A1 - Understanding what the QUESTION wants you to do
You may have written a decent essay, but you lost track of what the task was asking for.
You may have written a summary instead of an analysis. You may have just told the facts, when you were supposed to draw conclusions about them. You may have been a reporter, rather than a commentator. You may have just “talked about” the topic, rather than responding to a specific question about it. If you were asked to “compare and contrast,” you may have discussed each topic separately, rather than bringing them together for comparison purposes.
Look again at your question or assignment. Identify the key words that tell you what to do.
Practice: Understanding what the QUESTION wants you to do
Rx Write is written by Amy Benjamin. © 2004. Eye on Education. Larchmont, New York. Used with permission.