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What Is This Asking?

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT ORIGINS/ LESSON 6.5OPENERWHAT IS THIS ASKING?Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “What Is This Asking?”,OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/1PurposeBeing able to break down a question to truly understand what it’s asking is a skill that will help you regardless of the situation or course. Dismantling a question in this way is called parsing.Key informationQuestions often contain hintsabout how you should answer them and the kinds of evidence you’ll need to prove your point. Here are some tips for finding those clues.Historical thinking skillKey words/phrasesCausationCause, effect, led to, lead to, emergence, resulted, bring about, give rise to, be the cause of, result in, produce, generate, spawn, precipitate, prompt, induce, promote, foster, provoke, triggerComparisonSimilarities, differences, compare, contrast, set side-by-side, juxtapose, differentiate, liken, equateCCOTContinuities, changes, continuation, persistence, consistent, over time, two points in timeClaim testingDefend, choose a side, using evidencePrompt stem examplesWhat it’s askingTo what extentWeigh, evaluate, assessEvaluate, assessHow much (this response needs a value in its response, such as “a little,” or “a lot”)Analyze, developDescribe and explainArgue, argumentMake a claimProcess1.Review thisprompt: Analyze continuities and changes in trade networks between Africa and Eurasia from c. 300 CE to 1450 CE.
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT ORIGINS / LESSON 6.5 OPENERWHAT IS THIS ASKING?22.Rewrite the prompt in your own words.3.Periodization: What is the time period you’re being asked to consider? (Write out the years if you’re given a century. For example, twentieth century = 1900s.)4.Location: What areasof the world are included in this prompt?5.Topic: What is the main topic being askedabout in this prompt?
WORLD HISTORY PROJECT ORIGINS / LESSON 6.5 OPENERWHAT IS THIS ASKING?36.Historical reasoning practice: Whathistorical reasoning practiceis this prompt asking you to engage in? Provide justification for why you chose the one you did.7.Composition: What is the prompt stem asking you to do as part of your response? Remember:The prompt stem is usually a verb.