College Composition Essay HELP

[originalamyj]

I agree with rrr (I'm an English tutor). There is a basic 5 paragraph persuasive essay structure you should follow. However I would say your thesis should be clear, and have the 3 reasons that support it and it's the last sentence of your introduction. Then those 3 things become your body paragraphs. The conclusion wraps it all up but doesn't offer new information. It's generally a good idea to have an amplification in the end as to why this matters to ultimately.

If you want to ask rhetorical questions, keep it to only one or two in the whole paper. Use one of them as your exordium or hook to open the essay and get the reader into it.

I have found with these kinds of timed essays they are not looking for profound new research or thoughts on the subject. They are more interested in: Do you know basic essay format? Can you write a clear thesis statement? Do you have proofs that you can develop into the body paragraphs? Do you use transitions well to help the reader follow your train of thought? Do you have a conclusion that wraps everything up? If so, you are golden.

BTW, the above is what IEW teaches in all levels of writing. I have taught their materials for years. His more recent updates to High School Essay Intensive teaches very clearly a more classical rhetoric approach to persuasive writing which is to have your thesis stated clearly, with three proofs. A refutation is appropriate only when you have proven your three proofs first.

[AMRH94]

I just completed this CLEP several months ago and was also super nervous. I have difficulty writing with time constraints and after several weeks of essay writing, was still struggling to craft a cohesive, structured paper. So my plan was to ace the multiple choice section and hopefully achieve a passing grade despite my less than stellar essays. It worked! I only guessed on a couple of the multiple choice questions and think I scored really well here. As far as my essays go, the first was fairly good, but I think I totally bombed the second with only four weak paragraphs and no ending ( ran out of time). Despite this I still scored a 61!!! Don't let this one scare you. Pace youself and you will be fine.