This guide focuses on a key first step in any writing you’ll do for school: making sure you understand your professor’s assignment before you get started.
Read to determine the goal of an assignment
Read the assignment prompt and try your best to answer the following questions. You can take notes on the assignment sheet itself, or start a new brainstorming document where you’ll being planning your essay.
- What is the main task of this assignment?
- Does the professor provide any background, definitions, or context for the assignment? If so, what?
- What verbs does the professor use?
- Are there specifications about which texts can be used?
- Are there specifications about organization, structure, or sequencing of information/paragraphs?
- Are there mechanics directives? (page length, font, etc.)
- When is this assignment due?
- What is this professor’s goal in giving this assignment? What are the specific skills this professor is valuing/asking students to demonstrate? What do they want to find out?
Focus on your professor’s verbs
When you first read an assignment, highlight the verbs—this is what your professor is asking you to do.
“Summarize”
When a professor asks you to summarize, they are asking you to provide a brief, condensed explanation of a text’s main ideas, usually in order to answer a ‘what’ question (what is the plot of The Great Gatsby?). Summary is often not an end in and of itself, but a necessary step and precursor to argument (though not always explicitly stated as such in prompts.)
Try to present the ideas of a reading in a condensed form, providing your reader only with information that will be necessary to understand your argument.
“Analyze”
When a professor asks you to analyze, they are asking you to break down the text or issue that you are examining into parts, usually in order to answer a ‘how’ or ‘why’ question about these specific parts (why does Fitzgerald use images of time so frequently in The Great Gatsby?)
Pay close attention to noticeable, intriguing, or puzzling patterns in the text. Select and summarize a pattern that seems significant, and pose ‘how’ or ‘why’ questions about it, which you will go on to answer in the form of an argument.
“Argue”
When a professor asks you to argue, they are asking you to take a stance on a certain issue and to explain why this is your stance (often in the form of a thesis.) Unless explicitly stated otherwise, most assignments are asking you to construct some form of argument, after having considered a text/issue/point of view.
Read, summarize, and analyze the issue. Take a stance and write a claim that explains your stance, the significance of your stance, and answers a how/why question. Back up this claim with the analysis of evidence.
“Compare”
When a professor asks you to compare/contrast, they are asking you to identify the significant similarities, and/or differences, between two items/texts.
Choose a theme to focus on and make a list of appearances of that theme in two texts. Circle similarities in both lists (or alternatively, differences.) Decide which similarities are significant/most interesting to you, and develop a thesis to explain this significance. Support this thesis with the presentation and analysis of evidence from each text.
“Describe”
When a professor asks you to describe, they are asking you to provide a detailed explanation about how/why something happened.
“Explain”
When a professor asks you to explain, they are asking you to clarify a topic by giving a detailed account of how and/or why it occurs.
Understand the assignment’s goals
After you’ve identified the key instructions in your assignment, reflect on the assignment goals. Once you understand what your professor wants you to demonstrate that you’ve learned, you’ll be ready to get to work.
Sometimes, your instructor will include these goals explicitly, but more often, you’ll need to understand what’s implied. For each example, we’ll share example instructional language and the implied assignment goals.
Draw on prior knowledge
Drawing on ideas in Steven Pinker’s How the Mind Works, examine how our mind and mental abilities have evolved.
Based on our readings, class lectures, and discussions on B.F. Skinner, how would you explain . . .
Implied assignment goals:
These instructions help you find a context for your writing. They draw on your prior knowledge from the course, and ask you to demonstrate knowledge of the key concepts you’ve learned.
Though you’re responding to other sources, you will likely still need to make your own argument/thesis!
Develop your original argument or thesis
In your paper, you should be engaged in original analysis, rather than a summary of our class discussions.
I am interested in seeing you think on the page.
Propose an original hypothesis in the area of psychology
Implied assignment goals:
While your essay can build on arguments by other authors, it should ultimately diverge in some way from what others have said. Your professor values how you think about the subject and what new ideas you bring to the discussion.
Support your argument with specific, focused examples
In the film Citizen Kane, analyze how settings, sound, framing, camera angles, and other technical devices emphasize Kane’s isolation. Your project will address racism and its legacy in the U.S. You may want to consider economic implications, social or psychological implications, political implications etc.
Implied assignment goals:
The professor’s list includes some, but not all, of the possibilities for your writing. With “other technical devices,” she would ideally like you to brainstorm other areas not mentioned here, and then narrow your focus from among the choices. As you write, focus on how questions rather than what.
Form connections between key terms
Make sure to define any key terms/concepts you introduce from Pinker’s text, before making your case.
You might begin by coming up with a definition of adulthood based on Critical Reading Question 2 on pg. 198.
Implied assignment goals:
Your professor will look for your ability to connect key terms to the larger discussion that will follow in your paper, in addition to clarifying relevant definitions.
This resource from the Baruch College Writing Center is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You are free to share, adapt, transform, or otherwise use this material in any medium, with attribution.
