Here is my take - the proof is in the pudding. Look at the passing answers on baressays - do they always have headings? No. One of my professors was a bar grader and his take was this - a bar grader will look at an essay and within seconds generally know if its a passing answer or not. Now, they'd still read it but it was just a glimpse and a gut reaction. This has nothing to do with headings. Headings CAN help - but just because you use a heading doesn't mean the content is sound.bacillusanthracis wrote:I thought the directions were pretty poor, but aside from that, who really knows what they wanted/want?Pema wrote:I've been looking at July 2017 PT answers. The memo asked for a persuasive letter. The responses are so varied its really amazing. I would think a letter looks like a letter regardless of content, no? About half the responses had huge bold wordy headings you would never see in a letter. The other half of responses were narratives with minimal headings (typical of a letter), and they scored higher. Why the disparity? Why the big headings in a letter? Is this unique to the Bar?
It's incredibly subjective and can vary greatly from grader to grader.
Due to bombing the MBE, my written didn't really matter. But at least two of my classmates failed by 5 points or less. Both, got into re-read, and if they'd been graded by that second person who graded just one of their essays, they would've passed.
One grader may want big headings and downgrade/not give points to someone who doesn't include those headings. The next grader may not care at all as long as its well organized and contains all the right stuff.
So... I guess I have nothing helpful to offer.
So, my focus would be on short simple headings that you outline the answer with prior to even writing. Then, focus all of your efforts on the content - identifying the right issues, drafting a robust rule statement and tying it all together with your analysis. Write in a lawerly way. Don't worry about comestic underlining, bolding and use of headings. Focus on content.