How to Answer an Essay Question

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How to Answer an Essay Question

• Online Study Skills Workshop
• The Office of Academic Enhancement
• Texas AM University at Galveston
• Developed by Kristen Lightner and Amber Homrighaus

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To answer an essay question

• This online seminar will
• provide guidelines you can
• reference to help you
• successfully answer essay
• questions.

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General guidelines

• When writing an essay, these are some general
  guidelines and tips
• you should follow
• Use all of the time that you have to complete
  your essay.
• Make sure that your essay answers the question
  that is being asked.
• Your essay should make sense and be well
  organized.
• The voice of your essay should be audience and
  grade level appropriate.
• Legible handwriting is a must appearance does
  count!
• Proof your essay to ensure there are few, if any,
  spelling or usage errors.
• Read over the question and your answer after
  youre finished to make sure you have addressed
  every aspect of the question.
• Your essay should illustrate that you are
  familiar with the material.

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Steps to completing the essay

• Determine what the question is asking
• Make an outline
• Write the essay
• Proofread the essay for accuracy and content

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Step 1 Determine what the question is asking

• In an essay question, there will be a key, or
  task word that will help you answer the
  question more specifically. Following is a list
  of commonly used task words

• Compare
• Contrast
• Critique
• Define
• Describe
• Discuss
• Evaluate
• Explain

• Analyze
• Interpret
• Justify
• Narrate
• Outline
• Prove
• Review
• Summarize
• Trace

Look for one of these task words in the essay
question, and that word will tell you the
specific question the professor is asking you to
answer.
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Step 2 Make an outline

• The importance of creating an outline cannot be
  overstated.
• Your outline serves several purposes. It helps
  you to
• Organize your thoughts as youre gathering
  information for the essay
• Write your thoughts down more quickly
• Remember all of your facts when youre writing
  the essay, and anything else you are including in
  your answer
• Take some of the pressure of the essay off if
  you break down your answer into an outline
  format, it makes the task of the essay much more
  manageable.

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What should your outline include?

• Your outline can be as broad or
• as detailed as you prefer, but
• it should always include all
• major points you will make in
• your essay. A general outline
• format will use the first
• paragraph to introduce your
• main points, and the following
• paragraphs to describe each
• point in more depth/detail.

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Step 3 Write the essay

• Once you begin writing your essay (using your
  outline)
• here are a few important tips to remember
• Avoid rambling.
• Refer to your outline, but make necessary
  changes.
• Add new ideas to your outline and essay as
  needed.
• Watch the clock to keep track of your remaining
  time.
• After youre finished, read the essay for
  organization and content.

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Step 4 Proofread for accuracy and content

• After youve finished writing your
• essay, it is extremely important to
• read it for any spelling, grammar or
• usage errors you might have made.
• You should not skip this step. You
• should also read the essay to see
• how it flows. The organization of
• the essay should make it appealing
• and easy for the reader to follow
• your ideas.

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What will your professor look for in your essay?

• When reading essays, professors want to see that
  the student has successfully
• answered the question they have asked, and these
  are some of the things they look
• for in a response
• The main idea of your essay answered the question
  that they were asking
• Your answer illustrates that you know the
  material
• The essay is well organized
• Language used in the essay is appropriate for a
  university level student
• The handwriting is legible
• There are few errors in spelling, grammar or
  usage.

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Congratulations!

• Youve just completed the online workshop for
  answering
• an essay question.
• We want to continue to help you! Contact an
  advisor in the Office of Academic Enhancement to
  set up a one-to-one consultation. Please call
  [phone] to make an appointment.

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References

• Barefoot, B., Gardner, J., Jewler, J. (2006).
  Step by step to college and career success,
  Second edition. Boston Thomson Wadsworth.
• Barefoot, B., Gardner, J., Jewler, J.(2007).
  Your college experience Strategies for success,
  Seventh edition. Boston Thomson Wadsworth.
• Master student Guide to academic success.
  (2005). Boston. Houghton Mifflin.
• Outline by Kristen Lightner