Essays
Allotted 50 minutes
you will chose between two topics
includes time to prepare, write, and edit your essay
Holistic scoring by two judges
personal views you express will not be an issue
the skills with which you express those views, the logic
of the arguments, and the degree to which you support
your position will be very important in the scoring
Ideal Essay
An introductory paragraph (50 - 75 words) which
includes your thesis or main idea.
Two or three developmental paragraphs (l50
words each).
A concluding paragraph (35-50 words) in which
you summarize or draw a conclusion.
Determine the Purpose for Writing
Exposition
writer can state his or her position and then
explain ideas or information to support it.
Address a general reading audience rather
than any specific, narrow one
Thesis Statement
Three elements of the thesis statement are:
Select a clear description of the restricted
subject for this essay.
Example: an essay on study skills may be restricted to a
college student preparing for a test.
Connect your subject to the specific ideas you
plan to develop in the paragraphs of the essay
by an active voice verb.
Example: of a college student preparing for a test, the
verb "needs" might fulfill this requirement.
Thesis Statement
List the information regarding each of the
developmental paragraphs you will use in your
essay.
2 to 3 specifics would be best fit
Example: 1)knowledge of types of questions, 2) good
study notes, 3)a classmate who wants to study to
Complete Thesis would be:
A college student preparing for a test needs
knowledge of types of questions, good study
notes, and a classmate who wants to study.
Thesis Statement Model
see THESIS handout
Ideas and Details
Offer specific evidence and select words
that are not vague or undefined.
Avoid vague words like
Things, stuff, factors, advantages, and
characteristics
ONLY use these words when you have
specifically define what they correspond to
Example
A Person with learning disabilities needs
accommodations and modifications to
succeed in school.
A person with learning disabilities may
need reading strategies, writing
strategies, and math strategies to
succeed in school.
Support
A person with learning disabilities may
need reading strategies, writing strategies,
and math strategies to succeed in school.
The three paragraph topics would be
Reading strategies
Writing strategies
Math strategies
Support
Paragraph Topic: Reading strategies
Phonetically sounding out words
Memorization of sight words
Tying contextual meaning to words, phrases,
sentences
Transitions
Coherent essays contain writing that flows
smoothly from main idea to supporting
detail to example.
depends on logical organization, repetition of
key words, repetition of ideas through parallel
structure, and transitional devices.
see TRANSITIONS handout
Sentence Patterns
Simple sentence: contains a subject and verb
in a single independent clause
The concert kept my attention throughout the
evening.
Compound sentence: contains two
independent clauses joined by a conjunction.
The music played was my favorite, and the
orchestra was the largest in Florida.
Sentence Patterns
Complex sentence: contains an independent
clause and a dependent clause
Dependent Clause at the end
I had studied the symphony notes before I went
to the concert.
Dependent Clause at the beginning
Even though I knew little classical music, I
appreciated Bach’s compositions very much.
see OUTLINE handout
Mathematics Practice Test
Version