Genre
Study guide
Setting and Context
The text isn't set anywhere in particular, but anecdotes often take place within a university.
Narrator and Point of View
Fischl and Paul write from their point of view, offering advice they have accumulated from years of teaching.
Tone and Mood
The tone of the text is informative and conversational but also humorous in parts.
Protagonist and Antagonist
We might consider the reader (who is presumably a law student) the protagonist.
Major Conflict
The text is concerned with the conflict many students feel in revising for their law exams.
Climax
Each section has a "climax" in the sense that it has a conclusion, where Fischl and Paul summarize the advice given within that section.
Foreshadowing
The introduction to the text foreshadows many key ideas within the text, such as the common mistakes made by students.
Understatement
Fischl and Paul argue that students often understate what is required of them in their exams.
Allusions
The first section of the text is titled "You're Not in Kansas Anymore," which is an allusion to The Wizard of Oz.
Imagery
Imagery is used to describe the exams as being like a "battle."
Paradox
Fischl and Paul argue that many older students offer advice to first-year students, however paradoxically their seemingly helpful advice is often the exact thing that reduces student's grades.
Parallelism
The professors often compare a student who achieves top grades to students who just miss the mark, explaining why this might be the case.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
