Answering Assignment Questions

In order to decide how to answer an essay question, you need to identify what the question requires in terms of content and genre. This guide outlines some methods to help you analyse essay questions.

Analysing a Question

Assignment questions can be broken down into parts so that you can better understand what you are being asked to do. It is important to identify key words and phrases in the topic.

Key Words

Key words are words in a question that tell you the approach you should take when answering an essay question.

• Task Words tell you what you have to do; the action(s) you need to perform.
• Limiting Words limit and define the essay, making it workable.
• Content Words tell you what the focus is and what you should write about.

Make sure you understand the meaning of all the key words in an essay question, especially the Task words. As Task words direct you and tell you how to go about answering a question, understanding the meaning helps you to know exactly what you have to do.

Limiting words define the scope of your assignment and take you halfway towards narrowing down your material and selecting your answer.

If you're not sure about any aspect of the question, ask your tutor/ lecturer for clarification. Never start any assignment until you know and understand exactly what you are being asked to do.

Using Key Words

Look for the keywords in your essay question and underline them. Spend some time working out what they mean. Use the Glossary of Task Words to help you.

An Example Question: Examine the changes computers have made to education 

Task Word: Examine
Task words indicate what you are being asked to do. They are usually verbs.

In the above question, the task word is examine. If you look up the definition in the glossary of task words, you will see that to examine (in an essay) means 'present in depth and investigate the implications'.

Limiting Words: education, computers
Focus words set and define the essay. They are usually about the topic area/s. Limiting words help you to focus your research and reading on the correct area, in this case on computers in education.

Content word(s): changes
Content words define the topic area further, indicating aspects of the topic you should narrowly concentrate on. For example, in this question, you should not just write about computers in education, but focus on describing the changes computers have made to education.

Implied or Complex Questions

Some assignment questions are more complex than the example above. They might have a number of parts or may not include a clear task word, which can make them appear confusing.

In order to understand what you must do, you need to work out your task by looking at the entire question. Look for clues in the limiting and content words and in the relationships between words and phrases.

Elements of Complex Questions

• Some questions consist of a statement or a proposition that requires a discussion. Such questions often provide a quotation or statement, followed by a task word such as 'discuss'.
• Other questions include a direction such as 'explain the significance' of' a given statement.
• Some questions include specific instructions. They might require you to include certain material, use specific sources or to take a particular approach. Make sure you follow these instructions.
• Other questions include guidelines as to the scope of the essay. They will specifiy a time period or location, or specify a framework for the discussion.
• Sometimes an assignment task consists of a number of related questions. There may be several parts to the question, including a number of task words or specific questions. In this case, you should make sure you address each part of the task, and also recognise the relationship and links between the different parts of the assignment when forming your conclusion.

Sample Questions

Read through the sample assignment questions below which are examples of implied tasks.

Questions which require a discussion or explanation:

'The ideal of human rights is not universal. Discuss.'

'Account for the economic success of the 'tiger' economies of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singpore and South Korea during the 1960s.'

Questions which imply a comparison and /or contrast:

'The development of ethics is as important to medicine as the development and use of antibiotics.'

Questions which ask for the cause and/or effect relationships to be exposed:

'Indigenous Australians experience lower levels of access to health services than the general population. Discuss the factors determining access.'

Questions which imply an opinion needs to be given:

'Why did the ideas of Martin Luther cause such an upheaval in 16th century Europe? Would there have been a Reformation without him? How would you measure the sucess of the lutheran Reformation? Give reasons for your view.'

Questions which imply evaluation:

'To what extent did the subcultural research project demonstrate that youth cultures were "counter-hegemonic"?'

'What traits distinguish Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism from each another? Has society influenced these religions or have these religions influenced society?'

What if I don't have a Question?

Some assignments let you choose a topic to explore within a particular framework or context. For example:

'Write a report on the significance of your chosen topic for the Engineering program.'

If you are given a general topic to research for an assignment, you need to form your own focus.

• First consider the current trends, issues or debates on the topic (this may require some preliminary research).
• Then form a focus question that indicates how you will approach the topic.
• You should also discuss your question with your tutor.

Next: Glossary of Task Words