APE
A Guide to Successful
Short Answers
CLICK ON THE SCREEN TO ADVANCE THE SLIDES
APE
APE is a guide to help you create a complete short
answers. If you follow this guide you will be
successful on this important exam.
You should use the APE on every short answer we do
from now until the important test.
A
The first step in creating a successful short
answer is to
A - ANSWER THE
QUESTION
You should first RESTATE the question & then
answer the question CORRECTLY
A – Answer the Question
Let’s practice RESTATING the question!
Example:
What do you think the author’s purpose was
in writing this story?
How would you restate this question?
Make it a sentence!!
A – Answer the Question
What do you think the author’s purpose was
in writing this story?
Here is one way to RESTATE this question:
The author wrote “The Pedestrian” to
warn his readers and to show what the
future may hold.
A – Answer the Question
Now you have to support your answer with
DETAILS from the selection.
Here is what we have so far:
The author wrote “The Pedestrian” to warn
his readers and to show what the future may
hold.
What details do you think the author uses
effectively in the selection to warn his readers
about the future?
A – Answer the Question
You could use the following…
“The tombs, ill-lit by television light,
where the people sat like the dead, the
gray or multicolored lights touching
their faces, but never really touching
them.”
P
After RESTATING the question, answering the question
CORRECTLY and giving a REASON for your answer
you must then
P – PROVE YOUR ANSWER
You should use a QUOTE from the passage to support
your answer.
The QUOTE MUST PROVE your answer.
P – Prove your Answer
Remember our example:
What do you think the author’s purpose
was in writing this story?
Here is the beginning of our answer:
The author wrote “The Pedestrian”
to warn his readers and to show
what the future may hold.
P - Prove your Answer
Now we add the two together :
The author wrote “The Pedestrian” to warn his
readers and to show what the future may hold.
“The tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the
people sat like the dead, the gray or multicolored lights touching their faces, but never
really touching them.”
P – Prove you Answer
PROOF requires that you link the
answer to the quote by explaining
“why” the quote supports the answer.
So…
E
The final step in writing a short answer is to
write an EXPLANATION
E – EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER
This statement is simply a CONCLUSION. You
wrap up your answer.
E – Explain your Answer
Here are some ways you could begin an
EXPLANATION:
This shows that…
This is the reason…
That is why…
In conclusion…
E – Explain your Answer
Our Example:
What do you think the author’s purpose was in
writing this story?
Here was an ANSWER with PROOF:
The author wrote “The Pedestrian” to
warn his readers and to show what the
future may hold. “The tombs, ill-lit by
television light, where the people sat like
the dead, the gray or multi-colored lights
touching their faces, but never really
touching them.”
E
– Explain your Answer
Here is one way you could EXPLAIN your
answer:
The author wrote “The Pedestrian” to
warn his readers about technology. “The
tombs, ill-lit by television light, where
the people sat like the dead, the gray or
multi-colored lights touching their faces,
but never really touching them.” is a
quote from the story that warns
readers through simile. It shows that
technology can be used as a tool to
control the public and compares them to
the living dead.