English Comp

[snazzlefrag]

I would like to hear from anyone who has taken the English Comp with essay CLEP test. I have been studying using instantcert (exclusively). Should I be focusing my studies in other areas?? Was the test difficult. Is the instantcert format very close to the real test?? Can anyone tell me their experiences of the test, and anything that I should focus on?? Any tips would be really appreciated.
Thanks so much
Fred

Hi Fred,

Welcome to the board!

The IC English Comp section appears to cover the skills necessary to pass the multiple choice section of the exam.

Obviously, it doesn't provide any training in the writing of the essay. I can promise you that if you can write a basic 4-5 paragraph essay in 45 minutes, you will do fine. Your essay should follow the following guidelines:

1) Stick closely to the given topic (answer the specific question that is asked).
2) Use correct grammar and spelling.
3) Include an Intro paragraph, 2-3 middle paragraphs explaining key points of your argument, and a conclusion paragraph which ties your argument together.

To be honest, I had a complete brain freeze when I got to the essay portion of my exam. I didn't write ANYTHING until the last ten minutes. My essay was a total piece of crap! But I made sure my grammar/spelling were correct, and I made sure that I had a VERY BASIC intro/middle/conclusion.....and I still was able to pass! So don't be overly afraid of the essay portion. The key is to do as well as possible on the multiple choice portion, and then be able to write at least a very basic, ORGANIZED essay. They are not so much looking at WHAT you write (as long as you don't go off topic), but HOW WELL you write it.

If you can do well on the Instantcert questions, you will likely do well on the real exam too. It is a pass/fail exam, so you will just need to make sure you get more than half of the questions correct (more if your essay-writing skills are below par).

Here are a few links that you might find helpful:

http://web.ku.edu/~edit/index.html

http://www.tcc.edu/students/resources/wr...gument.htm

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/reaction.html

http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/...tical.html

http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html

http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb.html


In addition:

If you PM me your email address, I will send you the official CLEP fact sheet for this exam (which includes a 71-question mock exam).

If you plan on taking a whole bunch of other CLEP exams, you should think about buying the full CLEP Official Study Guide book, which includes mock exams for ALL the CLEP exams. It only costs about $16, and it will prove invaluable to you.

Hope that helps,
Snazzlefrag