The way of answering questions

analysis questions
1. Analyse

Essay questions that ask you to ‘analyse’ a particular topic or

argument expect a thorough deconstruction of the essay subject. In
other words, this word requires you to break the essay topic down
into its fundamental parts.
Once you have done this, it’s also important that you critically
(more on this word later) examine each part. You need to use
important debates and evidence to look in depth at the arguments for
and against, as well as how the parts interconnect. What does the
evidence suggest? Use it to adopt a stance in your essay, ensuring
you don’t simply give a narration on the key debates in the
literature. Make your position known and tie this to the literature.
2. Evaluate

When answering this essay question word, the key is to provide

your opinion or verdict concerning the extent to which an
argument or set of research findings is accurate. You may also be
required to demonstrate the extent to which you agree with a
particular argument or hypothesis.
It is essential to provide information on both sides of the debate
using evidence from a wide range of academic sources. Then you
must state your position basing your arguments on the evidence that
informed you in arriving at your position.
3. Justify

With ‘justify’ question words, you need to explain the basis of your
argument by presenting the evidence that informed your outlook.
In such answers, you need to present your evidence in a convincing
way, demonstrating good reasons for adopting your position.
Also, you may want to consider arguments that are contrary to your
position before stating a conclusion to your arguments. This will
help present a balanced argument and demonstrate wide knowledge
of the literature. Here, a critical approach becomes crucial. You
need to explain why other possible arguments are unsatisfactory as
well as why your own particular argument is preferable.
4. Critically evaluate

To ‘critically evaluate’, you must provide your opinion or verdict

on whether an argument, or set of research findings, is accurate.
This should be done in as critical a manner as possible. Provide
your opinion on the extent to which a statement or research
finding is true. A critical evaluation of a subject will warrant an
assertive essay response that details the extent to which you agree
with a set of findings, a theory, or an argument.
The key to tackling these question words is providing ample evidence
to support your claims. Ensure that your analysis is balanced by
shedding light on, and presenting a critique of, alternative
perspectives. It is also important that you present extensive evidence
taken from a varying range of sources.
State your conclusion clearly and state the reasons for this
conclusion, drawing on factors and evidence that informed your
perspective. Also try to justify your position in order to present a
convincing argument to the reader.
5. Review

An answer to a ‘review’ question word should demonstrate critical

examination of a subject or argument. This is done by recapping or
summarising the major themes or points in question, and critically
discussing them while giving your opinion.
Put another way, ‘review’ questions entail offering your opinion on
the validity of the essay question. For example, you may be asked to
review the literature on electoral reform in Great Britain. You'll
need to give an overview of the literature. and any major arguments
or issues that arose from it. You then need to comment logically and
analytically on this material. What do you agree or disagree with?
What have other scholars said about the subject? Are there any
views that contrast with yours? What evidence are you using to
support your assessment? Don’t forget to state your position clearly.
Review answers should not be purely descriptive; they must
demonstrate a high level of analytical skill. The aim is not simply to
regurgitate the works of other scholars, but rather to critically
analyse these works.
6. Assess

In the case of ‘assess’ question words, you are expected to consider

or make an informed judgement about the value, strengths or
weakness of an argument, claim or topic. ‘Assess’ questions place
particular emphasis on weighing all views concerning the essay
subject, as opposed to your opinion only.
However, when assessing a particular argument or topic, it is
important that your thoughts on its significance are made clear. This
must be supported by evidence, and secondary sources in the
literature are a great start. Essentially, you need to convince the
reader about the strength of your argument, using research to back
up your assessment of the topic is essential. Highlight any
limitations to your argument and remember to mention any
counterarguments to your position.
7. Discuss

‘Discuss’ question words typically require an in-depth answer that

takes into account all aspects of the debate concerning a research
topic or argument. You must demonstrate reasoning skills with this
type of question, by using evidence to make a case for or against a
research topic/argument.
Give a detailed examination of the topic by including knowledge of
the various perspectives put forward by other scholars in relation to
it. What are your thoughts on the subject based on the general
debates in the literature? Remember to clearly state your position
based on all the evidence you present.
8. Examine

A close examination of a research topic or argument requires that

you establish the key facts and important issues concerning the
topic or argument by looking at them in close detail. This means
that you must adopt a very critical approach with 'examine'
question words.
You should also try to provide some context on why the issues and
facts that you have closely examined are important. Have these
issues and facts been examined differently by other scholars? If so,
make a note of this. How did they differ in their approach and what
are the factors that account for these alternative approaches?
‘Examine’ questions are less exploratory and discursive than some
other types of question. They focus instead on asking you to
critically examine particular pieces of evidence or facts to inform
your analysis.
9. To what extent

In essence, this asks how far you agree with a proposition put
forward in the question. This requires a very in-depth assessment
of the topic, and especially of the evidence used to present your
argument.
Such questions require that you display the extent of your knowledge
on a given subject and that you also adopt an analytical style in
stating your position. This means that you must consider both sides
of the argument, by present contrasting pieces of evidence. But
ultimately, you must show why a particular set of evidence, or piece
of information, is more valid for supporting your answer.

