Samples of Short Response Answers

Assessment Guide

Sample 1

Course: Communication for the Workplace

Stating opinions/ Elaborating points

Question: What is the most effective type of non-verbal communication?

Answer:

Non-verbal communication is a form of communication through nonverbal platform which includes body language, gestures, eye contact, facial expression and posture as a means to convey messages. The most effective type is eye contact as it can build trust because the speaker is focusing on the audience while revealing his confidence and the audience is paying attention while listening actively Eventually, the speaker is able to make a good connection with the audience and he is able to engage with them.

Sample 2

Course:  English for Academic Purposes

Giving reasons / Justifying claims 

Question:  Why is proofreading important?

Answer:

Proofreading is a final process of reviewing a writing task to identify and correct typographical errors as well as syntax, grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. Proofreading is important because it can increase the chances for papers to be published in a good publication as there is consistency in the language formatting. Proofreading can help students to make their tasks more presentable and to make the job application documents such as cover letter and resume more credible after their university life. Thus, proofreading displays the efforts and time taken to improve a written task. 

Sample 3:

Course:  English for Academic Purposes

Giving explanation 

Question: How can students avoid plagiarism?

Answer:

Plagiarism is incorporating someone else’s ideas into one’s work without seeking consent or giving acknowledgement. It is considered as an academic offence as it involves ethical issues. Students can avoid plagiarism by using quotation, citing the source, paraphrasing or summarising. If a direct quotation is added, the source should also be cited and when writing about someone’s idea, citing the source is also needed in the text as well as in the reference section. Paraphrasing is rewording the main highlights by using own words, avoiding similar phrases and rewriting without changing the meaning while summarising is writing the main ideas in a shortened version using own words without altering the ideas. Students who avoid plagiarism will learn to avoid dishonesty and reveal academic integrity.

Some samples written specially for my students. Anyone can share as sharing is caring.

Writing Descriptive Essay

Descriptive essay can be written from personal experience or a formal approach as used in  conventional academic writing.  The aim of writing a descriptive essay is to describe people, places, objects, events,  or things using our five senses to capture the readers' mind through descriptive words. 

Here is an example of  a descriptive essay outline taken from ttps://essaypro.com/blog/descriptive-essay

An introduction

Hook sentence

Context/Background information

Thesis statement

Body paragraphs

Topic sentence

Sensory details

Actual details

Conclusion

Summary of all main points

Clincher Statement

Here are two amazing examples of descriptive essay taken from https://examples.yourdictionary.com/descriptive-essay-examples.html

Personal Descriptive Essay Example: The Thunderstorm

The following is a short example of a classic personal essay. It relates a subjective experience the writer had in vivid language, allowing the reader to experience it vicariously.

I watched a thunderstorm, far out over the sea. It began quietly, and with nothing visible except tall dark clouds and a rolling tide. There was just a soft murmur of thunder as I watched the horizon from my balcony. Over the next few minutes, the clouds closed and reflected lightning set the rippling ocean aglow. The thunderheads had covered up the sun, shadowing the vista. It was peaceful for a long time.

I was looking up when the first clear thunderbolt struck. It blazed against the sky and sea; I could see its shape in perfect reverse colors when I blinked. More followed. The thunder rumbled and stuttered as if it could hardly keep up. There were openings in the cloud now, as if the sky were torn, and spots of brilliant blue shone above the shadowed sea.

I looked down then, watching the waves. Every bolt was answered by a moment of spreading light on the surface. The waves were getting rough, rising high and crashing hard enough that I could hear them.

Then came the rain. It came all at once and in sheets, soaking the sand, filling the sea. It was so dense I could only see the lightning as flashes of light. It came down so hard the thunder was drowned. Everything was rhythmic light and shadow, noise and silence, blending into a single experience of all five senses.

In an instant it stopped. The storm broke. The clouds came apart like curtains. The rain still fell, but softly now. It was as if there had never been a storm at all, except for a single signature. A rainbow, almost violently bright, spread above and across the water. I could see the horizon again.

Formal Descriptive Essay Example: Hymenopus Coronatus

The following is a formal description. The writer describes a subject of which they have extensive knowledge.

Hymenopus coronatus, the orchid mantis, is a remarkable creature. Against any opponent but a careful entomologist with a cardboard box, the mantis is a lethal hunter and master of camouflage. Its four front legs, head and thorax are covered in delicate structures resembling colorful flower petals. In appearance, it looks like nothing so much as a praying mantis covered in beautiful painted fans.

As for its behavior, like any good mantis, it is an ambush predator. It takes full advantage of its unique appearance, settling amongst the petals of orchids and awaiting visiting insects. It favors butterflies and moths for its meals, but will happily take any insect on offer. Indeed, it need not even be an insect: particularly voracious orchid mantises have been known to feed on small lizards, frogs, mice and even birds.

Its behavior among its own kind is no different. Like many mantises, orchid mantises are opportunistic cannibals. They do not go out of their way to devour their own kind, but should one stray into striking range of another when it's feeling peckish, it may well become a meal. H. coronatus is not recorded as performing the praying mantis's infamous reproductive cannibalism, however.

Its relationship to humans is neutral, verging on positive. H. coronatus is not an ally of the committed gardener like the aphid-devouring ladybug, but it will nibble on any pests that present themselves. Aside from that, the orchid mantis is only valuable to humans for its extraordinary beauty.

Hymenopus coronatus is an example of a unique form of beauty that exists only in nature, careless of human judgment, designed for function rather than form, but still capable of making an observer catch their breath at its strange loveliness.