Student Resources

Succeeding in Composition

Interpreting Writing Assignments

Writing assignments and essay exam questions generally offer "prompts" or clues that indicate

1. Why you are writing the essay (your purpose),
2. How the essay should be organized,
3. How long the essay should be,
4. What format the essay should be written in,
5. To whom the essay should be addressed (your audience).

Highlight or underline these words or phrases, and refer to them when you are developing your essay so that you stay on track.

1. PURPOSE PROMPTS
Many writing prompts begin with "Explain" or "Discuss," which signal that the essay should go beyond reporting and have an instructive quality, offering definitions, descriptions, and illustrations of key concepts and relationships of ideas that are essential to readers who are unfamiliar with the topic.

Along with explaining, your purpose may include

• "illustrating" a concept with one or more examples;
• "identifying" what something is or what is most important;
• "defining" a concept;
• "reporting" the facts or details of a concept;
• "convincing" or "persuading" an audience to see your perspective on an issue;
• "moving" an audience to take action;
• "exploring" an idea or personal belief or experience;
• "interpreting" the meaning or significance of a concept or event,
• "summarizing" or "outlining" the main points and essential details of a reading;
• or "evaluating" or "analyzing" the quality or effectiveness of a product or idea.

2. ORGANIZATIONAL PROMPTS
Below is a list of some possible essay prompts, categorized according to their implied organizational focus. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, and these prompts are rather vague, demonstrating only their possible language. Also note that most essays require more than one of these organizational strategies to convey meaning, develop ideas, and create coherence.

Classification/Division:

• In what category does this concept belong?
• Distinguish between category 1 and category 2. (To answer this prompt you would also want to define, or describe, the categories, perhaps by comparing and contrasting them either in your prewriting or essay itself.)

Compare:

• How are these similar? What are their differences?
• Compare these two ideas.

Contrast:

• Differentiate between these two ideas.
• How are these two concepts different?

Cause and Effect:

• Why is this true, or correct?
• Justify the use, behavior, or reaction of. . . .
• How might this idea be proven accurate?
• What events influenced the existence of this concept? (cause only)
• Why did this occur, or come about? (cause only)
• What were the effects of this action/concept? (effect only)
• Describe, or explain, what happens when . . . (effect only)

Definition:

• What does this concept mean?
• Write a definition of this concept.
• Define this concept.
• After reading these two essays, how would you define this concept? (This type of question asks you to create a definition within a particular context.)

Description:

• What are the outstanding features or characteristics of . . .?
• Describe an event, or situation. (You will probably want to use some narration here.)
• What did you observe?

Evaluation/analysis:

• Evaluate how well. . . .
• Critique this reading. . . .
• What are the arguments for and against this topic?
• Analyze the use of . . . .
• Which of these is stronger or better? Why?
• Comment upon . . .

Argumentation:

• Take a position for or against this subject.
• Argue for or against. . . .
• Should this be the case? Why or why not?
• Write an essay to persuade/convince your audience that . . .
• Write an essay to move your audience to. . . .
• What is the problem? How might it be solved?

Narration: (Good narration include some description.)

• Write an essay about your experience or another's experience.
• Write a short narration about . . . .
• Narrate the events . . .
• Write an expressive essay, recounting your experiences. . . .

Process Analysis: (To explain, or describe, a process, you will take a chronological, step-by-step, approach and may need to consider the cause and effect of some elements.)

• Describe how/explain how. . . .
• Describe/trace the development of . . .
• How did this come about?

Summary

• What are the important ideas in this reading?
• Briefly, explain the main idea.
• Outline the major points and essential details of. . . .

3.ESSAY LENGTH PROMPTS
The minimum or maximum length of the essay is generally stated overtly in the assignment. And these prompts generally take one of two forms: the length of the essay is described by the number of pages or by the number of words.

Number of Words
If your essay is written on a computer, you can estimate the word count of each double-spaced page as 250 words, so a double-spaced type-written essay of 1,000 words will equal approximately 5-6 pages.

You can check the word count of your essay by selecting the "word count" function from your "tools" menu in such word processing programs as Microsoft Word. If your essay's word count is a bit high, say 20-30 words, you might try revising your essay for conciseness by deleting unnecessary words and repetition, rewriting sentences from passive to active, or trying other strategies covered in the "Effective Sentences" section (chapters 8-12) of your Harbrace. If your essay is dramatically longer or shorter than the required word count, be sure to ask your instructor whether you should cut down or further develop your essay.

Number of Pages
In this case, you will be able to judge the length of your essay by simply counting the number of typed pages. (A handwritten essay may take up to twice as many pages as a type-written one.) Check for indications such as "maximum," "minimum," "no more than," and "no less than" so that you meet the essay requirements. If the assignment asks you to write 5 pages, you can bet that this is the minimum number of pages. But, it may be an estimation. So, ask your instructor about the parameters of these instructions. And always ask your instructor before you go over set limits.

4. DOCUMENT FORMAT PROMPTS
Always check for instructions about formatting your essay. Your instructor may request that your essays be type-written and double-spaced, rather than handwritten, or that you use MLA or APA style for researched papers. Most instructors will deduct from your grade if you hand in a paper that appears in the wrong format or uses the inappropriate documentation style, so check the format of your paper when you proofread.

You may also want to mark the guides to MLA or APA style (chapter 34) in your Harbrace, and perhaps chapter 26 on "Document Design" as well, so that you can quickly refer to them when you are writing and proofreading your essay.

5. AUDIENCE PROMPTS
Often the writing assignment will include some indication about the intended audience of the essay you will write. For instance, the assignment may ask you to write an essay about the importance of immunizing children to a nursing student, to single-mothers, or to a congressman. Each of these audiences will benefit from an alternate approach to the subject: the nursing student will understand medical jargon, but the single-mother and congressman probably will not. And, in an essay to a congressman, you might want to emphasize immunization as a way of saving future medical costs but focus on immunization as a critical part of children's personal health when addressing single-mothers.

Pay close attention to the audience that you are to address and consider their experiences (including their level of education, gender, age, and economic status) and their values when deciding how to approach the topic. If your instructor does not specify a particular audience, ask whether the instructor has a suggested audience or whether you can choose your own audience. Defining your audience will help you focus your essay and create a consistent tone, register of language, and series of evidence. If you are allowed to chose your own audience, you might then consider writing the audience of your paper after your name and course information at the top of the page or, if you are using APA style, on the cover page.