ABSTRACT
The previous two chapters have focused on the way essay questions in general are constructed to produce a particular type of answer. You have seen how question triggers and formats are closely connected with distinctive forms of writing, such as descriptive outlines, textual analyses, definitions and explanations. This chapter and the next will look in more detail at two specific types of writing: investigation and argument. These genres feature frequently on academic courses in many subject areas, and often count for significant proportions of overall marks. Each genre represents a very different kind of activity, and each has its own specialist rules and terminology. The first genre to be considered will be investigation.
