Obviously this is different for everybody, but I have never gone into an English examination without having an essay/story memorised and in the trial exams which just passed I had my story and each essay memorised.
And yes, it worked a charm.
I guess the trick is, like some people have said, to be constantly thinking while writing the essay; every time there is an opportunity to relate your essay to the question or replace part of your essay with the question (quoting the question works well I find); do it.
The negative is that many people when they've memorised an essay kind of go into this trance in the exam room, writing it as fast as possible without actually thinking about WHAT they're writing/adapting it to the question.
But whatever works for you...
And yes, it worked a charm.
I guess the trick is, like some people have said, to be constantly thinking while writing the essay; every time there is an opportunity to relate your essay to the question or replace part of your essay with the question (quoting the question works well I find); do it.
The negative is that many people when they've memorised an essay kind of go into this trance in the exam room, writing it as fast as possible without actually thinking about WHAT they're writing/adapting it to the question.
But whatever works for you...