GED Extended Response Step-by-Step
If you've done a lot of writing and you're ready to practice using the specific type of writing expected for the GED Essay, this is the place to be.
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Once upon a time I saw this phrase in a GED preparation book, and I've used it ever since:
"You have the POWER to succeed on the GED Essay."
POWER is an acronym for the three stages of writing an essay, Plan & Organize, Write, and Edit & Revise. I love the simplicity of its meaning and the empowering attitude that comes with it.
"You have the POWER to succeed on the GED Essay."
POWER is an acronym for the three stages of writing an essay, Plan & Organize, Write, and Edit & Revise. I love the simplicity of its meaning and the empowering attitude that comes with it.
Quick Story:
Many of you have heard me tell the story about the lesson I had to learn the hard way so that you don't have to make the same mistake. Once upon a time I was a young, brand-new GED Preparation instructor. I decided to attend a workshop about teaching writing for the GED essay.
After some basic instruction, the presenter said to us, "I want you all to feel the pressure your students feel when they are told they have forty-five minutes for the GED Essay. Get out a piece of paper. You have 7 minutes." He then uncovered the topic that he'd been hiding on the overhead projector.
Well, I've written many an essay in my years of school. I thought, 'I can do this.' and I dove right in. I skipped a step I'd always been taught to do; I skipped right past planning and organizing and went right to the essay. After all, there wasn't time, right? I wrote furiously, filling the entire page. Soon the presenter said, "You have one minute left!" I looked back up at the projected topic and was horrified to realize that I had gone completely off topic. Something in the prompt had made me think of something else and I'd written on that instead without even realizing it. There was no time to recover from a mistake of that magnitude. I just had to clean up what I had.
To my horror, the presenter said, "Now pass your essay to the teacher sitting to the right of you." I can still feel the heat of embarrassment that I felt as I passed that paper to the experienced teacher sitting next to me. I did NOT want to claim that work as my own. I knew I could have done better. If only I'd planned and organized my topic first!
The Moral of the Story:
No matter how little time you think you have, don't skip the planning and organizing stage! Your finished product will be much better if you gather and arrange your thoughts before you write.
Many of you have heard me tell the story about the lesson I had to learn the hard way so that you don't have to make the same mistake. Once upon a time I was a young, brand-new GED Preparation instructor. I decided to attend a workshop about teaching writing for the GED essay.
After some basic instruction, the presenter said to us, "I want you all to feel the pressure your students feel when they are told they have forty-five minutes for the GED Essay. Get out a piece of paper. You have 7 minutes." He then uncovered the topic that he'd been hiding on the overhead projector.
Well, I've written many an essay in my years of school. I thought, 'I can do this.' and I dove right in. I skipped a step I'd always been taught to do; I skipped right past planning and organizing and went right to the essay. After all, there wasn't time, right? I wrote furiously, filling the entire page. Soon the presenter said, "You have one minute left!" I looked back up at the projected topic and was horrified to realize that I had gone completely off topic. Something in the prompt had made me think of something else and I'd written on that instead without even realizing it. There was no time to recover from a mistake of that magnitude. I just had to clean up what I had.
To my horror, the presenter said, "Now pass your essay to the teacher sitting to the right of you." I can still feel the heat of embarrassment that I felt as I passed that paper to the experienced teacher sitting next to me. I did NOT want to claim that work as my own. I knew I could have done better. If only I'd planned and organized my topic first!
The Moral of the Story:
No matter how little time you think you have, don't skip the planning and organizing stage! Your finished product will be much better if you gather and arrange your thoughts before you write.
P is for Plan
1) Summarize the Prompt. The first step in planning an essay is to read the topic and understand it. You know you've got a handle on it when you can summarize the prompt in 3 - 5 words. This will guide your brainstorming and make sure you stay on track. Write the summarized prompt on the top of your scrap paper.
2) Brainstorm. The second step in planning an essay is to jot down all the ideas that come to mind that fit the topic. Under the summarized prompt on your scrap paper, write down anything and anything that comes to mind. Don't stop to evaluate which ideas are the best; don't think about spelling; don't consider the order - Just Write! Get those ideas down on paper.
3) Choose a Main Idea. The last step of planning an essay is choosing a main idea or a point of view. The prompt may ask you to agree or disagree with a point. This is the time to choose sides. You may need to select a focus from the ideas you wrote down.
2) Brainstorm. The second step in planning an essay is to jot down all the ideas that come to mind that fit the topic. Under the summarized prompt on your scrap paper, write down anything and anything that comes to mind. Don't stop to evaluate which ideas are the best; don't think about spelling; don't consider the order - Just Write! Get those ideas down on paper.
3) Choose a Main Idea. The last step of planning an essay is choosing a main idea or a point of view. The prompt may ask you to agree or disagree with a point. This is the time to choose sides. You may need to select a focus from the ideas you wrote down.
Here is a worksheet to help you practice parts of planning an essay:
O is for Organize
The next step in writing a POWERful GED Essay is organizing your brainstormed thoughts. Look at your brainstorming. Do you see any ideas that belong together? Organize these into groups. These groups will later become your body paragraphs. There are many ways to organize your ideas; three are mentioned here. Find a method that works for you and fits the topic.
