AA English Composition and Writing 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which writing mode is primarily used when a writer describes a process step by step?
- Narration
- Description
- Process analysis (Correct answer)
- Comparison and contrast
Correct answer: Process analysis
Process analysis explains how something works or how to do something by breaking it into sequential steps.
Question 2: A writer argues that a politician's proposal must be wrong because the politician was once arrested. This is an example of which logical fallacy?
- Straw man
- Ad hominem (Correct answer)
- False dichotomy
- Slippery slope
Correct answer: Ad hominem
Ad hominem attacks the person making an argument rather than the argument itself, which is a logical fallacy.
Question 3: What is the purpose of hedging language (e.g., 'may,' 'suggests,' 'appears to') in academic writing?
- To make the writing sound more informal and conversational
- To acknowledge uncertainty and avoid overstating claims (Correct answer)
- To replace evidence with speculation
- To weaken the thesis by introducing doubt
Correct answer: To acknowledge uncertainty and avoid overstating claims
Hedging language signals appropriate epistemic humility, acknowledging the limits of evidence without abandoning the argument.
Question 4: Which of the following is an example of a primary source in a literary analysis essay?
- A journal article analyzing themes in a novel
- A textbook chapter summarizing the author's life
- The novel itself (Correct answer)
- A book review published in a newspaper
Correct answer: The novel itself
In literary analysis, the literary work being analyzed is the primary source; criticism and commentary about it are secondary sources.
Question 5: When writing in second person ('you'), the most significant risk in academic essays is:
- Making incorrect pronoun-antecedent agreement
- Creating ambiguity about who 'you' refers to and losing formality (Correct answer)
- Violating APA citation guidelines
- Making the thesis too specific
Correct answer: Creating ambiguity about who 'you' refers to and losing formality
Second-person address can be vague about who 'you' means and typically undermines the formal, impersonal tone expected in academic writing.
Question 6: Which sentence best demonstrates an objective, academic tone?
- This policy is obviously a terrible idea and nobody supports it.
- Research indicates that the policy has produced mixed outcomes across demographic groups. (Correct answer)
- I personally think the policy could maybe be a little bit better.
- Everybody knows that this policy never works.
Correct answer: Research indicates that the policy has produced mixed outcomes across demographic groups.
Academic tone relies on evidence-based, measured language that avoids emotional extremes, vague generalizations, and first-person opinion markers.
Question 7: What is the primary difference between a summary and an analysis in college writing?
- A summary is longer and more detailed than an analysis.
- A summary restates the source's content; an analysis interprets its meaning or significance. (Correct answer)
- An analysis is only used in science courses; a summary in humanities.
- A summary includes the writer's opinion; an analysis does not.
Correct answer: A summary restates the source's content; an analysis interprets its meaning or significance.
Summary reports what a text says, while analysis goes deeper by examining how or why it works and what it means.
AA English Composition and Writing 5
Which writing mode is primarily used when a writer describes a process step by step?