General
Writing Test Tips
q
Get a good night’s sleep (seven to eight hours)
and a good breakfast in the morning
q
Come prepared; have an open mind and two no. 2
pencils or a mechanical pencil with plenty of extra lead
q
Review information provided by your English 10
teacher
q The
prompt may ask students to write a business letter, a speech, or an article
addressing a community organization, other students, or an individual or
business. Regardless of the audience,
students should use formal English and avoid contractions and slang.
q For
a business letter, students should address the audience and use a colon (e.g. Dear Leesville Road Parents:).
Students should not worry about return and business addresses, as that
information is not provided nor is there room to spare for it. Start your essay
on the next line.
q For
a speech, students should address the audience (Good evening Wake County
Public School Board,). Once again,
start your essay on the next line.
q
An article should have an inviting opening to
interest the reader. Using a quote or
statistic provided on the prompt may help accomplish this goal if the student
does not have another original idea.
Plan accordingly; you
have 100 minutes to complete the test.
1) Prewriting
– Spend 15 to 20 minutes planning your paper using either
an outline or a web; be thorough and develop examples and details to support
your observations about the writing topic.
2) Rough
Draft – Spend 30 minutes writing an
organized rough draft on the paper given to you by the test administrator. Make
sure your paper has an introduction, a thesis statement, topic sentences for
each paragraph, and a conclusion that leaves the audience with a sense of
closure.
3) Revise/Edit
– Spend 15 to 20 minutes revising and editing your paper,
noting gaps in reasoning, lack of examples, and organization. Fix these problems making sure you are
answering exactly what the writing prompt requests of you.
4) Final
Draft – Write your final copy on the paper provided by
the test administrator. This should
take about 20 minutes. Make sure your paper is neat and
legible. Do not double stack lines or
write beyond the stop sign.
5) Proofread
– You should use the remaining 10 minutes to read through your
final draft for simple spelling and punctuation errors and make corrections.
Some students may choose to spend more time on
their prewriting and go directly to the final draft. Just make sure your paper contains all the required elements
listed in the rough draft section above.
Note these are only estimates, but if you stick
close to the timeline, you should have plenty of time to finish the test!
Responding to the Prompt
v Read the prompt at least three times to make sure you know exactly what the prompt is asking of you. The writing prompt itself is found above or below the quotes and/or statistics in the box.
v
Read through the quotes, statistics, and other information offered in the box above the prompt. Only use a quote, statistic, or other information if you are sure you completely understand what it is saying and how it is relevant to your ideas. You are not required to directly use any of this information, but it can be extremely helpful to the development of your paper. Remember to credit the speaker or the source of the quotation or statistic. Use quotation marks around the cited quote, and place a period inside the enclosing quotation marks.
v If you use a quote or statistic, explain the quote or statistic and how it supports your point. Do not just drop a quote or statistic in your paper without explaining it. For example: Duke Ellington once stated, “A problem is a chance to do your best.” Accordingly, this school board has a chance to do its best by finding a solution to the problem of the school calendar.
v
Remember that this is informational/explanatory writing. You provide and explain information. Do not provide an opinion.
Definition Paper
v Note that often the definition of the word is one of the quotes. Use this information if you are not sure of the meaning of the word. Do not use the quote as your thesis. Rephrase the quote into your own words.
v Remember for a definition paper, you may define a word/concept by
*explaining how use of the word has changed over time; give examples
(in the past, people had pride in their family name; today people are more concerned with their own individual accomplishments)
*showing the different ways the word is interpreted; give examples
(some people consider Christina Aguilera to be their hero; nevertheless, a true hero is someone who sacrifices their time and energy for others. Pop stars sing songs; they do not save lives.)
*describing what the word/concept is and is not; give examples
(Some people associate pride with arrogance, but arrogance is an extreme of pride that usually causes a person to be disliked by others since it is not an attractive quality.)
v
Remember to provide examples using literature, your own observations and/or real-life experiences as you define a word/concept.
Cause/Effect Paper
v Read the prompt carefully. It will tell you whether to concentrate on the causes OR the effects of the topic given. An example prompt would be to “note the effects and explain the causes of student stress”. This prompt requires that the body paragraphs should be about the causes of student stress but the effects may be noted/stated somewhere in the paper, preferably the introduction or conclusion.
v You should explain at least two or three causes or effects. Be sure to include examples, details, and facts to make the cause and effect relationship clear.
Topic Sentence of Paragraph: Procrastination causes students to have low grades.
Concluding Sentence of Paragraph: The negative effect of bad grades should encourage all students not to procrastinate.
v Read the prompt carefully; make sure you understand the problem for which the prompt is asking you to provide solutions.
v Brainstorm two or three solutions to the problem, noting advantages and disadvantages of each solution. Use examples, details, and/or hypothetical (possible) situations to illustrate your point about a possible advantage or disadvantage.
v Do not support one solution over the other. You are just providing information to your audience.