Writing TEST tips

1. Writing TEST tips

2. USE YOUR RESOURCES • You may use the dictionary and the thesaurus on all parts of your reading and writing tests. USE THEM! • You have a style manual in the back of your dictionary that can assist you with the revising and editing portion of the test. USE IT. • You can use the dictionary to check spelling on the writing and editing portion of the test. USE IT. • You can use the dictionary to look up unfamiliar words. You can use the thesaurus to find a more precise word for your writing. USE THEM.

3. Verify! • On the revising and editing questions on the writing test (as well as the vocabulary questions on the reading test), verify your gut response. • You have resources that will allow you, in most cases, to verify what you think is the correct answer. Why not use them? • You think that word is spelled incorrectly? Look in the dictionary and see. • You think that word should be capitalized or maybe there should be a comma after it? Check the style manual in the back of your dictionary. • On your reading test, you can use the dictionary to confirm a definition. You should also revisit the text to see how the word was used so that you can make sure you are choosing the correct definition.

4. WRITE IN THE CORRECT MODE • Be sure you are writing a short story when the prompt tells you to write a story. This prompt should have an accompanying photo. • Be sure you are writing an expository essay when the prompt tells you to write an essay. This prompt should have an accompanying anecdote in a box.

5. WRITE ABOUT THE PROMPT • Be sure to write about the prompt, not about the photo or anecdote. • The photo and anecdote are merely there to get you thinking about the prompt. Do not write about them. • You may briefly reference the anecdote in your essay as an example of what you believe - if it fits and if you have no better example.

6. MAINTAIN FOCUS • Do not lose focus in your writing. Stay on the prompt. Do not wander off topic. • In your essay, make sure your thesis addresses the prompt and that all of your explanation ties into the prompt. Refer back to the prompt throughout your essay. If you use an example to help illustrate your point, make sure you explain how it illustrates your point/thesis. • In your story, make sure your story is a clear example of the prompt. Use the key word in the prompt (or derivative of the key word) at least once in the story.

7. NARROW YOUR FOCUS • You only have one page to write each composition. Do not write past the last line. They won’t read it. • Narrow your focus so that you can explore it a deep and satisfactory manner. • Don’t try to write a short story about a complicated plot. Choose a simple event and make it epic through your description. • Don’t try to explain all perspectives of an issue in your essay. You only have one page. Embrace your perspective and explain it clearly.

8. TRANSITION • Use transition sentences in your writing. • In the essay, your transition sentences need to show the logical connections between your ideas. • In your story, your transition sentences need to show the logical progression of events in the story.

9. Make YOUR STORY INTERESTING • CONFLICT. By choosing a smaller scale conflict, you have space to develop your character and/or use sensory language to make your description vivid. • CHARACTERS. Tell us your main character’s name right away so that you’re not calling him/her “he” or “she” throughout much of the story. Give your character a personality. • DIALOGUE. You can use it to give your characters life. Just don’t forget that you’re writing a one page story, not a play. Don’t leave out the description!

10. Make YOUR STORY INTERESTING • DESCRIPTION. Use precise language to create vivid images for your reader. Avoid those vague adjectives (good, bad, mean, ugly, pretty) and verbs (said, walk, took). Use sensory language to appeal to your reader’s senses. • RESOLUTION. Consider a twist ending. Maybe you can describe the situation and not reveal some crucial information/element of it until the end of the story. Twist endings can really make your story pop.

11. BUT DON’T GO OVERBOARD • Don’t let your quest for more descriptive language lead you into unfamiliar territory. Use your thesaurus to jog your memory. Don’t use unfamiliar words you find in the thesaurus. Make sure you’re choosing words you know how to use correctly. • Use more precise but FAMILIAR language. If it’s a word you’ve never seen or heard used before, then you don’t know that it’s what you actually mean. You may use it in the wrong context and convey something you didn’t really mean.

12. MORE SPECIFIC WORDS DESCRIPTIVE WORDS TO REPLACE THOSE TIRED, VAGUE ONES

13. MAKE YOUR ESSAY INTERESTING • Come up with a hook for the first sentence of your introductory paragraph. Write a sentence that grabs your audience’s attention. It could be a thought provoking question (that you answer). It could be a quote or song lyric. Remember to give credit to the person who said it or sang it. It could be a proverb/maxim/adage/aphorism/wise saying. It could be a metaphor. It could simply be an insightful or thought provoking statement. Just remember that your hook must relate to the prompt. • You will need to compose transition sentences that show the connection between your hook and your thesis statement.

14. MAKE YOUR ESSAY INTERESTING • Make your thesis statement interesting. Personalize it. Don’t just regurgitate the prompt. • Your thesis statement should include what you believe and why you believe it. The remainder of your essay will then explain what you mean. • Your conclusion should restate in a new way what your thesis said. Add some final observation to your conclusion, a final statement that drives home your point or sums up what you mean.