chapter 8 copyright © 2002 by the mcgraw-hill companies, inc
TRANSCRIPT
CHAPTER 8CHAPTER 8
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
• Based on your personal observations, experience, and knowledge
• Requires you to explain something, such as your opinion about a common issue
• Does not require special knowledge about a particular topic
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
A GED essayGED essay is a group of related paragraphs about one topic:
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Sample GED essay topic:
(Continued)
TOPIC
What is one important goal you would like to achieve in the next few years?
In your essay, identify that goal. Explain how you plan to achieve it. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.
Reprinted with permission of the GED Testing Service.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
• The highest score possible on the essay is a 4.
• The lowest score possible is a 1.• A passing score is a 2 or higher.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Your essay score is 35% of your total score on the Language Arts, Writing Test:
(Continued)
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
• Does it have well-focused main points?• Does it have clear organization?• Are its main ideas developed with specific
details?• Are the sentence structure, punctuation,
grammar, word choice, and spelling correct?
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Two readers will score your paper holistically holistically in terms of content and overall effectiveness:
(Continued)
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Here is a copy of the official GED Essay Scoring Guide:
(Continued)
Language Arts, Writing, Part IIEssay Scoring Guide
1 2 3 4Inadequate Marginal Adequate Effective
Reader has difficultyidentifying or following thewriter’s ideas.
Reader occasionally hasdifficulty understanding orfollowing the writer’sideas.
Reader understandswriter’s ideas.
Reader understands andeasily follows the writer’sexpression of ideas.
Response to the Prompt Attempts to addressprompt but with little or nosuccess in establishing afocus.
Addresses the prompt,though the focus mayshift.
Uses the writing prompt toestablish a main idea.
Presents a clearly focusedmain idea that addressesthe prompt.
Organization Fails to organize ideas. Shows some evidence ofan organizational plan.
Uses an identifiableorganizational plan.
Establishes a clear andlogical organization.
Development and Details Demonstrates little or nodevelopment; usuallylacks details or examplesor presents irrelevantinformation.
Has some developmentbut lacks specific details;may be limited to a listing,repetitions, orgeneralizations.
Has focused butoccasionally unevendevelopment;incorporates somespecific detail.
Achieves coherentdevelopment with specificand relevant details andexamples.
Conventions of EAE Exhibits minimal or nocontrol of sentencestructure and theconventions of EAE(Edited American English).
Demonstratesinconsistent control ofsentence structure and theconventions of EAE.
Generally controlssentence structure and theconventions of EAE.
Consistently controlssentence structure and theconventions of EAE.
Word Choice Exhibits weak and/orinappropriate words.
Exhibits a narrow range ofword choice, oftenincluding inappropriateselections.
Exhibits appropriate wordchoice.
Exhibits varied andprecise word choice.
Reprinted with permission of the GED Testing Service.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
A “4” essay contains
• A main idea that clearly refers to the essay topic• Ideas that are organized and easy to follow• Body paragraphs with a topic sentence and
specific details and examples• Sentences and paragraphs that are written
correctly with hardly any grammar or spelling errors
• A wide range of vocabulary that is used correctly
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
A “3” essay contains
• A main idea that could be written more clearly• Ideas that could be organized in a better way• Body paragraphs with a topic sentence but
unequal amounts of details and examples• Sentences and paragraphs that are written
correctly with a few grammar or spelling errors• Vocabulary that is used correctly but could be
more complex
(Continued)
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
A “2” essay contains• A main idea that includes ideas not discussed in the
essay topic• Some ideas that are hard to follow• Body paragraphs with a topic sentence and details
and examples that could be stronger• Some sentences and paragraphs that are written
incorrectly with noticeable errors in grammar and spelling
• A limited range of vocabulary with some incorrect words
(Continued)
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
A “1” essay contains• A main idea that does not respond to the topic
• Ideas that are mixed up in order and hard to follow
• Body paragraphs with irrelevant or missing details and examples
• Sentences and paragraphs that are written incorrectly with many errors in grammar and spelling
• A limited range of vocabulary that is often used incorrectly
(Continued)
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
The writing processwriting process will help you write a good GED essay in 45 minutes:
1. Gather ideas:• Examine the assigned topic and think of
specific things you want to say about it.• Use your own experiences to help you
think of ideas.• Jot your ideas down on paper.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
• Check over the ideas you have gathered and put them in a logical order.
