Once you have an understanding of the
prompt and the issues/readings associated with it, you can
begin to compose a response. Generally speaking, a conventional
expository or academic essay is the format one should follow.
titlehough this type of writing is not the most elegant or supportive
of individual writing styles, the format offers a strategy
that most examiners (who are typically college professors
and school teachers) will reward if done well. That
means you need the following:
- An introduction,
one which grabs the examiners' attention, helps them understand
the relevance of the topic, and presents your overarching
thesis (the central point of your essay).
- A body, one
which presents a series of developed paragraphs explaining
and expanding on the points alluded to in your thesis.
- A conclusion,
one which offers a summary of your key points and one which
deals with the importance and significance of the topic.
Most test prep
guides encourage candidates to avoid immediately writing an
introduction when they begin to produce the essay. titlehough
some might be tempted to start with the beginning, jumping
to the body of your paper helps you to focus on points that
you already know you need or want to make; moreover, it prevents
you from wasting time coming up with a creative opening that
often ends up also consuming your mental energy and valuable
time. (Remember, the prompt will hint at points you
need to cover, like a summary of the arguments made in the
readings, an evaluation of the merits of those arguments,
and your response to them). The next logical step is
to write a conclusion that reviews those points and speaks
to their significance. Once you have covered your body
and conclusion, then you can efficiently write the introduction,
since you already know where you head in the essay.
Candidates must develop
strong essays with paragraphs that begin with main ideas (or
topic sentences) and transitions. Good paragraphs also
come with plenty of development, but considering the time
constraints involved with this test, writers should include
three to six supporting sentences. If you typically
write sophisticated sentences (complex, compound, compound/complex),
then three supporting sentences are sufficient, but if you
generally write simplistic sentences, six sentences can make
for a well-developed paragraph.