Suggestions for phrasing exam commands

To the Editor:

As the time for final examinations arrives, the Department of English would like to offer suggestions for phrasing the command words for written examinations. If you use general phrasing, like "Discuss-" or "Compose an essay about-," many students may be confused or not perform to their best ability.

But if you direct in the following ways, you may have better results. The command "compare" requires that the students deal with similarities. The command "contrast" requires that the students write about differences. The command "compare and contrast" requires both kinds of information and a higher level of organization and thinking.

If you prefer to have a greater level of difficulty, you can request: "Analyze the-(reasons, factors, elements, etc.)." This command requests that the students divide or break down the subject matter or topic into parts, reasons, aspects, etc. and then explain the individual factors or reasons. Some skilled writers may present the information in an order of increasing complexity or difficulty. Some thinkers-but probably not all-will be able to synthesize the interactions of the elements. The command "evaluate" usually requires this kind of analytical thinking, joined with the writer's additional personal, scientific or aesthetic judgments.

If you wish to learn about the students' deeper mastery of the material, you may use such commands as "Analyze the cause and effect of-" Obviously, this type of essay also may include complexity, such as "single cause and multiple effects" or "multiple causes and multiple effects."

Written examinations may provide the teacher with an accurate evaluation of the students' mastery of the material and with an assessment of how the student thinks with the information.