Understand your assignment
Understand your assignment
Nothing is worse than writing a great paper, but one that has not
answered the assignment
The first step is to understand your assignment
Know exactlywhat you are writing
Know exactlywhy you are writing
Know exactlywho you are writing it for
Carefully reading your assignment will help you to know what is being asked of you.
Carefully reading your assignment will help you to know what is being asked of you.
Look for topic guidelines having to do with length, style or intended audience.
Also pay attention to the type of information sources allowed or preferred.
For example, some assignments will require you to use academic, peer-reviewed articles only.
These details are meant to guide you and help you focus on the most important parts of an assignment.
TIPS & TRICKS: TASK ANALYSIS
TASK ANALYSIS
Use key verbs in assignment to clarify tasks
COMPARE: emphasize similarities
CONTRAST: emphasize differences
DEFINE: give clear, concise meanings of concepts
DISCUSS: consider different possibilities
LIST: state points clearly and in concise form
EVALUATE: Judge advantages and disadvantages
EXPLAIN: clarify by stating cause and effects or reasons
PROVE: establish truth through factual evidence and logic
SUMMARIZE: restate another’s point in your own words
TRACE: describe historical sequence or development
My assignment does NOT have any of those key verbs
Ask yourself (and the assignment) these questions
What questions and claims are explicit in the assignment?
What questions and claims are implicit in the assignment?
Which words in the directions command my attention? Why?
What DO I understand about the assignment?
What questions do I still have? Where can I go for answers?
Lets analyze an example assignment that has no action verbs to guide you.
EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENTWithout key verbs
In her speech “What Does a Woman Need to Know?” Adrienne Rich uses the word “power” in several different senses. What are the different types of power Rich describes? Do you find these different definitions of “power” useful? Why or why not? In what ways do her examples of power resemble or differ from your own experiences?
What are the different types of power Rich
describes?
In the first question, we see the instructor is interested in Rich’s definitions of power. She has not asked for your own opinions yet, so it appears that the task that matches most closely is “summarize”—restate the author’s ideas.
Do you find these different definitions of “power” useful? Why or
why not?
The next two questions are related; you are asked to say why you do or don’t find Rich’s definitions useful— in other words, to “evaluate” her definitions.
In what ways do her examples of power
resemble or differ from your own experiences?
In the final question, you are asked how Rich’s examples resemble or differ from your experience—in other words, to “compare” the similarities and “contrast” the differences.
question
How can you tie the parts—summary, evaluation, comparison—together in a unified piece?
MORE TIPS & TRICKS
MORE TIPS and TRICKS
Ask for a written copy of the assignment
Ask for model papers
Clarify the expectations and limits of the assignment
Relate the assignment to real world audience beyond your instructor
Understand your assignment