A+ Guide to Short Answer Essays

You studied hard for your short answer essay exam. You outlined your text and reviewed your class notes. You know the facts cold. Does this mean you are ready for your exam?

Maybe not. Maybe you also need a strategy to write your answers so that all the knowledge you have acquired translates into a well-organized, concise essay. This booklet can help you construct that strategy by giving you a clear, easy, five-step method for writing a short answer essay answer. Practice this method, perhaps using discussion questions from your text, as part of your test preparation. Practice will make it easier and faster during a timed exam.

Please note that a short answer essay answer is just that: short. These are one, two, or three paragraphs meant to answer an exam question or assignment question. For a longer essay, a different strategy and structure is needed. The A+ booklet on Five-Paragraph Essays will give you good advice about the strategy and organization for a two to three page paper, for example, and other A+ booklets address particular assignment types for longer writing assignments. See those for help with longer assignments, but for a short answer essay of one, two, or three paragraphs, use the strategy and organization outlined in this booklet.