In law school, my criminal law professor only taught bar exam criminal law. We didn't study any theory or any criminal law statutes. Her day job was as a public defender and she moonlighted at the law school to keep herself eating tabouli and other rabbit foods.Like most public defenders, she was an entertaining presenter. To help us understand the nuances of each crime, not only did lecture, she would act the crimes out. She kicked down doors to illustrate a "breaking", tip-toed around the classroom to show "at night," and shouted "I'm going to kill you" at the top of her lungs to show intent.
For every crime, I had a mental picture of my professor kicking, tip-toeing, shouting, running, plotting or some other element she illustrated to us in class. For this reason, criminal law was my strongest section on the bar exam, despite spending the least amount of time studying for it.
Right around July 1st, you'll get tired of reading, outlining and staring at a computer. When this happens, invite a fellow examinee over and act out the crimes. Not only will you get a mental image of each crime, you'll have a few laughs while you learn.
