Analysing the topic
The first step is to analyse the question you have been set. A useful approach is to once again ask yourself some questions:
- What are the main concepts or ideas?
- What are the instruction words?
- What are the main topic words?
- Are there any restricting words?
Applying this approach
Let's use the following assignment topic as an example:
What is meant by venture capital in the Korean economy in the late twentieth century?
The instruction words in this question are What is meant by. The topic words are venture capital and the restricting words are in the Korean economy in the late twentieth century. In other words, the question is asking you to explain the meaning of the phrase venture capital when applied specifically to the Korean economy after 1950.
The question does not require you to write about the meaning of the term venture capital in other contexts, eg in relation to the situation in other Asian economies or the Korean economy in, say, the early twentieth century.
Another example
Let's use another assignment question as a second example. Imagine for a moment that you have been asked to write an assignment on the following topic:
Discuss British imperialism in Malaya before World War II.
Before you read on, determine the instruction word or words, the main topic words and if there are any restricting words.
As you have probably guessed, the instruction word is Discuss. The main topic words are British imperialism in Malaya and the restricting words are before World War II.
What does the question ask you to do? It's asking you to describe the important features of British rule in Malaya in the decades before the outbreak of World War II.
The question is an open one, as you can write about any aspects of British imperialism in Malaya that you find significant. The main restriction is that your assignment must focus on the pre-World War II era.
Rephrasing the question
Another useful technique is rephrasing the question. This is particularly helpful where the assignment topic consists of one or more statements and a question.
If you are having trouble, try turning a statement or a series of sentences into one or more simple questions. This approach can often make the main concepts much clearer. For example:
"It is sometimes claimed that there is no point in including ethics in an accounting textbook since it is argued that ethics and ethical conduct cannot be taught." Discuss this statement.
This could become Can ethics and ethical conduct be taught in accounting? What are the pros and cons? What evidence is there for each point of view? The result is that the topic becomes much more manageable. In fact, you have given yourself a framework around which to base your assignment plan.
Further assistance
These notes cover only some of the issues involved in analysing an assignment topic.
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Analysing the question Read the ASO Fact Sheet Analysing the Question for a quick summary of the points relating to interpreting essay questions. |
Summary
This page dealt with the following issues:
- Analysing assignment topics
- The identification of instruction, topic and restricting words.
- Rephrasing assignment topics to make things more clear.
The next page will examine the importance of using appropriate background material to help you complete the assessment task you have been set.
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Self-test
Try these quick self-test questions to assess what you have learnt from this module. |
