Deck 2: How to Read an Essay

Question 1

An essay is usually about ______________ subjects rather than ones that are made up.

A) fictional
B) real-life
C) exciting
D) biographical

Answer 1

real-life

Question 2

Most essays usually focus on

A) reality and hard-hitting drama.
B) tough and compelling subjects.
C) controversial subjects.
D) one specific subject.

Answer 2

one specific subject.

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of an essay?

A) a story about a man's search for +
B) an article telling first-time home buyers how to buy a home
C) a poem about butterflies
D) a letter to the editor from your local newspaper

Answer 3

an article telling first-time home buyers how to buy a home

Question 4

If you were writing an essay arguing against homework in high school, your audience should be

A) your parents.
B) the school principal.
C) your best friend.
D) your third-grade math teacher.

Question 5

What two things are important to keep in mind when writing an essay?

A) purpose and audience
B) the length of the essay
C) the teacher's grading style
D) when the essay is due

Question 6

What does an essay have that usually identifies its general subject?

A) a heading
B) a pretty font
C) boldface type
D) a title

Question 7

How can you tell when the author of an essay is moving from one topic to another?

A) the topic sentence is boldfaced
B) paragraphs are indented
C) transition words are used
D) pictures are placed in the margins

Question 8

The controlling idea for an essay is usually located in what?

A) the title
B) headings and subheadings
C) the thesis
D) the glossary

Question 9

What supports the central idea of an essay?

A) the thesis statement
B) key vocabulary words
C) the introduction and conclusion
D) body paragraphs

Question 10

What feature of an essay draws it to a close?

A) the title
B) the introduction
C) the conclusion
D) the index

Question 11

You should analyze essays from what two points of view?

A) fictional and real-life
B) prewriting and revising
C) reading and writing
D) yours and the instructor's

Question 12

Why should you pay attention to both form and content when reading?

A) to improve your knowledge of a topic
B) to show that you know how
C) to communicate
D) to improve your own writing process

Question 13

Which of the following is not included in a first reading?

A) looking for difficult words
B) applying a reading strategy
C) analyzing relationships among ideas
D) understanding the author's purpose and audience

Question 14

What should you look for on a second reading?

A) the thesis statement
B) the author's purpose and audience
C) difficult vocabulary words and assumptions
D) assumptions and relationships among ideas

Question 15

What are you required to do in a final reading?

A) reach an analytical understanding of the essay
B) understand the essay at only a literal level
C) point out the author's thesis and topic sentences
D) scan the essay for any material you missed

Question 16

Name and define the features of an essay that set it apart from other types of writing.

Question 17

How is understanding purpose and audience crucial to writing a good essay?

Question 18

How will a successful essay affect its readers?

Question 19

Where can you look in an essay to find the subject and the controlling idea?

Question 20

What do you think are good topics for essays? Why?

Question 21

Explain how you can go about understanding how an essay works.

Question 22

What can applying reading techniques help you do?

Question 23

When you approach any reading, you should first focus your attention. What strategy will help you do this?

Question 24

Out of your first three readings of an essay, which one requires the most energy and why?

Question 25

Which reading is the most satisfying? Why?

Question 26

Compare and contrast the approach you would take if you had to ask your parents for an increase in your allowance or if you had to ask your boss for a raise.

Question 27

Think of something you read recently that affected or moved you. What about that piece of writing made it successful to you? Be as specific as you can.

Question 28

Explain how careful attention to an author's form and content has helped you mature as a writer. Be sure to include specific examples to illustrate your ideas.

Question 29

Think of something you read recently that affected or moved you greatly. What rhetorical choices regarding form did the author make that made the essay successful to you? Be as specific as you can