Key Terms Used In Essay And Short Answer Questions

BACK TO TIPS FOR RESPONDING TO TEST QUESTIONS 

The following terms are used by teachers to direct the type of answer you give on an essay or a short answer section of the test.

Compare and Contrast: The direction here is for you to identify the similarities and the differences between two items. 

Differentiate: This is a bit like the compare and contrast directions but it focuses more on the differences rather than the similarities.

Predict: This means that you will use the information you already have, or that is provided, in order to make a prediction or forecast of what will happen as a result.

Interpret: The direction here is for you to take the information (the data or facts) and explain what they mean.

Draw a conclusion: This means that you will use the information to explain what outcome will result from a set of circumstances.

Describe: For this response you describe or state the attributes of something, and be sure to use a lot of adjectives.

Infer: An inference is an understanding that is not explicitly stated. In other words, you must put a few things together and then make an assumption based on putting those things together with what you already know. So when a question asks you to infer, it means that you have to consider all the evidence and then come up with a reasonable conclusion.

Cause and Effect: This kind of essay happens a lot in History. You will need to state the causes of something, such as an event, and then what the effect would be as a result of the event happening.