What is an effective open-ended prompt?

• A. Can you describe what happened next?
• B. Was this event reported?
• C. Who did this?
• D. What is the main point?

Answer: (A)

An effective open-ended prompt invites detailed description, sequence, and reasoning rather than a single yes/no answer. Describing what happened next pushes someone to continue a narrative, explain causality, and fill in missing details, which yields richer, more nuanced responses and shows how events unfold and connect. It encourages the writer to consider implications, motives, and potential outcomes, not just a fact or a single point.

The other prompts tend to elicit more limited responses. Asking whether something was reported seeks a yes-or-no confirmation, which narrows the response. Asking who did it targets a specific fact about agency, which can be answered with a brief identifier. Asking for the main point invites a summary, which prioritizes distillation over exploration.