Custom essays, dissertations, coursework & essay help from the UK's original custom essay writing services provider

Home Contact Bookmark Translation Login

Order your custom essays today - click here...

Essay Questions - Education

We have now opened up part of our database to give you access to our free essay questions and essay topics. Please remember to use these as research material and reference them if you use any quotes.

Interpret an education essay question...

Interpreting education essay questions is a skill that can easily be acquired. The key to doing this is in understanding the variety of expectations that are expressed in a given essay question. Each essay question is worded to garner a specific response from the student.

Understanding how to interpret education essay questions begins with understanding the form of the specific question. Each form will demand a different response and will also give specific cues as to how the question should be answered.

It is easy to decipher the form of an essay question if you look for the verb prompt in the question. This verb prompt will tell you what the purpose of the question is and what to do in order to answer it correctly. A verb prompt is an action or instruction word, such as discuss, describe, analyse, explain, contrast or compare. By locating the verb you will know what sort of action to take when responding to the question.

Some of the most common verb prompts used in an education essay question are:

  • Account for: Here you state reasons to support a specific topic or argument.

  • Analyse: When asked to analyse you will need to offer a detailed study of the subject matter, identifying key points and characteristics, critically responding to the subject and giving specific examples to support your case.

  • Argue: Here you are asked to put forward an argument or adopt a position on a given subject. To argue successfully, you will need to consider the pros and cons of the subject and give practical and theoretical examples to illustrate and support your position.

  • Assess: Here you are asked to closely examine a given topic or situation, discuss the pros and cons or strengths and weaknesses, and make a judgement based on what you have written.

  • Clarify: Here you are asked to simplify an argument or proposition in order to shed light on its meaning and significance.

  • Comment: When asked to comment you are being asked for your opinion on the subject matter. You will also have to support your opinion with relevant examples and evidence.

  • Compare: Here you simply place two or more things side by side in order to ascertain the similarities and differences between them.

  • Consider: This word simply asks you to reflect on a given topic, offering thoughts that are informed by practical and theoretical observations.

  • Contrast: In a similar fashion to the 'compare' form of essay question, this one asks you to consider two or more things, but the emphasis is on the differences between them, though there may also be similarities.

Six steps towards interpreting an education essay question.

  1. Always begin by reading the question in full before you do anything else. This will give you a general idea of the focus of the question.

  2. Read again, more closely this time, and locate the key words and phrases. This will help you identify the purpose of the essay and what you need to do in order to answer the question correctly.

  3. Look for the verb prompt or instruction word. Circle it. Remember these are words such as; analyse, describe, discuss, compare and examine.

  4. Look for the key words. Underline them. These words might refer to an educational theory or method, a theorist, a classroom situation, or a task that you might need to complete, such as a lesson plan.

  5. Divide the essay question into parts. An essay question often asks more than one thing. Deciphering the parts of a question will help you structure your response so that each section of your essay responds to and answers a part of the question.

  6. Rewrite the question in your own words. This is the final and most important step in interpreting an essay question. Here you will confirm your understanding of the purpose of the question and what you need to do. Phrase your rewritten question as a note to yourself, telling yourself what must be done. For example, 'In this essay, I must consider the role of the teacher in the contemporary classroom and give examples from theoretical models that I've studied.'