Answering Medium - Long Questions

ANSWERING MEDIUM AND LONG QUESTIONS
(STRUCTURING YOUR ANSWER)
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this document is to provide some insight into answering medium and longer questions.
Medium and long questions in this module should be approached like all other good writing practices.
Particularly, when negotiating, reviewing and drafting contracts, it is necessary to approach a contract
in a structured and logical manner. So too, long questions in this module should be structured and
presented logically and cohesively.
Every piece of writing has some sort of beginning (an introduction), a middle (a discussion) and an end
(the conclusion). If you think of an essay, a letter, a memo, a brief, an email, this item you are reading,
and yes even contracts have some form of beginning (an introduction), a middle (a discussion) and an
end (the conclusion). So it is expected that long questions are approached similarly to order the
information being discussed. Some students also use the IRAC / ILAC method to present information
(such an approach is perfectly fine as well).
MIDDLE
For the purpose of the Law of Contract module, one may find typically three types of long questions
being:
▪ Theory and critical (content) analyses questions (which includes theory in the textbook, case
discussions, journals etc.);
▪ Application or problem-solving questions (where a set of facts are provided and you are expected to
identify the legal issue, discuss legal principles and apply the legal principles to the set of facts); and
▪ Drafting questions (where you may be asked to draft a particular clause or contract).
Irrespective of whether it is a theory or application question a beginning (an introduction), a middle (a

discussion) and an end (the conclusion) are necessary for answering questions.
The introduction is to identify and introduce the legal issue that is being discussed. The middle expands
and provides a discussion of the legal principles and theory. In doing so, in the middle section, one
should discuss the applicable theory and provide sufficient authority (where it is appropriate to do so)
to support the theory discussed. Finally, the conclusion brings together the legal issue(s) that was
identified in the introduction and the theory discussed in the middle, and then concludes by applying
the theory to the facts and actually answering the question.
When approaching an application or problem-solving question one will be presented with a set of facts.
The set of facts typically simulates how information may be provided by a client in practice. This means
some information may be relevant and others may be irrelevant in a set of facts. It is up to you (as is
the case practically when consulting with a client) to identify the legal issue that is applicable to the set
of facts, which is done by having a solid understanding of the legal theory. Once the legal issue is
identified, then the relevant theory should be identified and discussed. Finally, one would apply the
theory to the relevant facts to answer the question. The set of facts will always, in this module, point
towards the legal issue.
1
In this regard, application or problem-solving questions can then be approached as follows:
• Firstly, one needs to identify the legal issue / legal principle that is applicable to the set of facts.
This would be the introduction to the question (and requires your reading and comprehension
skills to read the facts carefully and your memory recall skills so as to identify the similarities
between the facts in the question and the theory you have studied).
• Secondly, one needs to explain the theory of the legal principle (and provide any legal authority
for this). This is the middle of the answer, which should explain the theory in sufficient detail. The
theory includes a detailed explanation of all the prescribed material (including the textbook, and
relevant authority, such as case law, legislation and, where applicable, journal discussions).
Explain this as if you are explaining the principles to someone that does not have any knowledge
of the law.
• Thirdly, one needs to apply the legal principle identified in the introduction and the theory
discussed in the middle of the answer to the facts of the question and answer the question. This
is done by considering the similarities between the facts and the theory to draw conclusions.
A few additional pointers:
• Remember, when identifying or using any term or principle in your answer, that you should fully
explain what the term means and how it applies. The easiest way of doing so is to know the
definitions of the concept, their requirements, when they will apply and any exceptions to the
general rule.
• Address and discuss first the general rule of the theory, and then explain the exceptions to the
general rule.
• Case law, legislation and journals are important to provide authority to the theory and will often
include additional aspects to the theory. Where there is case law, legislation or journals
applicable, these should be explained and discussed in sufficient detail.
• The facts of a case will not necessarily earn marks in an answer, but it is useful (and important)
to know because the facts of a case will assist in identifying the relevant case to a particular
question. In other words, the set of facts in a question would often have a similarity to the set of
facts in a case, and you would be able to identify the relevant case that should be discussed in
your answer by considering the similarity in the facts.
• Detail is important! Discuss answers and theory in detail. A superficial discussion of concepts will
only earn partial marks.
Answering medium and long questions can be approached as if one is explaining concepts to someone
who knows nothing of the law. In other words, your answers should be as if one is explaining it to a
client. In doing so, concepts and principles should be explained and discussed in sufficient detail for
someone who never heard of the law of contract.
END
Every piece of writing has a start, middle and end. You would have seen that approaching application
or problem-solving questions as well as theory and critical (content) analyses questions in this module
has similarly a start, middle and an end. I have deliberately given this item headings to illustrate how
even a discussion forum post would have such a structure
I hope this provides a bit of additional assistance in how to go about answering long questions. Using
this general approach will serve you well for future long questions in this module.
<END OF DOCUMENT>

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ANSWERING MEDIUM AND LONG QUESTIONS

(STRUCTURING YOUR ANSWER)

Irrespective of whether it is a theory or application question a beginning (an introduction), a middle (a

A few additional pointers:

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