C h a p t e r 3 8
Short Answers
S
hort-answer responses are often required on tests, as well as on job, scholarship,
and college applications. Sometimes we are asked for a brief response, short defi-
nition, or list. All are short answers. All require careful thought. A writer who jots
down whatever comes to mind first may omit important, even critical, ideas. Thus,
short answers, whether to tests or requests for information, take planning and care,
perhaps even more than do longer essays.
Although you may face the need for a variety of short-answer responses, most begin
with phrases such as briefly explain, summarize the main points, list the general char-
acteristics, define the main issues, state in a single paragraph, outline the principles, or
give a brief review. In most cases, you are expected to provide a brief response, defini-
tion, or list. We will examine each of these three in turn.
brief resPonses
Brief responses can follow any method of development: analogy, cause and effect,
classification, comparison and contrast, definition, narration, opinion, or process
analysis. [See chapters for each in Part II.] They differ from other expository writing,
however, in purpose. The reader wants highlights, not details.
CHARACTERISTICS
Brief responses generally
-^ run no longer than a short paragraph,
-^ limit themselves to main ideas, avoiding supporting details,
-^ follow a logical organization to clarify the relationship of main ideas,
-^ rely on strong nouns and verbs, avoiding weak and generally wordy modifiers,
-^ demand specificity [see specific detail in the Glossary],
-^ focus on the requested information, omitting unrelated matters.
PRoCESS
Developing a brief response takes careful planning, concise writing, and critical revi-
sion. Frequently in test situations these steps must occur within strict time limits, so
planning becomes essential.