LESSON 2.26
Implied Questions
Statements often contain hidden questions.
For example, what questions do you have about this sentence’s information?
There are many types of trees here.
You might ask—
What types of trees?
How many types?
Where is here?
Implied Questions and the Personal Essay
For a personal essay, you might have to identify hidden questions from a sentence like this:
My mother bakes the best biscuits in the village.
You might ask—
Who is your mother?
Who says they’re the best?
How does she make them?
What do they taste like?
What kind of biscuits are they?
Implied Questions and Short Research Papers—
For a research paper, you will have questions such as those below:
Bears eat berries.
What kind of bears?
What kind of berries?
Where do they eat them?
Why do they eat them?
How many berries do they eat?
But that’s only the beginning:
Who says they eat berries?
What study was done?
Where was it done?
When was it done?
How was it done?
Why was it done?
What exactly did the study conclude?
Implied Questions and Long Research Papers—
Was there another study done?
Who did the study?
Where was it done?
When was it done?
How was it done?
Why was it done?
What exactly did this study conclude?
And more:
Was there another study done?
Who did the study?
Where was it done?
When was it done?
How was it done?
Why was it done?
What exactly did this study conclude?
And:
Were the fluctuations in berry yields?
Have there been greater yields in the past decade or two?
Can berries be harvested earlier now than in previous decades?
Can berries be harvested later now than in previous decades?
Small-Group or Class Activity
Identify the Implied Questions in the following paragraphs from two personalized essays:
The sun was shining through the livingroom window. It warmed the room to just the right temperature. The floor had soft thick carpeting that cushioned your feet. The sofa had soft velvety cushions and swallowed you when you sat in it. The walls were a light blue and had a relaxing effect. The picture on the wall was of a smiling lady who made you feel welcome. The clock ticked a steady beat and gave the room a homey feeling.
I can’t believe those girls! They strut around school like they own the world. They’ll never condescend to speak to anybody who isn’t a member of their select group. They might honor you with a quick hello, but never carry on a conversation with you. If by great chance they speak to you it’s usually to let you know how inferior you are. They prefer to live in their own narrow world, too bad they don’t realize how much they are missing.
Need-to-Know vs. Nice-to-Know Implied Questions
Next, distinguish between need-to-know and nice-to-know implied questions.
Need-to-know: The answers to these questions are necessary for the audience to understand the material.
Nice to know: The answers to these questions might help the audience better understand the material, but the information isn’t essential.
Small-Group or Class Activity
Identify the Need-to-Know and Nice-to-Know Implied Questions in the above paragraphs from the two personalized essays.
Need-to-Know Nice-to-Know
Weak Writing
Weak writing has lot of need-to-know implied questions. Good writing has few if any.
Small-Group or Class Activity
- Count the number of words in each of the two paragraph. (Use a computer if you wish.)
- Divide the number of need-to-know questions by the number of words.
- The higher the percentage, the weaker the writing.
Individual or Small-Group Activity
Complete the activity: Martinique