Disclaimer: This guide applies primarily to studying non-science subjects, especially history and literature.
This guide is intended to provide aspiring Quiz Bowlers with an understanding of how to study for Quiz Bowl.
Before you can start studying, you have to know what you want to study. This sounds simpler than it is; players will often research terms that are too broad or too narrow and either won’t remember all that they read or won’t find those terms ever coming up in a game. They key is to be specific, but not hyper-specific, and you have to balance the quantity of information you intend to remember about something with its general importance.
As an example, researching the American Revolution is not a good idea — there are too many famous people and events from that time period for you to learn everything you need to know just by reading a Wikipedia article. A better idea would be to start small and research specific battles or skirmishes, like the Boston Tea Party, and use those smaller theaters to build a collective, well-rounded understanding of the overall conflict.
For literature, you will unavoidably have to research entire books, so this is less of an issue. However, it still applies in some cases; it’s better to learn the summaries of 5 of Faulkner’s most important works before trying to tackle the author himself.
There is one primary method I advise everyone use when studying for Quiz Bowl, regardless of category or level of play. There is also a secondary, more time-consuming method I recommend for people who want to become really knowledgable in certain categories and explore new terms they may not be familiar with; this second method is complementary to the first, it does not replace it.
Standard Method
- Once you have selected your topic, search for it in a standard Quiz Bowl database (I prefer to use QuizDB). Try to use as few words from your term as possible in the search to avoid missing results that use a different phrasing.
- Record all of the important information that comes up regarding the term you searched. A good rule of thumb is that information is “important” if it appears for more than one question about the same term. For terms with few available questions, also write down anything you think is noteworthy. Do this for every question that appears in the search results.
- You will occasionally have information that seems contradictory, or is presented in different ways in different questions. It’s important to look this information up and clarify it so you don’t answer it incorrectly in a bonus part.
As an example, if I were to research the Battle of the Somme, I would write down the following information:
During this battle, a mine exploded at Hawthorne Ridge redoubt
Henry Rawlinson won a victory at Bazentin Ridge during this battle
This battle began with the Battle of Albert
High Wood was a key site of fighting during this battle
The Hindenburg Line was created following one side’s retreat from this battle
This battle saw the first deployment of the tank (Mark I)
Douglais Haig was nicknamed the “Butcher” of this battle for losing 60,000 troops
This battle was fought to relieve the pressure on the French at Verdun
He served as the Allied commander during the Battle of the Somme alongside Douglais Haig (answer: Ferdinand Foch)
The answer for the last note is not the Battle of the Somme, but rather Ferdinand Foch. This is because while it would be awkward to write a flashcard with “Ferdinand Foch was a commander in this battle” (since he fought in many battles), it is easier to remember his name and his connection to the Somme if you flip around the way the question is framed. This is an important part of remembering certain pieces of information for some topics.
In-Depth Method
- This method is primarily for supporting the information you learn from a Quiz Bowl database search with real information about a subject from a source dedicated solely to that subject. For non-literature terms, I recommend searching your topic in Wikipedia. For literature terms, you can use either Wikipedia or an online summary site like Sparknotes or Shmoop.
- When using Wikipedia, record all important information that you read just as you did with the database search. However, in this case the information won’t be repeated, so it’s up to you to determine what’s important and what isn’t. In general, dates and early life are not important, whereas specific events and accomplishments are. Also be on the lookout for unique and interesting side notes — writers like to include oddball facts in their questions.
- The key to taking full advantage of this approach is to use the Wikipedia article about your topic as a launching board to explore topics that are at least somewhat related to your current topic of interest. The most convenient way to do this is to open links to other pages that you encounter in your article in new tabs to read after you finish with your current article. This way, you obtain a holistic understanding of a subject as opposed to a single slice of it.
- It is important to note that this approach is not ideal for all terms. For example, the Battle of the Somme’s Wikipedia page is filled with specific details about sub-engagements and skirmishes that won’t come up in a question. In those cases it’s often best to skim or to find another source which provides a more brief overview of the most important facts about the battle.
Flashcarding
Now that you’ve recorded all of the important information about your topic, it’s time for every Quiz Bowler’s favorite activity: flashcarding! All jokes aside, flashcarding can seem like the most tedious part of studying for Quiz Bowl, and it often is. However, it is the most effective means to remember the information you record long-term, and just a little flashcarding a day can go a long way. I personally recommend using Mnemosyne, because it uses spaced repetition to help optimize your learning, but you’re free to use alternatives like Quizlet or Anki.
To make flashcards, simply translate each of the notes you wrote into a card with a singular clue on the front and the answer line on the back. WARNING: Do not attempt to cram multiple clues onto one card so as to reduce the amount of cards you need to write! You will run through cards faster but will remember less information from them. It is important that each card have a unique, important, and generally interesting factoid on it that can be remembered on its own. You will want to categorize cards using different tags so as to study different sets of related cards together at the same time.
That’s all there is to it! Studying for Quiz Bowl isn’t a difficult process, but it takes a lot of discipline to keep at it consistently. If you learned only 3-5 new things every day, you’d be able to master almost the entire literature cannon within a year. However, mastery isn’t just about writing all of this information down, but also about keeping it fresh in your memory by reviewing flashcards often.
There are also many other important and valuable ways of studying for Quiz Bowl, like reading books, watching videos, and just practicing questions. An effective Quiz Bowl player will balance multiple studying methods to learn information about different topics in the most efficient way possible.
