About the ged writing exam10 docx

the same paragraph, revised to show variety in sentence structure: She is a teacher and lives on a ranch in Montana with her cat and dog. Because she has family in California, she travels there frequently. Notice how much more interesting this paragraph is now. The seven sentences have been combined into two, and only one sentence starts with she. Many of the short sentences have been turned into modifiers that make for more varied sentence patterns. Sentence structure and punctuation can also be used to manipulate emphasis. The best place to put sentence elements that you want to emphasize is at the end (the “save the best for last” approach). What comes last is what lingers longest in the readers’ ears. He is tall, dark, and handsome. [The emphasis is on handsome. If tall is the most important char- acteristic, then that should come last.] She is smart, reliable, and experienced. [The emphasis is on experienced;ifsmart is the most important characteristic, then that should be last in the list.] You can also use an em dash to set off part of a sen- tence for emphasis: He is tall, dark, handsome—and married. Here, the stress on the last element is heightened by the dash, which emphasizes the sense of disappointment in the sentence. Don’t Repeat Repeat Yourself On the sentence level, in general, less is more. The fewer words you use to get your point across, the better. Redundancy is the unneces- sary repetition of ideas. Wordiness is the use of several words when a few can express the same idea more clearly and concisely. Avoid both of these as you write your essay. Wordiness and redundancy typically result from three causes: ➧ The use of unnecessary words or phrases Redundant: Turn left at the green-color ed house. Correct: Turn left at the gr een house. ➧ Unnecessary repetition of nouns or pronouns Redundant: Riva she couldn’t believe her ears. Correct: Riva couldn’t believe her ears. ➧ The use of wordy phrases instead of adverbs Wordy: She spoke in a very convincing manner. Concise: She spoke very convincingly . Don’t skimp on details, but try not to waste words. Step 6: Proofread Carefully In the three-step writing process, the third step is to revise and edit. What exactly is the difference between revising and editing, anyway? To revise means to carefully read over your essay and make changes to improve it. Revising focuses on improv- ing the content (what you say) and style (how you say it). In other words, when you revise, you concentrate on the “big picture”: your ideas and how you organize and pres- ent them in your essay. Editing, on the other hand, deals with grammar (correct sentences), mechanics (correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation), and usage (correct use of words and idioms). Editing is very important; your writing should be as clear and correct as possible. But as a general rule, it doesn’t make much sense to carefully proofread each sentence, only to realize that you need to rewrite several paragraphs. However—and this is a big “however”—the guide- lines are a little different on a timed essay exam, espe- cially when the time is so short. Because your time is so limited, revising should actually take place before you write, while you are outlining your essay. As you outline, – WRITING AN EFFECTIVE ESSAY– 85 make sure you have a clear thesis that addresses the writ- ing prompt, sufficient and relevant support, and logical organization. You probably won’t have time to rewrite paragraphs or add new ones. That’s why it’s crucial to outline so carefully. But you will probably have a few minutes to change word order, adjust word choice, and correct grammatical and mechanical mistakes. And this final “polishing” step can help make your ideas come across much more clearly for your readers.  Sample Essay You have seen the brainstorming and outline for the good neighbor prompt. Now, here is a complete essay. This essay would score a “4” on the GED exam. No matter where you live, you have neighbors. The kind of neighbors you have can make a big difference in how happy you are. I’m lucky to have wonderful neighbors. The people who live next to me are friendly, they are helpful, and they respect boundaries. Friendly neighbors help make it nice to live where you do. Grumpy, unpleasant neighbors don’t usually do you any harm, but they don’t make you feel good, either. A friendly neighbor makes you feel welcome. For example, our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Ulerio and their chil- dren, are very friendly. Whenever we see them, they say a cheerful hello and ask how we’re doing. Mr. and Mrs. Ulerio often chat with my parents, and every Christmas, Mrs. Ulerio and her daughter Jessica bring us homemade cook- ies. They make us feel like they’re glad to have us next