ABSTRACT
The problems faced by the student above are not uncommon. In producing any form of writing for assessment, students need to work out what type of text they are expected to produce and how this will be evaluated. However, even when instructions or guidelines are given, students may be left uncertain about aspects of the assessment. In this case, the student had difficulty with different forms of guidance, which she felt offered conflicting advice; and also with the term argue – perhaps unsurprisingly as the notion of argument is notoriously difficult to pin down (see Chapter 2).
