Introduction

Read the following scenario and then answer the questions below:

If we look at the scenario above we can see that Veli had problems with her assignment because she wanted to start writing as soon as possible. She skipped the interpretation and planning stage and began immediately looking for information. As a result she read sources and took notes without a clear idea of what was relevant. All she had was a very general idea of the topic. Then when she sat down to write the assignment she found that some of her notes were irrelevant and she did not have enough information on some of the important aspects of the topic. She also found that her marks did not reflect the amount of work that she had put into the assignment. This could have been avoided by spending some time interpreting the topic.

• • Do you take time to read and analyse an assignment question? Yes/No

• • When you start working on an assignment do you have a work plan? Yes/ No

• • Do you identify the keywords in the assignment topic before you begin finding information? Yes/No

If you answered no to these questions then it is very important for you to study this chapter because in this chapter we will learn how to analyse an assignment topic and develop a work plan.