Descriptive questions

1. Define

Here, you must outline the precise meaning of the subject of the
question. If the definition you provide is a contested one then make
sure you mention this. How do other scholars define the subject?
Why is its meaning contested and why have you chosen to use one
meaning instead of the other if this is the case?
It is important that you provide more than one meaning if there are
several of them as it shows that you are very familiar with the
literature.
2. Demonstrate

The key to tackling ‘demonstrate’ questions is to use several

examples, evidence, and logical arguments. Essentially, you are
required to show how a particular research topic or argument is
valid by using evidence and arguments to support your claim.
Make sure you assert your position with these types of questions. It's
even more important that you support your arguments with valid
evidence in order to establish a strong case.
3. Describe
When describing something, you must provide thorough insight
into the main characteristics of a research subject in an objective
manner. As answers to such questions will be inherently
descriptive, it is important that you recount or characterise in
narrative form.
‘Describe’ question words focus less on the basic meaning of
something, therefore, and more on its particular characteristics.
These characteristics should form the building blocks of your
answer.
4. Elaborate

Here, you are required to provide a lot of detail and information on

a research topic or argument. ‘Elaborate’ questions tend to elicit
descriptive responses. Therefore. it's important to demonstrate
that you have done significant research on the topic to support the
information you provide.
5. Explain

‘Explain’ questions expect you to basically clarify a topic. When

answering such questions, it helps to imagine you are writing for
someone who knows absolutely nothing of the subject. And
remember two things. To provide as much detail as possible, and to
give definitions for any jargon or key terms when used.
In addition, always remember to back any claims with academic
research. In explanatory answers it is important that you
demonstrate a clear understanding of a research topic or argument.
This comes across most convincingly if you present a clear
interpretation of the subject or argument to the reader. Keep in mind
any ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions as this will help you to
structure a clear and logically coherent response. Coherence is
extremely important in providing explanatory answers.
6. Explore

Needless to say, your answer must be exploratory and thus it is

imperative that you adopt a questioning approach when answering
such questions. Because of the exploratory nature of such essays,
objectivity is key. That is, you should give an overview of all
viewpoints before providing any of your own arguments.
A somewhat detached, dispassionate tone can be particularly
effective, in contrast to the more assertive, argumentative tone you
might adopt for other types of essay question. Just remember that the
key objective here is to give a nuanced account of a research topic
or argument by examining its composite parts.
7. Identify

Essay questions that require you to ‘identify’ something in relation

to a research topic or argument require you to simply point out
and describe the main ideas in a short and coherent way. A little
like this paragraph.
8. Illustrate

Such an answer will generally involve the use of many examples,

such as tables, figures, graphs, or concrete research statistics and
evidence. The aim is to use these examples to demonstrate
knowledge of the subject of the question and to further explain or
clarify your answer.
9. Outline

outline answer requires you present an organised description of a

research topic or argument. It is imperative that you provide the
main points only (and any important supplementary information)
as opposed to focusing on the minor details. Remember to present
your answer in a systematic and coherent way.
10. Summarise

When you are asked to summarise or present a summary of a

research topic, you should give a condensed form of its main points
or facts. You must omit all minor details and focus mainly on the
key facts. As a result, summaries are typically brief and straight to
the point. The key is to get all the main facts across to the reader
in as punchy and succinct a manner as possible.
11. Clarify

This means to provide insight into a subject, and quite literally,

provide clarification. For example, this could be done by making an
argument or topic more clear by explaining it in simpler terms.
Such questions require you to shed light on a topic or, in some
instances, break down a complex subject into simple parts.
Coherence is very important for acing such questions, remembering
to present your answer in a systematic manner.
12. Compare

When asked to ‘compare’, you must identify any similarities

between two or more subjects of discussion. You can go beyond
making a basic comparison by trying to understand the roots of the
similarities you identify, as well as their significance.
Furthermore, you may also want to emphasise any differences,
although the focus of your essay should be on establishing
similarities.
13. Contrast

A ‘contrast’ question expects you to identify differences, not

similarities, between subjects. What are the main dissimilarities
between two or more subjects? What sets them apart? These are
the general questions that you must keep in mind when addressing
‘contrast’ questions.