understanding essay prompts, taking a position, and asking research questions

Understanding Essay PromptsTaking a Position

Asking Research Questions

Instructional Words for Essay Requirements

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Find the general topic and requirement for each of the following essay prompts.

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Find the general topic and requirement for each of the following essay prompts.

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Find the general topic and requirement for each of the following essay prompts.

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Find the general topic and requirement for each of the following essay prompts.

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Find the general topic and requirement for each of the following essay prompts.

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Find the general topic and requirement for each of the following essay prompts.

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Find the general topic and requirement for each of the following essay prompts.

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Find the general topic and requirement for each of the following essay prompts.

RECALL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

Summarize

List

Identify

Describe

Illustrate

Define

Analyze

Examine

Define

Compare

Contrast

Determine

Use

Refer

Include

Incorporate

Evaluate

Assess

Judge

Argue

Recommend

Comment

Understanding Longer Essay Prompts

Understanding Longer Essay Prompts: I. Underline the general topic.

II. Circle each instructional word.

Understanding Longer Essay Prompts

Four Requirements:

Outline of a Long Essay Prompt

Taking a Position 1

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

“Globalization has had a positive influence on Asia.”

POSSIBLE POSITIONS:

Taking a Position 1

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

“Globalization has had a positive influence on Asia.”

POSSIBLE POSITIONS:

Taking a Position 2

When did the process of globalization start?

POSSIBLE POSITIONS:

Taking a Position 3

Define globalization.

POSSIBLE POSITIONS:

SEATWORK: For each essay prompt, write a possible

position you could take.

1. Discuss some of the technological advances in the twentieth century which have helped transform the workplace.

2. Compare the health care systems of France and the United States.

3. Evaluate the effectiveness of anti-piracy laws on curbing the illegal downloading of digitalized video, music, and print.

4. Argue for or against the expansion of the school week from five to seven days.

5. Summarize the most significant developments in social networking and describe their impact on the lives of internet users today.

Doing Research

Process for most writers:

Doing Research: Asking Questions

Essay Prompt:

Questions You Could Ask to Guide Your Research:

Doing Research: Asking Questions

Essay Prompt:

Questions You Could Ask:

REVIEW

1

What are the two main parts of the essay prompt below?

You are about to spend a year abroad andmust learn a new language. List the stepsyou would take to accomplish this goal asquickly as possible.

2

What are the differences among the four types of essay requirements?

3

Which of the four types is the requirement in each essay prompt below?

• Compare and contrast knowledge and understanding.

• More and more people are deciding to eliminate meat from their diets and become vegetarians. Do you think this is a good idea? Argue for or against becoming a vegetarian.

• Identify the various health problems associated with obesity.

• Use points from this semester's assigned readings to determine the major causes of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

4Create an outline for the long essay prompt below.

Your outline should have a main requirement, sub-requirements, and a sub-sub requirement.

Today, more and more colleges and universities are offeringnot only individual courses but entire degree programsonline. Some educators worry that online programs do notprovide the same quality as an on-campus education andthat in an online program, students can get others to do theirwork. Others believe online courses offer convenience andflexibility and thus allow students, who might otherwise notbe able, to earn a degree and complete their education.Comment on the rise of online education all over the world.Include the online learning experiences of the studentsfeatured in the assigned readings in your commentary, andcompare your own online learning experiences with theirs.

5

Take an initial position on the essay prompt below. Your position should be good enough for a college-level essay.

Assess the quality of Enderun Colleges'

student facilities.

*facilities (noun) - buildings, services, equipment, etc. that are provided for a particular purpose

6

Ask three good questions that could guide your research on the essay prompt below.

Discuss the effects of fame and fortune on an individual's life.

7

Ask three good questions that could guide your research on the essay prompt below.

Recommend one tourist attraction in your country that foreigners should not fail to visit.

Long Essay Prompt →Outline of Requirements → Research Questions

Research Questions → Research List

•What are the statistics on how much nuclear energy is currently used?

•What are the benefits and drawbacks of nuclear energy use?

•How do alternative energy sources compare with nuclear energy?

Synthesizing Research 1

Essay Prompt

Research 1

Synthesis Statement 1

Synthesizing Research 2

Essay Prompt

Research 2

Synthesis Statement 2

Pair/Group Work

I.1. Analyze the nuclear energy research list on page 13 of

your Academic Writing Skills 3 book.

2. Identify pieces of information on the list that are relatedto each other and put them in three groups.

3. Synthesize the information in the three groups.Write three statements about the essay topic based on thegrouped research information.

*See page 15 of your book for a sample of expected output.

Pair/Group Work

II.

1. Choose the position below that is best supported by the information synthesized in Part I.

•Nuclear energy should be completely relied on.•Nuclear energy should be mostly relied on.•Nuclear energy should be partially relied on.•Nuclear energy should be slightly relied on.•Nuclear energy should not be relied on.

2. Defend your chosen position in front of the class.

Quick Review: Numbers

Cardinal Number (For Counting)

Ordinal Number(For Describing Order)

1 One First

2 Two Second

3 Three Third

4 Four Fourth

10 Ten Tenth

16 Sixteen Sixteenth

20 Twenty Twentieth

25 Twenty-five Twenty-fifth

30 Thirty Thirtieth

31 Thirty-one Thirty-first

Quick Review: Dates

Number Form Word Form

1876 Eighteen seventy-six

1903 Nineteen oh three

2004 Two thousand four

July 4, 1776 July fourth, seventeen seventy-six

Quick Review: Time Expressions

Preposition Use Example

In •Specific Year•Specific Month + Year

•In 1776•In July 1776

On Specific Date •On July 4•On July 4, 1776

During Period of Time During the 1960s

Between..and… Period of Time:Two Specific Years

Between 1960 and 1990

From..two.. Period of time:Two Specific Years

From 1960 to 1990

Interview 1: Vocabulary in Context

Listening for Specific Information

• Read provided questions about the listeningpassage/ lecture before listening so that you knowwhat information to listen for.

• If you can, use your background knowledge to try topredict the correct answers.