Session 21 · Two Prompts · For Self-Directed Learners

Quiz me
on what I just learned.

Two prompts for students who have just studied a data structure in C — and want to find out, honestly, whether they actually got it.

Topics Linked Lists · BSTs in C Style Socratic, one concept at a time Use with Claude · ChatGPT · Gemini

What these prompts do

You've just finished a chapter or session on a C data structure. You think you understand it. The only honest way to find out is to be asked — one concept at a time, by something that won't let you slide past the parts you fudged.

Each prompt turns any capable LLM into a focused quiz partner. It asks you to read a short C snippet and predict the output. Feedback is brief. If you struggle, it gives a simple analogy — not the answer. After five correct answers, it summarises exactly what you've demonstrated you understand.

One concept per turn, with a short C sample.
You predict the output. Feedback is kept under 100 words.
Stuck? You get a hint shaped as a simple analogy — never the answer outright.
Five correct answers in, you get a summary of the ground you've covered.
Questions are never labeled with the concept being tested — so you can't reverse-engineer the answer from a heading.

Prompt A

Linked lists in C

Pointers, nodes, traversal, insertion, deletion — and what happens when you forget to malloc.

Prompt B

Binary search trees in C

Recursive structure, ordering invariant, in-order traversal, insertion, deletion's three cases, and balance — or the lack of it.

Prompt A — Linked Lists in C

Paste this into a fresh chat right after you finish studying linked lists. Answer honestly — don't peek at your notes.

I have just learned about *linked list in C*.

1. Quiz me on this topic one concept with a sample at a time.
2. Ask a question that requires me tell the output of sample code
3. Keep your feedback under 100 words.
4. If I struggle, give me a hint using a simple analogy, but don't give the answer immediately.
5. After 5 correct answers, give me a summary of what I've demonstrated understanding of.

Explain in simple language.

Don't label the question using which I can guess the answer.

Prompt B — Binary Search Trees in C

Same format, different topic. Use this once your linked-list muscles are warm and recursion stops scaring you.

I have just learned about **binary search trees in C**.

1. Quiz me on this topic one concept with a sample at a time.
2. Ask a question that requires me tell the output of sample code
3. Keep your feedback under 100 words.
4. If I struggle, give me a hint using a simple analogy, but don't give the answer immediately.
5. After 5 correct answers, give me a summary of what I've demonstrated understanding of.

Explain in simple language.

Don't label the question using which I can guess the answer.

A note on reuse

The two prompts share a skeleton on purpose. Once a quiz format works for you, swap the topic name and it's reusable for any data structure — stacks, queues, hash tables, heaps, graphs.

How to use them well

The prompts are short by design. A few habits make them more useful in practice.

Answer before you re-read the snippet. The point is to surface what you actually know.
If stuck, take the analogy hint and try once more before asking for the answer. That reach is where the learning happens.
When you reach the five-correct summary, paste it into your notes. It's a more honest record of progress than "I read the chapter."
If the same concept trips you twice, end the quiz, re-read just that section, and restart fresh.