door. Good neighbors aren’t just friendly, they’re also helpful. If we run out of sugar while baking or need one more egg for a recipe, we know we can run over to the Ulerios’ or our other neigh- bors, the Zurowskis’. Mr. Zurowski is particu- larly helpful to my dad. My dad doesn’t have a lot of tools, but Mr. Zurowski does, and he’s always willing to lend them to my dad. He also helps my dad with projects once in a while, like fixing the roof on the dog house. There have also been plenty of times when we stayed with Mrs. Ulerio while our parents were out. Perhaps the most important aspect of being a good neighbor is respecting boundaries. I think most of us could live with neighbors who are unfriendly or never offer a helping hand. But few of us will tolerate neighbors who don’t respect our property and our privacy. Our old neighbors, for example, used to come and take toys and lawn equipment from our shed with- out asking. Sometimes, we’d have to go to their house and ask for our things back because they didn’t return them. Even worse, my Uncle Andy’s neighbors were extremely nosy and gos- sipy. They got involved in Uncle Andy’s divorce and made the experience more complicated and painful for everyone. Good neighbors like mine are hard to find. I hope I will always have neighbors like the Ule- rios and Zurowskis. They are kind, they know when to help, and they respect our property and privacy. – WRITING AN EFFECTIVE ESSAY– 86 O ne of the myths about writing is that either you have writing talent, or you don’t. True, some people have a special gift for effective writing. But good writing is a skill, and like other skills, it is something that everyone can learn. Throughout this chapter, you will review the structure of the writing exam and specific tips you can use to improve your score on the test. Read this chapter carefully, and then review your notes from the whole Language Arts, Writing section. When you are ready, move on to the practice questions that follow.  The GED Language Arts, Writing Test in a Nutshell The GED Language Arts, Writing Test consists of two parts. Part I (75 minutes) will ask you 50 questions about sentence structure, usage, mechanics, and organization. These questions will be drawn from informational pas- sages, business documents such as memos, and how-to texts. You will be asked the best way to correct or revise sentences or paragraphs. Part II (45 minutes) will ask you to write an essay of about 250 words (four to five paragraphs). Your essay prompts may ask you to write a narrative essay (tell a story), a persuasive essay (argue a point of view), or expos- itory essay (explain or describe your response to a question). Essays are scored holistically, taking into account the overall effectiveness of the essay. CHAPTER Tips and Strategies for the GED Language Arts, Writing Exam YOU HAVE reviewed what you need to know for the Language Arts, Writing Exam. Now you will learn some specific tips and strate- gies to use on the writing exam. 11 87  Sentence Structure Sentence structure refers to the way we put words together in sentences. Chapter 6 reviewed the building blocks of sentences: subjects, predicates, and objects; independent and dependent clauses; sentence bound- aries; parts of speech; and parallel structure. Approximately one-third of the questions on the GED writing test will be about sentence structure. Here are some tips for tackling questions about sentence structure: ■ Look for words that signal relationships and make connections: subordinating conjunctions, coordinating conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs. These words help describe the relation- ship between ideas and determine sentence boundaries and punctuation. ■ Look carefully at word order. Are modifiers close to the things they modify? ■ Look for grammatical patterns. Is there—or should there be—parallel structure at work in the sentence? ■ Could sentences be combined effectively? ■ If you suspect a sentence fragment, isolate that sentence and see if it makes sense on its own. If not, it probably needs to be combined with another sentence or revised to be complete. ■ If you suspect a run-on sentence, look at each clause. Is it independent? If so, is there strong enough punctuation or connecting words between the clauses?  Usage Another third of the questions on Part I will be about usage: the rules that govern the form of the words we use and how we put those words together in sentences. Chapter 7 reviewed the usage rules you should know for the exam. Here are some specific tips for questions about usage. Verbs Because verbs are the driving force in every sentence, and because verbs can take so many different forms, you can be sure that many usage questions will be about verbs. Here are five tips to help you prepare for those questions: 1. Memorize irregular and troublesome verb forms. 