Understanding the Assignment
Read the Assignment
It may sound obvious, but even the most competent writers earn lower grades by misinterpreting their assignments. In addition to page minimums and limits, determine if you’re being asked to organize your writing based on one of these typical patterns: analyze, summarize, explain, illustrate with examples, compare or contrast, show cause and effect, narrate (tell a story), describe, define, classify, or persuade. So if you are asked to interpret the meaning of a literary work or analyze an article about political science, make sure you don’t merely summarize the content. If you’re not sure what’s required, ask your professor.