Then the last section will help you with the last stage of your writing: proofreading your work for accu- racy and correctness. KINDS OF QUESTIONS There are two types of essay questions that will dominate your high school testing experiences. Stand-alone prompt: a topic which requires you to recall the specific data you need to develop a com- plete, fact-based response. The social studies essays suggested above are examples of stand-alone prompts. So are the two narra- tive examples. Text-based response: provides either a reading passage or a series of documents for you to use to sup- port your writing. This kind of question is often used on major exit exams across the country and is modeled after the Advanced Placement DBQ (document based question). Unlike the stand-alone prompt, this question requires that you read and then select the important information from the given text(s) to use in your answer. It is both a question to test your writing and your reading ability. Whether the question is stand-alone or text-based, your response will be graded holistically according to a task-specific rubric. There is an example of this rubric on page 143. Good classroom practice will pro- vide you with a copy of the rubric that enumerates the criteria on which your grade will be based. Often it will be the same rubric that you used throughout a course. Take advantage of this. Know the criteria used to judge your writing so that you can self-revise and self-edit to emphasize the most important criteria. Whether you’re writing a content-based essay or a narrative of personal experience for a college place- ment essay, there are some general rules to follow that can help you succeed. This book will provide exam- ples and practice activities to help you become familiar with them. ➨ reading the question accurately ➨ deciding on pre-writing strategies ➨ drafting a statement of purpose ➨ drafting a thesis statement ➨ writing a good paragraph ➨ using a rubric Let’s begin! HOW TO USE THIS BOOK EXPRESS YOURSELF xi . of purpose: EXPRESS YOURSELF THE TEST QUESTION 6 Thesis statement: Factors that cause climate change Effects of each change Future effects of each change 1. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 3. 3. 3. 2. Geographic. writing a good paragraph ➨ using a rubric Let’s begin! HOW TO USE THIS BOOK EXPRESS YOURSELF xi