Verbs Often Used in Writing Prompts

• Describe one of your hobbies. (Example: knitting)
  • The verb describe indicates that you will need to use details to help your reader understand your topic. Sometimes it is helpful to write as if your reader has never heard of your topic before. Remember to use many adjectives and characteristics when you see this verb. 

1. 1. 1. The materials needed for knitting (needles, yarn, scissors).
      2. The different kinds of projects that you can knit (stuffed animals, scarves, pillows)
      3. The different types of people who enjoy knitting (college students, people who love crafts, elderly people). 

• Compare and contrast your hobby and a related hobby. (Example: knitting)
  • The verbs compare and contrast tell you that you will need to explain the similarities and differences between two things. Choose two things that will be easy to find similarities between.

1. 1. 1. The differences and similarities between knitting and crocheting.
      2. The differences and similarities between two paddle sports such as tennis and pickleball.
      3. The differences and similarities between journaling and creative writing. 

• Summarize the speaker's thoughts about hobbies. (Example: knitting)
  • The verb summarize tells you that you will not be writing your own opinion. Instead, you will read or listen to something written by someone else. Put the most important details of what you read or hear into your writing.

1. 1. 1. Hobbies like knitting are helpful in increasing your focus.
      2. Knitting is an old-fashioned hobby and is boring.
      3. Having a creative hobby like knitting is better than having a passive hobby like reading.

• There is often a lot of social pressure to monetize hobbies as a "side hustle" to support yourself financially. Do you think that people should aim to turn their hobbies into a source of income? Support your position on this issue with reasons and examples. (Example: knitting)
  • The verb support tells you that you will need to add many examples and outside sources to supplement your opinion. You should find sources that will convince the reader that your opinion is correct.

1. 1. 1. What examples are there of the importance of doing things just for fun?
      2. What does the research say about the impact of monetizing hobbies?
      3. What are the strong opposing arguments that you need to address in your answer?

Example Content Breakdowns

• Describe one of your hobbies.
  • This topic is more general. You could approach it by narrating how you started the hobby, explaining the process of doing the hobby, explaining variations of the hobby, or even the history behind its creation. If you have the opportunity, it would be wise to ask the teacher if there is a more specific explanation of what aspect of your hobby should be described. 
• Compare and contrast your hobby and a related hobby.
  • This content is fairly broad. You need to talk about what is the same or different, but it could include a focus on many different attributes of the two hobbies. This requires you to do a little more than describe the characteristics of the two hobbies, you need to also make some judgments about them.
• Summarize the speaker's thoughts about hobbies.
  • In this response, your supporting ideas should be limited to the content in the original source. You should not have any of your own ideas mixed into this answer. It should also be limited to the opinion about the hobby, not about any additional activities or overly specific details.
• There is often a lot of social pressure to monetize your hobbies as a "side hustle" to support you financially. Do you think that people should aim to turn their hobbies into a source of income? Support your position on this issue with reasons and examples.
  • The content of this essay is restricted to hobbies that you can be paid to do, such as artistic or shareable skills. Your focus should be on the pros and cons associated with turning a leisure activity into a "job." Additionally, you need both reasons and examples as support. Excluding one of those types of support would result in an incomplete response.