2. Remember that verbs should be consistent in tense. 3. Make sure that verbs agree with their subjects. 4. Make sure the correct helping verbs are used to convey the intended meaning. 5. Use infinitives and gerunds correctly. Indefinite Pronouns To remember singular indefinite pronouns, note that someone, anyone, everyone, and no one all contain the word one. One, of course, is singular. Indefinite pronouns beginning with some, any, every and no are all singular. Agreement When it comes to agreement, think of sentences as a scale with subjects on one side and verbs on the other, or with antecedents on one side and pronouns on the other. The subjects and verbs need to agree in order for the scale to be balanced. Likewise, the pronouns need to agree with their antecedents to balance the scale. Pronouns It’s so easy to make a mistake with pronouns and con- tractions because we show possession of nouns with an apostrophe (Ralph’s car). With pronouns, however, pos- session does not require an apostrophe. If you get con- fused, think of a possessive pronoun that doesn’t get confused with contractions, like my or our. These do not have apostrophes; other possessive pronouns shouldn’t, either. And here’s one way to remember to use that when referring to things: both words begin with the letter t. Prepositional Idioms If prepositional idioms tend to give you problems, try writing sentences with the idioms to give yourself extra practice. Create a worksheet for yourself or someone else who may also need extra idiom review.  Mechanics About one-fourth of the questions on Part I will be about mechanics: the rules that govern punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. Chapter 8 reviewed punctu- ation guidelines, rules for correct capitalization, and – TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE GED LANGUAGE ARTS, WRITING EXAM– 88 spelling for contractions and possessive pronouns as well as homonyms. Here are some specific tips for handling questions about mechanics. Punctuation Remember that punctuation marks are used to separate sentences, show the relationships between ideas, reveal tone, and clarify meaning. Each punctuation mark has a specific function and should only be used in specific sit- uations. Take the time to memorize the uses for each punctuation mark. Here are some tips to help you learn them: ■ Pay attention to how punctuation is used as you read. Now that you know the rules, the more you see them in action, the easier it will be to remem- ber them. ■ Write your own sentences with each punctuation mark and each comma rule. Notice how punctua- tion can change the impact and meaning of sentences. ■ Teach the punctuation rules to someone else. Capitalization When capitalization is the issue, ask yourself whether the word in question is specific or general. If it is a specific person, place, or thing, then it probably should be capi- talized. Remember, in this regard, specific means partic- ular or individual, not detailed. For example, a poodle is a specific type of dog, but it is not capitalized because it doesn’t refer to a specific (individual or particular) dog. Rover, however, should be capitalized because Rover is a specific (particular, individual) dog. Contractions Whenever you come across a question with a contrac- tion, read it as two words. If it doesn’t make sense, then you need a possessive pronoun, not a contraction. Elim- inate the apostrophe. Homonyms Unfortunately, the only thing you can do to prepare for questions about homonyms is to memorize the correct meanings and spellings. Try using mnemonic devices to remember which word is which. For example: stationary vs. stationery: Remember that “stationery” is the one to write on because it’s spelled with an “er” like the letter you are writing. (See page 22 for more about mnemonic devices.) For a list of over 700 pairs of homonyms, visit www.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html. You can also find homonym quizzes and worksheets at www.edhelper .com/language/Homonyms.htm.  Organization Finally, a smaller portion of the questions on Part I will be about organization: how writers arrange their ideas. Chapter 9 reviewed essay structure and organizational patterns, effective paragraphs, and transitions. When you encounter a GED question about organization, these guidelines can help you identify the correct answer. 1. Identify the organizational pattern. How are the ideas in the passage or paragraph organized? Then consider: Does any sentence or paragraph seem to be out of place in the pattern? 