Most, if not all, senior high school and college standardized tests include a writing portion. Students are offered a writing prompt and must write an essay then on the topic. Writing for standardized tests can strike fear in the hearts and minds of students of all of the ages, nonetheless it doesn’t need certainly to. Once you learn what to anticipate and understand how to write a five paragraph essay, you are willing to tackle any essay writing prompt.
Kinds of Essays on Standardized Tests
When you start to write your essay for a standardized test, you have to first determine what types of essay you may be being asked to publish. There are many different types of essays, including narrative, expository, argumentative, persuasive, comparative, literary, and so forth. The kind of essay should determine your topic and thesis. Essays for standardized tests are typically either persuasive, in which you will answer a relevant question, or literary, where you will write about something pay for essay you read.
For standardized tests, students usually have to create a five paragraph essay, which should be 500 to 800 words long and include an introductory paragraph, three supporting paragraphs and a concluding paragraph.
The Initial Paragraph: The Introduction
The paragraph that is first introduce your topic. The introduction is the most important paragraph given that it provides direction when it comes to entire essay. It also sets the tone, and also you wish to grab the reader’s attention with interest and clarity. The easiest way to tackle the introduction will be:
- Describe your main idea, or what the essay is about, in one sentence. You can usually utilize the essay writing prompt or question to make this sentence.
- Develop a thesis statement, or what you would like to express concerning the main idea. Once the writing prompt is a question, your thesis is typically the response to the question.
- List three points or arguments that support your thesis to be able worth focusing on (one sentence for every).
Voila! You’ve just written your introductory paragraph.
The next, Third and Fourth Paragraphs: Supporting Details
These three paragraphs form the physical body associated with the essay. They offer details, such as facts, quotes, examples and concrete statistics, for the three points in your introductory paragraph that support your thesis. Use the true points you listed in your introduction and discuss each in one single body paragraph. Here’s how:
- First, write a topic sentence that summarizes your point. Here is the first sentence of one’s paragraph.
- Next, write your argument, or why you feel the topic sentence is true.
- Finally, present your evidence (facts, quotes, examples, and statistics) to guide your argument.
Now you have a body paragraph. Repeat for points two and three. The part that is best about introducing most of your points in the first paragraph is that it gives an overview for your body paragraphs and eliminates the necessity to write in transitions between paragraphs.
The Fifth Paragraph: The Conclusion
The paragraph that is concluding summarize the essay. This is often the most difficult paragraph to write. In your conclusion, you need to restate the thesis and connect it with all the body of this essay in a sentence which explains how each point supports the thesis. Your final sentence should uphold your primary idea in a clear and compelling manner. Be sure you do not present any new information in the conclusion.
When writing an essay for a standardized test, outline your essay and get through each paragraph as quickly as possible. Think about it as a rough draft. As soon as your time is up, a essay that is complete score more points than an incomplete essay considering that the evaluator is expecting a beginning, middle and an end.
When you have time and energy to review your essay before your time is up, by all means do this! Make any revisions that you think will strengthen your “rough draft” and make sure to look for any grammatical errors or misspellings.
Online instruction just like the essay that is time4Writing courses for elementary, middle and senior high school students might help children get ready for state and college-entrance standardized writing tests. These writing that is interactive build basic writing skills, explain essay types and structure, and teach students how to organize their ideas.
For general tips on test preparation and details about each state’s standardized tests, please visit our standardized test overview page.