i. An example of syllogism used in Answers To BarExaminations Questions by U.P. Law Center

Rosa is correct because the donation is void.

The property donated is an immovable. For suchdonation to be valid, Art. 749 of the NCC requires thatthe donation and the acceptance to be in a publicinstrument.

There being no showing that Amandas acceptancewas in a public instrument, the donation is void.

ii. Other examples

APPLICABLE LAWS:

Art. 40. Birth determines personality, but the conceivedchild shall be considered born for all purposes that arefavorable to it, provided that it be born later with all theconditions specified in the following article.

Art. 41. For civil purposes, the fetus is considered born ifit is alive at the time it is completely delivered from themothers womb. However, if the fetus had an intra-


Conclusion

Major Premise

Minor Premise


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uterine life of less than seven months, it is notconsidered born if it dies within twenty-four hours afterits complete delivery from the maternal womb. (CivilCode)

Facts: After seven months of conception, W gave birth to a dead babygirl.

Question: Did the child acquire personality?

Answer: No.

(Conclusion): The child did not acquire civil personality.

(Major premise): Under the Civil Code, birth determines personality, butthe conceived child is considered born if it is alive at the time it iscompletely delivered from the mothers womb.

(Minor premise): The child was not alive at the time of its delivery fromthe maternal womb; it was born dead.

Another example:

APPLICABLE LAW:

Art. 4. Criminal liability. Criminal liability shall be incurred:

1. By any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful actdone be different from that which is intended.

2. By any other person performing an act which would be an offenseagainst persons or property, were it not for the inherent impossibilityof its accomplishment or on account of the employment ofinadequate or ineffectual means. (RPC)

Facts: A was waiting for B with the intention of killing him. He later sawC, believing him to be B, he fired upon and killed c, whom he had not theslightest idea of hurting.

Question: Is A criminally liable for the death of C?

Answer: Yes.

(Major premise): Under the law, criminal liability is incurred by anyperson committing a felony even if the wrongful act be different from that

which he intended.

(Minor premise): While A had no intention of killing C, the act of firing atand killing a person whom he assumed to be another person constituteda felony.

(Conclusion): A is criminally liable for the death of C.

2. Avoid begging the question/ repeating the question ***- Begging the question or circular reasoning occurs when the

examinee attempts to use the pattern of cause and effectreasoning. Thus, the examinee ends up saying something like:

I am happy because I am contented.orHe is wealthybecause he has a lot of money. You must answer the questionposed and not simply express it in slightly different language.

3. Brief but concise- Without being too terse or curt, use the shorter forms to express

your meaning.



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4. Direct and clear- State your point directly.- When explaining, assume that the reader do not know anything

about the topic. In other words, explain thoroughly, unless told

otherwise but without being wordy.

C. Answering Certain Types of Questions1. Compare

- Focus on similarities. Informative for items which are thought tobe different, such as discussion on the common features.

Example: social security from union security clause

2. Contrast- Focus on differences. Informative for items that are usually

perceived as similar to each other.

Example: ordinary partnership from implied partnership

3. Distinguish (either compare or contrast)- Determine if the principles, words, clauses etc., to be

distinguished are similar or different with each other thenproceed to compare or contrast. If you are not sure, distinguishby their definition.

4. Define

- Define a word, clause, principle etc, by how the law defines it. Ifyou can not remember the definition, define by how youunderstand the word, clause or principle. Use the proper wordsand terms.

5. Explain/Discuss- Succeeding developers should be relevant with supporting

details.- Impress the examiner by what you know, and with humility.

6. Problem type fact centered- Get only the relevant facts. Apply the relevant law/s to the facts.

Use the prescribed form of an answer.

7. Enumerate- If your answer is incomplete, enumerate in paragraph form.

--

Bibliography

Answers to Bar Examination Questions in Civil Law 1975-2000. 2001. UP Law Center:Quezon City.

Applied Logic. 2001. Unknown source.

Grammar and Composition. 1990. Mass.: Prentice Hall.

Buzan, Tony. 1986. Use Your Memory. London.



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Malicsi, Jonathan. 2000. The ELP Writing and Reading Strategies. Philippines: QuezonCity.


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