{"id":208,"date":"2020-09-28T12:10:39","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T11:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-skills\/?p=208"},"modified":"2024-04-23T09:48:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T08:48:12","slug":"how-to-analyse-essay-titles-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/09\/28\/how-to-analyse-essay-titles-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"How to analyse essay titles and questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the main criticisms from lecturers is that students don't answer the question set in the essay.<\/p>\n<p>If you don't address all parts of your assignment question, your mark will be much lower.<\/p>\n<p>It's vital, therefore, that you develop techniques to identify and understand what your tutor wants you to write about so that you can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>answer the question given and not some other random question.<\/li>\n<li>answer all the parts.<\/li>\n<li>avoid reading too much.<\/li>\n<li>write in-depth about the focus topic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, begin by breaking your assignment title into four core elements:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>The subject<\/strong> - what's the general topic area? e.g. Human Resource Management or Political Science.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The focus <\/strong>- this is the narrower, more specific topic area within the wider subject. e.g. Recruitment in Human Resource Management or Democratic Systems in Political Science.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The scope (or limits) <\/strong>-\u00a0this indicates how far you should go within the focus area. In other words, what are the limits of your research and writing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The instruction words <\/strong>- these are the verbs or action words that tell you what your tutor wants you to do in your assignment e.g. describe, discuss, outline, assess, evaluate and so on.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Here is an example of how it works:<\/p>\n<p>Assignment Title:\u00a0<em>Critically assess the use of Skype interviews in the recruitment process.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The subject:<\/strong> Human Resource Management<\/p>\n<p><strong>The focus: <\/strong>Recruitment process<\/p>\n<p><strong>The scope:<\/strong> Skype interviews (note: depending on the question, you may have to set your own scope and indicate this in your introduction).<\/p>\n<p><strong>The instruction words: <\/strong>Critically assess<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Hopkins, D. and Reid, T., 2018. <i>The Academic Skills Handbook: Your Guid<\/i><i>e to Success in Writing, Thinking and Communicating at University<\/i>. Sage.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the main criticisms from lecturers is that students don't answer the question set in the essay. If you don't address all parts of your assignment question, your mark will be much lower. It's vital, therefore, that you develop...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[18,19],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay-writing","tag-essay-title","tag-instruction-words"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/magnifying-glass-633057_1920.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":226,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2019\/08\/28\/reading-note-taking-tips-1-reading-from-the-inside-out-and-not-outside-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":0},"title":"Reading and note-taking tips 1: Reading from the inside out (and not outside in)","author":"Tom Reid","date":"August 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Students often believe that before they begin an assignment, they should read as much as possible around a topic until they feel 'ready' to start writing. This is NOT a good idea, as it is highly likely you will find yourself completely bogged down in a mess of ideas. You\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic reading&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic reading","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/academic-reading\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/puzzle-226743_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/puzzle-226743_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/puzzle-226743_1920.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/puzzle-226743_1920.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/puzzle-226743_1920.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/puzzle-226743_1920.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/10\/02\/understanding-instruction-words-in-academic-essay-titles\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":1},"title":"Understanding instruction words in academic essay titles","author":"Tom Reid","date":"October 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Instruction or command words indicate what your tutor wants you to do in your written assignment. It's vital that you understand exactly what these instruction words mean so you can answer all parts of the essay question and provide a complete response. Here's a list of some of the most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Essay writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Essay writing","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/essay-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2018\/09\/wind-rose-1209398_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2018\/09\/wind-rose-1209398_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2018\/09\/wind-rose-1209398_1920.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2018\/09\/wind-rose-1209398_1920.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2018\/09\/wind-rose-1209398_1920.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2018\/09\/wind-rose-1209398_1920.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1606,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2025\/10\/02\/help-i-havent-written-an-essay-since-sixth-form\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":2},"title":"Help! I Haven\u2019t Written an Essay Since Sixth Form","author":"Jeremy Sanders","date":"October 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) student, you might be thinking: \u201cWhy do I need to write essays? I\u2019m here to solve problems, run experiments, or write code\u2014not write like a humanities student!\u201d Actually, writing matters a lot in STEM. Whether you\u2019re reporting research findings, explaining complex\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A person typing on a laptop","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/06\/Blog-post-images.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/06\/Blog-post-images.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/06\/Blog-post-images.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/06\/Blog-post-images.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":373,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2020\/12\/02\/top-tips-for-taking-open-book-exams-2-on-the-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":3},"title":"Top tips for taking open book exams 2 - on the day","author":"Kerry Vevers","date":"December 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're taking an online open book exam, you'll need to deal with a number of challenges including maintaining focus and managing your time. This short guide by former Academic Skills Course Leader Tom Reid gives you some strategies to help you succeed in your examination. https:\/\/vimeo.com\/774802360 Tip 1 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Student typing on a laptop taking an online open book exam with textbooks on the desk.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/12\/online-open-book-exam.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/12\/online-open-book-exam.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/12\/online-open-book-exam.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2020\/12\/online-open-book-exam.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":211,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2019\/11\/22\/how-to-write-a-conclusion\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":4},"title":"How to write a conclusion","author":"Tom Reid","date":"November 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Your conclusion is very important as it presents the final words of your assignment. It should leave the reader satisfied that you have provided a thorough, well-researched and reasoned response to the assignment question. Your conclusion should move from the specific to the general (Introductions move from general to specific).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic writing","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/academic-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2019\/03\/end-1733893_1920.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1614,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2025\/06\/02\/organising-your-literature-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":5},"title":"Organising your literature review","author":"Justin Alam","date":"June 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019ve been asked to write a literature review, either as a stand-alone text (or what\u2019s more likely) as part of a larger piece of writing such as a dissertation, you may be wondering what you are meant to do. What\u2019s the idea behind a literature review? What should you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Academic skills&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Academic skills","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/category\/academic-skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A tree with leaves featuring names of different dissertation topics. A cloud and a squirrel holding a banner that says 'Literature reviews'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/84\/2025\/05\/Writing-your-dissertation_Literature-reviews.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}