Writing Sample – see review book guide. All that steps to writing stuff is annoying and probably worthless, but the general approaches they suggest are good.
You get a topic that is usually an opinion statement or otherwise laden with value with which you could agree or disagree. You do three things:
1. Explain the statement (in other words discuss what it means, the ramifications, and maybe even an example).
2. Suggest the counter to the statement using an example. Basically you now present the other side of the argument but it is important to do so using an example.
3. Finally, you reconcile the two by being for, against, or partially in favor of the original statement.
So it really is just an essay except that you don’t present your conclusion in the introductory part of the essay; you only present it in the end. The key conceptual thing to do is to be presenting point and counterpoint.
Writing Fast:
1. Check subject-verb-adjective agreement. No “See Fido runs. Fido are good dogs.” Seriously though, be very conscious of it.
2. Try to keep an entire sentence in the same voice (first person, third person, etc), in the same subject (I, dog, car, them, etc.), and in the same tense (past, present, etc.). You don’t have to do this but it helps eliminate grammatical mistakes.
3. MOST IMPORTANT: WRITE IN SHORT SENTENCES. SOME PEOPLE THINK LONG SENTENCES MAKE YOU LOOK REAL SMART. THEY DON’T MAKE YOU LOOK SMART WHEN I FALL ASLEEP READING IT OR STUMBLE OVER THE 50 ERRORS IN PUTTING 50 CLAUSES IN ONE SENTENCE. SHORT SENTENCES KEEP YOUR IDEAS CLEAR AND CONCISE AND HELP YOU TO WRITE MORE QUICKLY.
4. Argument is important. Make sure each point is explained as much as time and space will allow. You can’t go into the meaning of every word you use, but be careful that you don’t leave too many logical gaps in your arguments. Short sentences help with that too.
Finally, I would suggest reviewing comma, semicolon, and colon usage online (just search for a quick guide on google or something) sometime before the test so you’ll have that fresh in your mind. Commas are quite troublesome.
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