Interpreting the assignment topic

Before you begin working on an assignment, you need to understand what it is that the assignment is asking you to do. Your lecturer has written the assignment topic a certain way because he or she wants you to be able to demonstrate a certain type of understanding. Being able to interpret what the assignment is asking you to do is a vital skill.

One of the first steps in interpreting the assignment topic is to identify the direction words which tell you what to do. Some of these words will be clear to you, but others will be unknown, and you will have to make sense of them before you know what's required of you. After you've done this, you're ready to begin analysing the question itself. This is where you really work out what's expected of you so you can think about how to meet these expectations. Of course, it would be silly of you not to consider any additional notes on the assignment given to you by your lecturer or tutor.