| QUESTION TYPE | VERBS / CUES | DEFINITION / STRATEGY |
| Factual Recall | NAME, LIST, STATE, SUMMARIZE, OUTLINE | Restate or summarize from your notes. |
| Analysis / Explanation of Relationships | EXPLAIN, DISCUSS (Main ideas and Major supporting points) | Explain in detail, based on the information in a lecture or reading Note: Do not express your opinion! use Critical Analysis use Cause/Effect; (C/E) use Comparison/Contrast (C/C) |
| Synthesis / Application of previously learned principles | ANALYZE, EVALUATE, EXPLAIN, PROVE, SHOW, JUSTIFY, ILLUSTRATE, COMPARE/ CONTRAST | Transfer the principles or material learned in class to another example or situation (synthesis /“think”-question) Note: Do not express your opinion! |
| Opinion | IN YOUR OPINION, … WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT …? | State your opinion and prove it with examples and/or supporting points by referring to information from a lecture or reading. |
- Read the questions very carefully at least 2 or 3 times.
- Circle the main verb (= action verb/imperative) in the question and decide on the necessary rhetorical strategy for answering the question (cause-effect, comparison-contrast, definition, classification, problem-solution).
- Make sure you understand what type of answer the main verb calls for (a diagram a summary, details, an analysis, an evaluation).
- Circle all the keywords in the question.
- Decide if you need to write a 1-paragraph or a multi-paragraph answer.
- Write a brief outline of all the points you want to mention in your answer.
- Restate the question and answer it with a topic sentence (for a 1-paragraph answer) or a thesis statement (for a multi-paragraph answer).
- Answer the question according to general rules of academic writing. Use indentations; begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; support the topic sentence(s) with reasons and/or examples; use transition words to show logical organization; write a conclusion. Use correct punctuation throughout.
- Read over your answer again and check if all the main ideas have been included.
- Check your answer for grammar and punctuation.