2. Identify the main idea of the paragraph or pas- sage. What thought holds the paragraph or passage together? Is there a topic sentence expressing that thought? Then consider: Is there any sentence (or portion of a sentence) that doesn’t fit under the controlling idea? 3. Look for transitions in the paragraph or passage. Are there strong transitions leading you from one idea to the next? Would the paragraph or passage be more effective if more (or more appropriate) transitions were added?  Part II: The Essay Chapter 10 described the steps you should take to write well on an essay exam. You learned that when you must write under pressure, good planning and time manage- ment are the keys to success. – TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE GED LANGUAGE ARTS, WRITING EXAM– 89 At test time, remember this guideline for using your time on the exam: ᎏ 1 4 ᎏ time (10–15 minutes): planning ᎏ 1 2 ᎏ time (20–25 minutes): writing ᎏ 1 4 ᎏ time (10–15 minutes): revising and editing Six Steps for Essay Exam Writing When you are writing for an exam, follow these six steps: Step 1: Understand the writing prompt. Step 2: Formulate a clear thesis. Step 3: Brainstorm support for your thesis. Step 4: Create a detailed outline. Step 5: Write the essay. Step 6: Proofread carefully. The following 11 tips can help you write a successful essay for the GED: 1. Make sure you understand the prompt. What kind of essay are you being asked to write? 2. Make sure you directly answer the prompt. Remember, you will receive a score of 1 or 0 if you do not write on the assigned topic. 3. Remember that you only have 45 minutes, so it’s important not to waste any time. If you are stuck and can’t seem to get started, try freewriting or another brainstorming technique. This will help you get some ideas down on paper and get your thoughts flowing. 4. Remember that in a brainstorm, there’s no such thing as a stupid idea; write down anything that comes to mind. When you’re ready to outline, you can eliminate ideas that don’t fit. 5. On the GED, it’s important to write for a general audience. That means two things: a. You must provide context for your readers. Don’t assume that your readers know what you know. For example, if you are writing about your favorite film, you must provide some essential information about that film for your readers, including the basic plot and characters. b. You must use an appropriate level of formal- ity. Avoid jargon (technical or specialized lan- guage) and slang. Don’t try to use big words just to sound more intelligent. Often, the more simple words are the most clear and effective. Besides, you may end up misusing vocabulary and saying things you don’t mean. 6. Make sure you have a clear purpose. Know what you want to accomplish in your essay. What is your goal? Before you begin to write, draft a the- sis statement. Remember that a thesis must say something about the subject. 7. Remember that first impressions count. Get your reader’s attention and state your thesis clearly in your introduction. 8. Remember that writing is a process, and effective planning is perhaps the most important part of that process. Plan your essay carefully. Use your outline to organize your ideas and make sure you have provided strong and sufficient support. If you don’t have at least two supporting ideas, you should rethink your essay. If you are making an argument, use order of importance (least-to- most important) to organize your ideas. 9. Make sure to provide strong transitions through- out your essay. Use transitional words and phrases to connect sentences and ideas. 10. Remember that style is important. When you revise: a. Try to make a few word choice changes so that your writing has more impact. Use pre- cise, vivid verbs and nouns. b. Check for wordiness and redundancy. Don’t repeat yourself or use bulky constructions such as in this day and age (today is more concise and appropriate). c. Be sure you have some variety in sentence structure. If your essay has a sing-songy or monotonous rhythm, combine sentences and add introductory phrases so that your sen- tence patterns are more diverse. 11. Even if you have only a few minutes left at the end of the exam, take the time to review what you have written. If you make only one or two minor corrections, you have still made an improvement in your essay. – TIPS AND STRATEGIES FOR THE GED LANGUAGE ARTS, WRITING EXAM– 90 . clauses?  Usage Another third of the questions on Part I will be about usage: the rules that govern the form of the words we use and how we put those words together in sentences. Chapter 7 reviewed the usage. on the other, or with antecedents on one side and pronouns on the other. The subjects and verbs need to agree in order for the scale to be balanced. Likewise, the pronouns need to agree with their. a GED question about organization, these guidelines can help you identify the correct answer. 1. Identify the organizational pattern. How are the ideas in the passage or paragraph organized? Then