Writing for Essay Exams

This workshop offers useful strategies for answering questions on essay exams. It also gives definitions for terms most often used in test questions. Understanding cue words and following writing guidelines will help you respond more effectively to questions posed on essay exams.

Cue words found in Essay Test questions:

Analyze means to separate something into parts and discuss the parts.

Ex: Analyze Socrates’ discussion of “good life” and “good death”.

Clarify means to make clear.

Ex: Clarify T.S. Eliot’s idea of tradition.

Classify means to arrange into groups on the basis of shared characteristics.

Ex: Classify the different types of anti-predator adaptations.

Compare and contrast means to show similarities and differences.

Ex: Compare and contrast the reproductive cycles of a moss and a flowering plant.

Criticize means to give your opinion concerning the strengths and weaknesses of something.

Ex: Criticize the architectural function of the modern football stadium.

Define means to give the definition of something and in doing so, to separate it from similar things.

Ex: Define the term “yellow press”.

Describe means to explain features to make clear an object, procedure, or event.

Ex: Describe the chain of events that constitutes the movement of a sensory impulse along a nerve fiber.

Discuss means to consider and evaluate as many details as possible concerning an issue or event.

Ex: Discuss the effects of television viewing on modern attitudes toward violence.

Evaluate means to give your opinion about the value of something.

Ex: Evaluate Margaret Mead’s contribution to the field of anthropology.

Explain means to give reasons for something.

Ex: Explain how the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood regulates rates of heartbeat and breathing.

Cue words con’t.

Illustrate means to give examples of something.

Ex: Illustrate the use of symbolism in Richard Wright’s novel Native Son.

Interpret means to explain the meaning of something.

Ex: Give your interpretation of Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice”.

Justify means to show or prove that something is valid or correct.

Ex: Justify the existence of labor unions in today’s economy.

Prove means to present evidence that cannot be refuted logically or with other evidence.

Ex: Prove that smoking is a major cause of lung cancer.

Relate means to show the connections between two or more things.

Ex: Relate increases in specific crimes in 1932-33 to the prevailing economic conditions.

Review means to reexamine, summarize, or reprise something.

Ex: Review the structural arrangements in proteins to explain the meaning of the term polypeptide.

Show means to point out or demonstrate something.

Ex: Show what the effects of thermodynamics predict for Halley ’s Comet.

Summarize means to repeat briefly the major points of something.

Ex: Summarize the major benefits of compulsory education.

Support means to argue in favor of something.

Ex: Support the position that passage of the equal rights amendment must occur at the national, rather than, the state level.

Recognizing and understanding these cue words in essay test questions will help you write more concise answers on your exams. Even if you don’t know the complete answer, write down what you do know. In some cases, part of an answer is better than no answer at all, and sometimes questions on the test will reveal clue to answers. Remember, just do your best.