a. Directive/instructional verbs
The following words are used by your tutors quite often in setting essay topics for assignments or for examinations. For you to be able to interpret your question properly, you will need to know what each word means. The main purpose of a directive verb is to direct you on exactly what to do with the subject content. In case you are not sure, you may use a dictionary to get an idea of the meaning about such words. You can also seek help from your course tutor. These include: formulate, hypothesize, suggest, perform, transform, discuss, describe, explain, critically analyze, draw, identify, define, state, justify, what, argue for or against, tabulate, label, compute, interpret, compare and contrast, outline, list, write, account for, rearrange, substitute, dispute, deduce, present, comment, summarize, paraphrase, apply, answer, give reasons, agree or disagree, etc
b. Content words
Content words or phrases in an essay topic tell you the specific subject matter you are expected to handle in answering the topic. Look at the list below. You may want to think about different content words especially from your subject area. Look at the following:
Environmental problems, effective reading, literacy, pollution, motivation, women, drug abuse, communication process, economic issues, computer programming, leisure, exercising, education in Kenya, selling, culture, school dropout, management, educational goals, child development, formal education, socialization process, etc.
c. Functional words
These include such words as the following: three, four, in 1000 words, facing, before, after, among, causes, between, examples, with, during, in four sentences, important, greatest impact, effects, etc
marto answered the question on April 2, 2019 at 06:00