Sitting down to research or write an essay is often a challenge, and a writer may wonder what to do if they do not understand the instructions included in their courses. Sometimes, assignment directions are complex or confusing, which can be demoralizing. However, these directions can often be broken down in ways that make them more accessible. Some resources available here at Purdue Global offer great tips to aid in this process. 

     Fortunately for writers, essays and other writing assignments can often be categorized into familiar genres and formats. One way to find an assignment’s genre is to look for clues in the writing prompt. For example, according to the Purdue University Global Academic Success Center (n.d.b), an essay that seeks to educate readers about a topic without changing their opinions would be considered an informative essay. This resource, which can also be found in the reference list below, includes information about informative essay structure and characteristics. Similar pages for other assignment types can be found on the “College Writing” hub page of the Purdue University Global Academic Success Center (n.d.a) blog. Finding resources like this can be especially helpful for certain genres like business memos and flyers, which follow specific guidelines. Once students have deduced the correct genre for an assignment, they will need to understand the depth of research required.

     Typically, writing assignments will ask students to draw on personal experience, use a provided set of sources, or conduct research. The Harvard College Writing Center (n.d.) has tips for the second and third in “Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt.” According to the article, even when professors have provided sources, students cannot assume that readers will be familiar with the content of those sources. Therefore, a writer must summarize the key points and provide context for each source. This is even more important when students are researching sources on their own. A writing prompt should specify the number or type of sources required. Once writers have determined an assignment’s genre and research requirements, they will need to integrate those into a coherent draft.

     Regardless of genre, assignment drafts share one crucial feature: they are arguments. At first, this may seem counterintuitive, given that persuasive essays are a genre. While persuasion and argument can be considered genres, they are elements of nearly all assignments. Writers must convince readers that they are credible sources themselves. This means that a summary of research alone is insufficient; information needs to have a purpose (The Writing Center, n.d.). One way to think of this is to consider research as a way to build credibility. If all assignments are arguments, writers must analyze the outside information they have included to demonstrate their mastery of the subject. Ultimately, what professors and other readers are looking for is an informed opinion. If this advice seems too abstract to be useful, though, there is one other trick writers have up their sleeves.

     One trick writers have is referring to assignment rubrics. Rubrics list the qualities that professors will use to evaluate an assignment. This sometimes means that students can learn the relative importance of different parts of the assignment directions by seeing how much they are emphasized in the rubric. According to Taylor et al. (2024), there are “four core approaches to student engagement with rubrics: a planning support in the early stages of an assignment, a summative checklist in review of a completed assignment, a guide referred to throughout the writing process and a target setting tool” (p. 806). In other words, rubrics are useful at each step of writing. For example, a student may turn a rubric into an outline that they can fill in with research and analysis. If the rubric does not contain much detail, writers can still use it to measure their completed draft against the assignment’s stated expectations.

     To make this advice more concrete, consider the following sample assignment prompt:

     For this essay, I want you to think of a hobby you enjoy and research 3 reasons why it is beneficial to people’s health, whether that be physical, mental, emotional, or otherwise. 

      Examples of Research Questions:

• • How does a hobby benefit something? 

• • How does basketball (or how do sports) benefit physical health?

• • How do video games benefit hand-eye coordination and reduce anxiety?

     Essay Length: 3-5 pages (not including title page or reference list)

     Essay Format: Use APA format

     Required Number of Sources: 2-3 academic sources

     According to the previous discussion, the first thing to identify is the genre of writing this prompt requires. Since the prompt asks for research instead of personal experience or persuasion, it requires an informative essay, as discussed above. This prompt explicitly asks students to find two or three academic sources, which means that writers will need to incorporate facts from research to support their main points. The prompt also includes information like page length and format, which, if followed, will help writers successfully achieve the assignment’s intended goal.

Sometimes, writers can find themselves confused even after considering these points. If that is the case, professors and the Writing Center are here to help. However, these tips and resources should clarify the majority of assignment prompts. Writers who break down their assignments’ expectations before beginning the research and writing process will be much more prepared. Try it on future assignments! 

References

Harvard College Writing Center (n.d.). Tips for reading an assignment prompt. Harvard University. https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/tips-reading-assignment-prompt

Purdue University Global Academic Success Center. (n.d.a). College writing. Purdue University Global Academic Success Center Blog. https://staging-74da-purdueglobalwritingcenter.wpcomstaging.com/college-writing-2/ 

Purdue University Global Academic Success Center. (n.d.b). Writing an informative essay. Purdue University Global Academic Success Center Blog. https://staging-74da-purdueglobalwritingcenter.wpcomstaging.com/writing-an-informative-essay/ 

Taylor, B., Kisby, F., & Reedy, A. (2024). Rubrics in higher education: An exploration of undergraduate students’ understanding and perspectives. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 49(6), 799–809. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2023.2299330 

The Writing Center (n.d.). Understanding assignments. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/understanding-assignments/