“Understanding AQuestion Is Half an Answer.”

A well-written quote by Socrates clearly reflects that you need not put more effort into getting an answer when you understand the question well.

Agree or not?
Well, doesn’t it sound relevant for writing a successful essay too? Of course, it does!

So, if you wish to have a good start to the essay, begin with the question itself. The correct interpretation of an essay question plays a crucial role in deciding your academic score. Once you take sufficient time to understand the essay questions, it becomes much easier to proceed with your essay writing task.

To help you resolve the query of “How to understand essay question?” Instant Assignment Help Australia experts have mentioned some tips.

Just give them a read and prepare a rocking essay this time.

How to Understand an Essay Question? Tips Highlighted

For most students, understanding difficult questions in an essay is a very challenging task. They do not know how to answer essay questions in the best possible way.

If you too are among them, then read the following tips carefully.

Read the Question Twice

Students tend to make errors when they read the essay question for the very first time. That is why the experts always suggest interpreting essay questions accurately by reading them twice. After that, one can understand it in a better way.

Identify the Components of a Question

The next tip is to identify the components that are given in the essay question. Generally, every essay question is divided into three components:

The Subject Matter

It is the key phrase that you will be asked to write about in an essay question. The title of an essay often addresses an important issue within the area of study. Understanding this aspect is quite simple.

Instruction Words

These words convey what your essay should comprise to address the issue in the question. To have a clear idea about the topic, you should be aware of the exact meaning of these words. Some commonly used words and their meanings are:

• Account for: It tells you to clarify the essay title by giving valid reasons wherever possible.
• Analyze: It focuses on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the topic. Just don’t define or describe it.
• Assess/Evaluate: Both these words have a similar meaning, and you should determine the value of the phrase in the title.
• Criticize: Here, you have to consider both the positive and negative aspects of the issue that is being discussed in the question and then give a conclusion.

Restricting Words

These are those words in the question that narrow down the topic and make it more specific to a particular context. Try to write your essay within the limit prescribed by these words.

Rewrite the Title

If the essay title is framed in a complicated way, then it can sway your mind away from the exact point of reading. Therefore, it is suggested by the experts to rewrite the whole question into a small set of questions. This way, you’ll have a more focused research and structure.

To help you understand things perfectly, the essay help experts have mentioned an example of “How to understand essay questions in a better way?”

Understanding Essay Question Example

Before you consider anything else, it is crucial to understand exactly what you are asked to do.

Agree?
But, the question is, how?
Well, for that, you need to break down the essay question into -

• Instruction: What should you do?
• Subject: The topic of the essay
• Aspect: Defines the facet of the topic you must consider
• Focus: Context in which you must consider the topic

So, these are some of the things that you need to keep in mind while reading the essay question. After that, you will be able to understand everything properly.

Also, keep the following two points in mind while understanding the question -

• Do not pick out just those words that you understand and leave the rest. This way, you will be able to understand the topic well.

• Never try to twist the meaning of the question according to your existing knowledge. This can badly affect your final essay.

OK! So, this is all about the tips that can help you answer your essay question perfectly. But, the question arises - How to determine the words given in an essay question?

Well, there are two types of approaches used while writing an essay, i.e., the critical approach and the descriptive approach. We will have a look at both types of approaches, one by one. So, let’s get started with a critical approach.

How to Understand Critical Question Words in an Essay?

While writing an essay, some questions require a critical answer. In general, there are varying degrees of how critical your answers should be, but it all depends on the requirements of the question.

The following are some of the critical question words -

1. Analyze

Whenever an essay question asks you to “Analyze” something, you need to break down the topic into its fundamental part. After doing so, you need to critically examine each part. You can only understand the question perfectly when you use important evidence to analyze the arguments and also notice how every part is interconnected. Overall, you need to analyze your position in the essay and then take a stand.

2. Evaluate

Whenever you are asked to “Evaluate” something in your essay question, that means you need to provide your opinion regarding whether the given argument is correct or not. For writing a better essay, it is essential to provide information about both sides using strong evidence. After that, you must evaluate the situation properly and then take your stand.

3. Justify

With the ‘Justify’ essay question word, you need to explain the basis of your argument. Now you might be wondering how? Well, you can present strong evidence that informs the reader about your outlook. Remember, if you want to convince your professor at the first glance, then your evidence should be strong enough, and demonstrate good reasons why you prefer that position.

4. Discuss

“Discuss,” as the name suggests, requires an in-depth answer concerning a research topic or an argument given. You should demonstrate your reasoning skills with this type of essay question. For that, you need to use evidence to make a case for or against a given argument. Overall, you need to discuss your opinions here.

5. Examine

As per the essay help experts, an examination of the topic requires you to establish the key facts and major issues by looking at them in a detailed manner. This means that you need to come up with a critical approach with 'Examine' question words of an essay. The questions with the ‘Examine’ words are less exploratory and discursive than other types of essay questions, so you need not face any difficulty in them.

So, this is what critical question words look like. We hope, now you must have understood what you need to do when you are given such words in an essay question.

OK! Now, let’s move to the next approach, i.e., descriptive.

How to Understand Descriptive Question Words in an Essay?

Apart from the critical approach, some essay questions require a descriptive response. But, how to know what are descriptive question words. Don’t worry; we have mentioned the words below -

1. Define

“Define” means you need to outline the precise meaning of the subject’s question. In case you are providing something that is a contested one, then make sure you mention everything properly. You must provide more than one meaning if there are several meanings to it as it marks a good impression on the reader.

2. Elaborate

Whenever an essay question asks you to “Elaborate” something, you need to mention a lot of detail and information regarding that particular question. Generally, such types of questions tend to elicit descriptive responses. That is why the experts suggest it is important to demonstrate that you have performed extensive research on the topic. This way, no one can stop you from making your essay perfect.

3. Explain

What if an essay question asks you to “Explain” something? Simple! You need to clarify a topic. While answering such essay questions, imagine that you are writing for someone who knows absolutely nothing of the subject. And remember two things, i.e., provide as much detail as possible, and give definitions for any jargon or key terms when used.

4. Identify

When essay questions ask you to ‘Identify’ something about a particular topic or an argument, then you need to describe the main ideas concisely. This is one of the simplest descriptive essay question words that every student can easily identify.

5. Summarize

Finally, coming to the last word, i.e., “Summarize.” Whenever an essay writing task asks you to summarize something, you need to present a summary of that particular research topic. You must avoid all the minor details and try to focus more on the key facts.

These are some of the descriptive question words in an essay. We hope now you know “How to understand essay questions?” and solve them in a better way.

Even after spending your time understanding the essay question, if you cannot figure out the main idea, there is no need to worry about your essay writing task. Instant Assignment Help Australia offers you the best online assignment writing service by certified experts.

Facing Difficulty in Understanding Essay Question? Here’s the Solution

Sometimes, the professor composes essay questions in a very tricky manner that becomes very challenging for the scholar to identify. In that case, the aforementioned tips and suggestions can be of great help. But, there are still times when students fail to understand some essay questions. In such a situation, reaching us can be the best option. We have a team of experts who can craft a better essay writing task for you. Also, you will enjoy some amazing features while availing of our services. Want to know about them? 
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We hope that these features are more than enough to make your decision. Now that you know “How to understand an essay question?” so start working, know the things in a better way and come up with better results.

Also, to help you with other types of essay writing tasks like law essays, we have mentioned a blog link.

How to write a Law Essay, Everything you need to know

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