• Make sure you have enough good ideas.• Cross off any ideas that aren’t about the
topic.• Group the ideas in the order in which you
will use them.
2. Organize your ideas:
(Continued)
The writing processwriting process will help you write a good GED essay in 45 minutes:
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
(Continued)
The writing processwriting process will help you write a good GED essay in 45 minutes:
3. Write your essay:• Put the ideas you have gathered and
organized into sentence and paragraph form.
• Focus on content at this point; don’t worry about errors in grammar or spelling.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
(Continued)
The writing processwriting process will help you write a good GED essay in 45 minutes:
4. Revise your essay:• Read over your essay and make sure it’s
structured clearly and it answers the essay question.
• Make sure your sentences are complete and there are no mistakes in grammar, punctuation, or spelling.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
• The introductory paragraphintroductory paragraph states the topic you are going to address and your main idea.
• The three body paragraphsbody paragraphs express ideas that support and extend the main idea.
• The concluding paragraphconcluding paragraph summarizes the essay and gives a final idea about the topic.
The five-paragraph formatfive-paragraph format is a good way to structure an essay on any topic:
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Look again at the sample essay topic:
(Continued)
TOPIC
What is one important goal you would like to achieve in the next few years?
In your essay, identify that goal. Explain how you plan to achieve it. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.
Reprinted with permission of the GED Testing Service.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Now read the sample five-paragraph essay:
(Continued)
Over the next few years, my main goal is to obtain acollege degree from St. J ohn’s University in Collegeville. Thisgoal will be very difficult to obtain, and I will need to workhard at it. Three things that will aff ect the outcome of mygoal are how much money I can raise to pay for it, how muchtime I am willing to spend studying, and my dedication intraining for football.
Before you can register at a college, you must considerhow it is going to be paid for. This is especially an issue atSt. J ohn’s because the tuition is around $22,000 a year.This is a huge sum of money. I t is not made easier by thefact that my parents will be able to contribute very littletowards my education. Thus I am forced to rely onscholarships, grants, and loans from the government andother agencies. I have already taken some action by applyingfor scholarships, but I will have to apply again next year. Ireceived a $7,500 scholarship from St. J ohn’s and they havealso given me some grants. The rest of the money will haveto come from student loans and an on campus job.
The next area that will aff ect my goal is the classroom.This is important because the main point of college is toprepare myself for a successful career. I n college, I willneed to apply myself and take time to study every night.Sometimes, I may be forced to give up things that I wouldrather do, but I must if I am going to achieve my goal. Imust create a relationship with my professors because theywill help me obtain the information that is needed to besuccessful.
The third thing is my dedication in training for football.Football is my favorite sport, and St. J ohn’s has an excellentfootball tradition. They have 150 players out for footballeach year. I f I am going to be successful and contribute tothe team, I am going to have to be dedicated to training. Imust spend timeless hours in the weight room gaining strengthand quickness. I believe all of the hard work will pay off .
I f I can do these three things, I will successfullycomplete my goal of graduating from college. I f this goal isachieved, I believe I will be well on my way to a successfullife.
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHINTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
BODY PARAGRAPH 1BODY PARAGRAPH 1
BODY PARAGRAPH 2BODY PARAGRAPH 2
BODY PARAGRAPH 3BODY PARAGRAPH 3
CONCLUDING PARAGRAPHCONCLUDING PARAGRAPH
Reprinted with permission of the GED Testing Service.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
This essay received a score of 4. It contains
(Continued)
• A main idea that clearly refers to the essay topic (to obtain a college degree)(to obtain a college degree)
• Ideas that are organized and easy to follow (three body paragraphs that develop the main idea)(three body paragraphs that develop the main idea)
• Body paragraphs with a topic sentence and specific details and examples (about paying for college, studying effectively, and training for football)(about paying for college, studying effectively, and training for football)
• Sentences and paragraphs that are written correctly without grammar or spelling errors
• A wide range of vocabulary that is used correctly
THE ENDTHE ENDPractice the skills you learned in this chapter by taking the Chapter Review QuizChapter Review Quiz or the GED Practice QuizGED Practice Quiz.
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.