Analysing the essay question

• It is very important that you are thorough in analysing the essay question. If you spend time at the outset of writing the essay in working out what the essay question means, identifying the subjects and key issues and ideas which you are being invited to discuss, then it is likely that your essay will be more sharply focused on what is most relevant for that question.
  
  
• If you are given a list of essay questions to select from, it is worth looking at all of them and thinking through what each one seems to be about, even if they relate to subjects or texts that you do not want to write about. By doing this you will get a feeling for the way in which essay questions are phrased, and will develop your ability to interpret and 'decipher' them. It is also very good practice for exams, where you will have to analyse and interpret questions in a very short space of time (and you may have a more restricted choice of questions to answer).
  
  
• It is very useful to rewrite the essay question in your own words - as you understand it. This is the first stage in breaking down the question into a series of smaller questions or tasks so that you can begin to come up with a structured answer. The process of doing this should also reveal any gaps in your understanding of what the question means - it will show up terms or ideas that you’re not quite sure about, which you can then clarify (e.g. through talking to your tutor or other students, reading your notes, consulting critical texts). Rewriting the question should also help you to make sure that your essay addresses all of the main issues foregrounded by the essay question, rather than just some of them.
  
  
• Before you begin writing the essay, make sure you are confident that you understand all the terms of the question. It is likely (although not certain) that the subjects and issues which the essay question seems to be about will have been covered or at least mentioned in your classes and/or your background reading - so it can be advantageous to go through your notes to clarify your understanding before getting underway.

Different types of essay question you might encounter		Writing about more than one text in a single essay