Outline. Many people use an outline to keep their thoughts organized. It does not have to be Roman-numeral formal. Here is an example, in general terms, of how you could set up an outline.
Summarized Topic from Your Planning Stage
•Introduction •Hook to Grab Reader's Attention •Background and General Ideas on the Topic •Thesis Statement (Topic Sentence of Your Essay) •Body Paragraph Number One •The Present Status of the Issue •Personal Observations, Knowledge, and Experience Related to Idea Number One •Body Paragraph Number Two •The Need for Action on the Issue •Personal Observations, Knowledge, and Experience Related to Idea Number Two •Body Paragraph Number Three •The Solution for the Issue •Personal Observations, Knowledge, and Experience Related to Idea Number Two •Conclusion •The Thesis Statement Revisited •The Future of the Issue •General Statements About the Topic |
Web. One of my favorite ways to organize ideas is a web. I use scrap paper to create my webs, but you may like this web site for creating one. In the web, your summarized topic will go in the center. Your three idea categories that will later become the body paragraphs of your essay will be in the next layer away from the center. The details branch off those categories.
When you go to the site, replace the list in the outline on the left-hand side with your own ideas from your brainstorming list. In the example that pops up, the words are single words. You can add phrases instead as meets your needs.
Essay Map. Try this! I recently discovered this website that creates an essay map that you can type on, one section at a time. The electronic format makes changing your mind and making changes easy. If you prefer, you can print out a blank map and write directly on it. Click the button below to get started.
This essay sample and explanation does a good job of demonstrating how each step will go together when you write your essay. Take a look at it before you get to the writing step so that you can organize your thoughts with this layout in mind.
W is for Write
Now it's time to write! So, what do you do with those ideas that you organized? The main idea for your essay (the summarized topic with your spin added) needs to be turned into a sentence that will tell your reader what your essay is all about. This is called a thesis statement.
When you write your first few essays, you might consider writing your sentences directly on an organizer such as this template below.
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E is for Edit and R is for Revise
Okay, your draft is written! You're almost there. It's time to re-read your essay and make changes. I've grouped editing and revising together because there are so many overlaps. It's okay to run through these in a different order, but make sure you run through proofreading, editing, and revising.
Let's begin with revision. Read your essay through out loud in your head. Do you know what I mean by "out loud in your head"? You can't actually read it out loud during the test, but what I'm talking about is a different level of reading than skimming the words. You need to pay attention to the overall flow when you read. How does your essay sound? Do your arguments make sense? Consider adding transitions to help your essay flow (see the section below this for more about transitions).
Editing is your chance to correct the grammar and paragraph structure of your essay. Read through and listen for sentence fragments or run-on sentences. Do your subjects and verbs agree? Does each paragraph have only one main idea?
Proofreading is a quick check of the mechanics. Catch any spelling, punctuation, or capitalization errors. Check for any place you may have mixed up common words (for example: there, their, and they're).
Let's begin with revision. Read your essay through out loud in your head. Do you know what I mean by "out loud in your head"? You can't actually read it out loud during the test, but what I'm talking about is a different level of reading than skimming the words. You need to pay attention to the overall flow when you read. How does your essay sound? Do your arguments make sense? Consider adding transitions to help your essay flow (see the section below this for more about transitions).
Editing is your chance to correct the grammar and paragraph structure of your essay. Read through and listen for sentence fragments or run-on sentences. Do your subjects and verbs agree? Does each paragraph have only one main idea?
Proofreading is a quick check of the mechanics. Catch any spelling, punctuation, or capitalization errors. Check for any place you may have mixed up common words (for example: there, their, and they're).
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Transitions. Transitional words and phrases can help link your ideas together and help show the relationship between your ideas. It is important that you use them, but be careful that you don't just throw transitions in to your sentences and assume they will do the trick. Use only the transitions for which you understand the meaning. These transitional words describe the relationship between your ideas, but they do not create a relationship if it's not already there. For example, the transition in the following sentence is not logical and therefore distracts from the clarity of the sentence.
We eat dinner together every evening. Consequently, my girls love pasta with red sauce and meatballs.
Since the two sentences seem loosely related in the first place; adding the word "consequently" does not create a relationship. A better way to fix it may be with other changes.
Although we eat dinner together as a family every evening, on the nights I serve pasta with red sauce and meatballs, the girls gather before I can even call them.
We eat dinner together every evening. Consequently, my girls love pasta with red sauce and meatballs.
Since the two sentences seem loosely related in the first place; adding the word "consequently" does not create a relationship. A better way to fix it may be with other changes.
Although we eat dinner together as a family every evening, on the nights I serve pasta with red sauce and meatballs, the girls gather before I can even call them.
The table in this review sheet can be considered when you read through your essay. Think about your essay in terms of your Response to the Prompt, Organization, Deveopment and Details, Conventions of Edited American English, and Word Choice.