How to analyse a text-response prompt
Break a prompt into its command word, key terms and implied debate before you write a single sentence.
Most weak essays go wrong in the first sixty seconds — before the plan, before the contention, while the prompt is still being skim-read. Slow down here and the rest gets easier.
Find the command word
Discuss. To what extent do you agree. Compare the ways. The command word sets the shape of your argument — a pure “Discuss” expects you to weigh the claim, not just agree with it outright.
Define the key terms
Underline every abstract noun, such as power, guilt, belonging, identity, and paraphrase each one in your own words. You can’t argue about a word you haven’t pinned down.
Find the debate inside it
Almost every prompt assumes a position. Ask: what’s the opposite view, and does the text actually give that view any real weight? That tension is where a genuine contention lives.
Test it against the whole text
A prompt should survive the ending, not just one scene you remember well. If your reading of the prompt falls apart in the final chapters, revise it now — not in the exam.
“In [Text], the past cannot be escaped.” Discuss.
Command word: “Discuss” — weigh it, don’t just agree. Key term: “cannot be escaped” — an absolute claim built to be tested, not simply confirmed.
The mistake this avoids
Agreeing with a prompt at 100% and ignoring every scene that complicates it. Examiners reward students who can hold a clear position and acknowledge where the text pushes back on it.
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