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Common keywords
It is vitally important that you understand exactly what the keywords and instruction words of
your essay question mean and how the various ideas introduced in your essay question relate to
each other. Look at this chart. Can you think of any other keywords to add that show these
various relationships and instructions?
Fast increase :
- Climbed,
- increased rapidly,
- fast growth
Slow increase:
- Gradual,
- steady climb
No change:
- Steady,
- stable,
- unchanging,
Slow Decrease:
- Gradual,
- modest decline
Fast decrease:
- Dropped,
- fell,
Sudden change up/down:
- Spike,
- dive,
- nose-dive
Unstable figures:
Volatile,
rapid changes,
unstable,
unpredictable
Figures that are similar or the same:
- In tandem,
- similar,
- mirror each other,
- in parallel
Maximum:
- Peak,
- highest
Minimum:
- Bottomed-out,
Unexpected results:
- Bizarre,
- strange,
- against expectations
Expected results:
- Normal,
- unexciting,
- as expected
Happening at the same time…:
- While,
- during,
- at the same time,
- at this time,
- also
Contrasting:
- Despite this,
- while,
- whereas,
- however,
- on the other hand,
- differs from,
- in contrast to,
- conversely,
- unlike,
- although
Comparing:
- In the same vein,
- likewise,
- similarly,
- this mirrors,
- just as,
- has in common,
- moves in tandem,
- parallels,
- alike,
- like,
- reflects,
- almost the same
Common instruction words:
Asking you to support:
- …support this statement…,
- …back this statement…,
- …prove this statement…
Asking you to refute:
- …refute this statement…,
- …disprove this statement…,
- …show this statement to be untrue…
Asking you to support or refute:
- …do you agree or disagree…,
- …where do you stand…,
- …take a stand…,
- …how do you see this situation…,
- …come to a reasoned conclusion
Asking you to compare:
- …contrast these two ideas…,
- …compare these issues…,
- …discuss these ideas…
Asking you to analyze:
- …present a discussion on this issue…,
- …discuss this topic…,
- …analyze this topic…
