| Taken from the The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing. John D. Ramage, and John C. Bean eds. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. |
After you’ve determined the specific areas you will need to address, look for directive verbs that will tell you what to do: “discuss,” “identify,” or “illustrate,” for example. These verbs define the horizons of your response: some mandate detailed responses, others don’t; some ask for personal insights, others don’t; some, such as “list” and “construct,” even suggest the form your answer should take. Table 25.1 defines some key directives that frequently appear in essay exams and provides sample questions for each.* Meanings vary somewhat according to the course, the context of the question, and the professor’s expectations, but you’ll feel more confident if you have basic working definitions.
In some questions, directives are implied rather than stated directly. If a question asks, “Discuss the effects of Ronald Reagan’s tax policies on the U.S. economy during the 1980s,” you’ll need to summarize what those policies were before you can assess their effects. Before you can take a position on an issue, you have to define what the controversy is about. In general, when you answer any question, you should include sufficient background information about the topic to convince your instructor that you’re making an informed argument, whether or not the question specifically asks for background information.
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| TABLE 25.1 Some Common Question Verbs |
| Analyze—asks you to break an argument, concept, or approach into parts and examine the relations among them; discuss causes and effects; evaluate; or explain your interpretation or judgment. Look carefully at the rest of the question to determine which of these strategies to pursue in your response. Example: Analyze the various technical, acoustic, and aesthetic factors that might lead a musician to choose analogue over digital recording for a live performance. Be sure to include the strengths and weaknesses of both methods in your discussion. |
| Apply—asks you to take a concept, formula, theory, or approach and adapt it to another situation. Example: Imagine that you’ve been hired to re-engineer the management structure of a major U.S. automaker. How might you apply the principles of Total Quality Management in your recommendations? |
| Argue—asks you to take a position for or against an issue and give reasons and evidence to support that position. Example: Argue whether you believe that cloning should be pursued as a method of human reproduction. Be sure to account for the relationship between cloning and mitosis in your discussion. |
| Compare—asks you to note similarities between two (or more) objects or ideas. Example: Compare the leadership styles of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, focusing particularly on their uses of popular media and political rhetoric. |
| Construct—asks you to assemble a model, diagram, or other organized presentation of your knowledge about a concept. Example: Construct a model of the writing process that illustrates the major stages writers go through in developing an idea into a finished text. |
| Contrast—asks you to point out differences between two or more objects or ideas. Example: Contrast the use of religious imagery in Edward Taylor’s “Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children” and Anne Bradstreet’s “Before the Birth of One of Her Children.” Then identify and discuss some possible sources of these differences. |
| Critique—asks you to analyze and evaluate an argument or idea, pointing out and explaining both strengths and weaknesses. Example: Dinesh D’Souza’s “Illiberal Education” sparked widespread controversy when it was published in 1991. Write an essay critiquing D’Souza’s arguments against affirmative action, identifying both the strengths and the weaknesses of his position. Use examples from the text, class discussion, and other class readings to illustrate your points. |
| Define—asks you to provide a clear, concise, authoritative meaning for an object or idea. Your response may include describing the object or idea, distinguishing it clearly from similar objects or ideas, and providing one or more supporting examples. Example: How was “equality” defined by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)? How did that definition influence subsequent educational policy in the United States? |
| Discuss—asks you to provide a comprehensive presentation and analysis of important concepts, supported by examples or evidence. These questions generally require detailed responses, so be sure to cover several key points or to examine the topic from several perspectives. Refer to the rest of the essay question for more detailed guidelines about what information to include in your response. Example: Discuss the controversy that surrounded Stanley Milgram’s studies of authority and state your own position on the relevance and validity of the experiments. |
| Enumerate—asks you to list steps, components, or events pertaining to a larger phenomenon, perhaps briefly explaining and commenting on each item. Example: A two year old child falls from a swing on the playground and lies unconscious. As the head preschool teacher, enumerate the steps you would take from the time of the accident until the ambulance arrives. |
| Evaluate—asks you to make a judgment about the worth of an object or idea, examining both strengths and weaknesses. Example: Evaluate William Whyte’s “Street Corner Society” as an ethnographic study. What are its methodological strengths and weaknesses? Do you believe the weaknesses make Whyte’s research obsolete? |
| Explain—asks you to clarify and state reasons to show how some object or idea relates to a more general topic. Example: Explain the relationship of centripetal force to mass and velocity and give an example to illustrate this relationship. |
| Identify—asks you to describe some object or idea and explain its significance to a larger topic. Example: Identify the major phonetic characteristics of each of the following language groups of southern Africa, and provide illustrative examples of each: Koisan, Niger Kordofanian, and Nilo Saharan. |
| Illustrate—asks you to give one or more examples, cases, or other concrete instances to clarify a general concept. Example: Define “monopoly,” “public utility,” and “competition,” and give specific illustrations of each. |
| List—asks you to name a series of related objects or concepts one by one, perhaps briefly explaining each. Example: List the major sampling designs used in communications research and briefly identify their advantages and disadvantages. Which of these designs would you use to conduct a market test of a new children’s television program for Nickelodeon? Why? |
| Prove—asks you to produce reasons and evidence to establish that a position is logical, supportable, or factual. Example: Use your knowledge about the findings of the 1991 National Assessment of Educational Progress to prove either that (1) public schools are doing an adequate job of educating children to become productive U.S. citizens, or (2) public schools are doing an in adequate job of educating children to become productive U.S. citizens. |
| Review—asks for a quick survey or summary of something. Example: Review the major differences between Socrates’ conception of ethics and the ethical theories of his contemporaries in the fifth century B.C.E. |
| Summarize—asks you to lay out the main points of a theory, argument, or event in a concise and organized manner. Example: Summarize Mill’s definition of justice and explain how it differs from Kant’s. Which definition comes closest to your own, and why? |
| Trace—asks you to explain chronologically a series of events or the development of an idea. Example: Write an essay that traces the pathway of a nerve impulse through the nervous system, being sure to explain neuron structure, action potential, and the production and reception of neuro-transmitters in your discussion |
NOTES:
*[Ramage and Bean, the editors, thank] Michael C. Flanigan, who suggested the format and some of the terms for this table.