One of the major differences between high school and pre-college learning and th
One of the major differences between high school and pre-college learning and the type of learning we emphasize in college is that you’re often given assignments that aren’t clear. This is done in part because instructors want to see what you can draw from an assignment; they want to see some interpretation of the topic, and there is often no one right answer to a writing assignment.
However, this can lead to confusion when you’re faced with what feels like a vague assignment that also seems to have strict grading guidelines. This assignment will help you get started in decoding college writing assignments by providing a list of questions and a checklist you can use to analyze a writing assignment before you get started.
1. Form a Question
Assignments come in a variety of ways. Sometimes, an instructor will present you with a handout that details the assignment, its expectations, and its due dates and other requirements. Sometimes, an instructor might just mention verbally in class that a term paper will be due at an assignment time. Often, you’ll be given an assignment with a set of instructions similar to this:
HISTORY 105: Write a thorough, thoughtful essay in which you discuss the major aims of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Use your textbook and in-class discussion notes as sources and guides. Include a conclusion that speculates on Lincoln’s success or failure in terms of these goals.
This assignment, which is drawn from a typical first-year history course, asks students to not only know about Abraham Lincoln but also to know about how to compose a complete, college-level essay. This can seem paralyzing. There’s so much to talk about! But we can break even this short piece of instruction down into bite-sized pieces that make tackling the assignment much easier.
First, from any assignment, we need to Form a Question. Usually, our goal will be to form a single question from the assignment. Looking at the assignment above, I can see there’s no single question already written out. Forming a question from a prompt gives me, the writer, a direction to go automatically. I can answer the question — once I have it.
So let’s compose a question.
I need to first break down the writing assignment. I’ll do this by highlighting the critical words. These are the words that give specific directions or show expectations.
HISTORY 105: Write a thorough, thoughtful essay in which you discuss the major aims of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Use your textbook and in-class discussion notes as sources and guides. Include a conclusion that speculates on Lincoln’s success or failure in terms of these goals.
These are the critical pieces that tell me what I’m going to write about. So, if I were to re-write this as a question, I might say:
What were the major aims of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency? Did he fail or succeed?
Note that I’ve wound up with two questions instead of one. That’s OK; that reminds me that this assignment is asking me to do two separate things: one, n