Student Learning Unit, Victoria University, Melbourne

Students sometimes do not get the grades they expect in their essays and exams. This can be because their writing skills are not up to scratch, or they do not know the subject very well. In many cases, though, it can be because they have not fully understood what the essay question is asking them to do i.e. what the question means. If this sounds familiar, then read on…..

When you get your essay question, it is important to analyse it carefully. Most questions can be broken down into the following components:

1. Directive – words such as ‘trace’, ‘evaluate’, ‘compare’
2. Information
3. Focus

To find out how to identify these components in your question, and how to use them to analyse your question, then have a look at Analysing Questions at Learning Connections, University of South Australia.

The SLU also has some very useful resources that you can look at: a Glossary of Process Words, which gives a list of the most common ‘directives’ (or ‘instruction words’) such as ‘analyse’, compare’, ‘trace’ and so on, and Getting Started on Your Essay, which shows you how to break your essay question down and analyse it (includes examples of essay questions from Accounting Information Systems).

Remember that you can also discuss your analysis of the question with your subject lecturer or tutor. There is also the option of posting your query on the SLU Discussion Board and one of our Lecturers will get back in touch with you.