How should you respond to a ‘Do you Agree’ essay prompt? This is one of the most common essay questions VCE English/EAL students get in Year 11 and Year 12 because it’s deceptively simple.
Many students assume they need to agree with the statement sentence that is provided, or they feel they have no choice but to agree because they can’t think of anything else. Often, the question ‘do you agree?’ appears after what seems to be a true statement, so it feels natural to follow along and agree.
But first, let me quickly remind you that this kind of essay prompt asks students to either agree with the statement, disagree with statement, or hedge their response and agree and disagree with various aspects of the statement.
By nature of the question, there HAS to be some wiggle room for interpretation in the statement – it would be silly of the VCAA examiners to ask if you agreed with something if it was absolutely true or totally false!
So what should you look for in a ‘Do You Agree’ essay prompt?
Answer: words that are extreme and inflexible!
VCAA assessors call this ‘absolutist’ statements. Put simply, there will be something in the sentence where an extreme position is adopted or argued, with very little room for interpretation. Look out for words like:
- completely
- absolutely
- ultimately
- worst
- best
- always
- never
- all
- only
- impossible
- everything
- total
Once you’ve found these words, think hard about whether the position in the sentence is totally, 100%, completely true all of the time. Chances, it’s not! There will most likely be some room for interpretation – perhaps it is true some of the time, but certainly not all of the time.
Once you’ve found where there is room for interpretation, that should give you a head start on how to tackle the essay!
Here’s our full video explainer on the 3 types of essay prompts in VCE English/EAL:
Looking for 1-to-1 English tutoring for VCE English/EAL? Contact us and let’s get you the support you need!
Subscribe to our social media channels so you don’t miss out on any of our latest content!
And here are our vocabulary packs, filled with essential vocabulary for all levels of high school English!
If you’re looking for ways to help your teen in VCE English/EAL, make sure you join our newsletter! We release 2-3 newsletter each term, packed with advice and strategies to help you support your teen in their English studies.
English Tuition that cares 
3 thoughts on “How to tackle ‘Do You Agree’ essay questions”
Comments are closed.