How to Answer Essay Questions – 10 Tips | By Marianne Wolff
One of the most difficult type of questions to answer is the essay question. Typically essay questions have a high point value on tests and sometimes they are the only kind of questions on the test. Sometimes essay questions are given on worksheets and homework assignments. College applications also use essay questions to screen students. Here are ten tips to improve your answer and hopefully your grade.
1. Essay topics are not just topics you can simply find the answer in the book. The teacher is usually looking for you to use the information in the books or notes as a basis to support the conclusions you make in your essay. You need to have a good understanding of the topic to be able to apply it to a problem i.e. the essay question.
2. Make sure you answer the essay question. Often students will write what they know about the topic in general but never actually answer the stated question
3. Make sure you stay on topic – Sometimes students in an effort to gain some credit will find a related topic they are familiar with and write about that. Their hope is that they will gain some points but usually teachers are wise to this technique.
4. Follow the five w’s – Who, what, when, where and why are all going to part of your answer. In constructing a response to an essay consider each of these aspects of the question.
5. If you are asked how two concepts are related or how they are different don’t respond with a simple yes or no answer i.e yes they are related or no they are not. Explain how the relationship came to exist or how it works. Give examples if you can.
6. If you are asked to compare and contrast make sure you do both. Write about how and why these topics or subjects are related and how and why they are different.
7. Sometimes you are asked to make a recommendation. Don’t get wishy-washy make your answer sound assertive. The teacher has asked for your opinion and actually in this case wants to hear it (see it). Make sure you support your decision with evidence. What do you know about the topic that will support your decision and help convince the reader of your essay that your recommendation is the right one.
8. If you copy text word for word from another source, cite that source. Otherwise you will be guilty of plagiarism.
9. If your teacher specifies a length for the essay, keep your essay close to that length. Writing more is not going to get you any more points and the teacher make take off for not following instructions.
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10. Follow the instructions – My father’s favorite quote was “If all else fails, follow the instructions.” So let’s say here “Don’t fail at all, read the instructions.”
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