TEST: THE FIRST AND SECOND STEPS IN ESSAY WRITING



TEST: AN INTRODUCTION TO WRITINGSome of the questions that follow are true-false or multiple choice questions, and some require you to write short answers.1.An important difference between writing and talking is that a. writers make more points than speakers.b. writers always use better English than speakers. c. writers do not write about personal matters. d. writers have to give reasons for their statements.2.FILL-IN: In most writing, your general aim should be to first advance a point and then ________________ /that point.3.TRUE or FALSE: _____ The introductory paragraph of an essay should always begin by stating the point the essay will prove.4. The plan of development in an essay is a. the structure of a body paragraph. b. the same as a thesis statement.c. a preview of the major points that support the essay. d. always part of an introductory paragraph.5.TRUE or FALSE: _____ Supporting paragraphs in an essay do not need their own topic sentences.6.Which of the following are advantages of learning how to write essays? a. Makes you think more logically. b. Helps you write job application letters. c. Improves your chances of success on written tests. d. All of the above.7.The body of an essay consists of a. paragraphs that support the thesis. c. introduction, development, and conclusion. b. the thesis. d. topic sentences.8. TRUE or FALSE: _____ The concluding paragraph of an essay can include both a summary of the main point and a final thought on the subject.9.TRUE or FALSE: _____ If you don’t know your subject when you begin to write, you may discover it as you write. 10.In which stage of the writing process is a computer helpful? a. Generating a list of items to write about.b. Deciding on the order of sentences and paragraphs.c. Substituting more effective writing during revision. d. All of the above.TEST: THE WRITING PROCESS Some of the questions that follow are true-false or multiple-choice questions, and some require you to write short answers.1.FILL-IN: The five prewriting techniques are 1) freewriting, 2) questioning, 3) making a ____________________, 4) clustering, and 5) preparing a scratch outline.2.When freewriting, you should concern yourself with a. spelling.b. punctuation.c. constantly writing.d. finding the exact words to say what you mean.3.In questioning, you generate ideas about a topic by a. asking as many questions as you can think of.b. reading to find the answers to your questions.c. writing for ten minutes or so without stopping.d. drawing boxes, arrows and circles to show relationships between ideas. 4.Another name for clustering is a. brainstorming.c. outlining.b. freewriting.d. diagramming.5.In outlining, you must distinguish between major ideas anda. minor details. c. lists.b. diagrams.d. techniques.6.FILL-IN: Writing is done through a series of stages: 1) _____________________________, 2) writing and revising, 3) editing, 4) proofreading.7.FILL-IN: To revise your essay’s content, you should ask three questions. These are: (1) Is my paper unified? (2) Is it supported? (3) Is it _____________________________________?8.A paper is considered supported whena.there are at least three separate supporting points for the thesis.b.there is specific evidence for each supporting point.c.there is plenty of specific evidence for each supporting point.d.all of the above.9.In revising sentences, which of the following questions should you NOT ask?a.Do I have a consistent point of view?b.Do I use specific words?c.Do I vary my sentences?d.Do I use correct spelling and punctuation?10.TRUE or FALSE: _____ If a paper has been written on a computer, all revisions should be made at the computer rather than in longhand.TEST: THE FIRST AND SECOND STEPS IN ESSAY WRITING Some of the questions that follow are true-false or multiple-choice questions, and some require you to write short answers.1. FILL-IN: The first step in essay writing is deciding what ____________________ you want to make.2.TRUE or FALSE: _____ Formulating your thesis at the beginning will help you stick to the topic of your essay.3.One way to make sure that your essay will have enough support is to start with a. a thesis statement. c. an introduction. b. an informal outline.d. all of the above.4. Which of the following sentences is an announcement rather than a thesis statement? a. Professional athletes are underworked and overpaid. b. My cousin has centered his life around becoming a professional basketball player. c. For several reasons, professional athletes today are a bad influence on young people. d. The importance of professional athletes is the subject of this paper.5. Choose the sentence that is too broad to be an effective thesis for an essay. a. Our family outings tend to fall into three categories. b. A bicycle trip is a terrible way to spend a vacation. c. Recreation is an important part of the American lifestyle. d. Several steps should be taken to speed up baseball games.6. Choose the sentence that is too narrow to be an effective thesis for an essay. a. When I was eight years old, I got a parakeet. b. Wild cats do not make good house pets. c. Some people at zoos seem less civilized than the animals. d. There are three effective ways to housebreak a puppy.7. Which of the following sentences is not an effective thesis because it contains more than one idea? a. People who live in small towns escape many of the hazards of the city. b. Living in a small town can be boring, but it can provide business opportunities. c. Moving to a small town required some major adjustments in my life. d. My roommate’s small-town background did not prepare her for life at a large university.8. FILL-IN: A “dead-end” statement is another name for a sentence that is too _________________________ to be developed into an essay.9. Choose the vague term from the list below. a. Diesel truck c. Convertible b. Vehicled. Wagon10.TRUE or FALSE: _____ One clue that a paragraph lacks enough supporting details is that its sentences are wordy.TEST: THE THIRD STEP IN ESSAY WRITING Some of the questions that follow are true-false or multiple-choice questions, and some require you to write short answers.1. FILL-IN: Two common methods of organizing the supporting material in an essay are emphatic order and ____________________ order.2. In emphatic order, the most interesting or important detail is placed a. last. c. in the middle. b. first.d. in several places.3. Which of the following is an addition signal? a. but c. therefore b. such asd. also4. Which of the following is a change-of-direction signal? a. another c. on the other handb. befored. once5. FILL-IN: Transitions occur not only within the paragraphs of an essay, but also __________ the paragraphs, in the form of linking sentences.6. TRUE or FALSE: _____ A topic sentence can also be a transitional sentence.7. Which of the following are connecting words? a. repeated words b. pronouns c. synonyms d. all of the above8. Repeating a key word in a paragraph a. is boring and should be avoided. b. can serve to remind the reader of the paragraph’s main idea. c. shows the reader where the most important detail is. d. is grammatically incorrect.9. An introductory paragraph may a. contain a quotation. b. relate an incident or story. c. begin with an idea that is the opposite of the thesis. d. all of the above.10.TRUE or FALSE: _____ The title of an essay should be a complete sentence.TEST: THE FOURTH STEP IN ESSAY WRITING (I):REVISING SENTENCES Revise each of the following sentences, using the strategy indicated.A. Parallelism1. Tired of your old hair? The hair-care aisle is full of products that can color it, straighten it, or make it curly. 2. Beautiful women, a suave hero, and villains who are despicable are the most important elements of a James Bond movie.B.Consistent point of view3. Joanna’s date smiled at her, reached for her hand, and says, “You’re looking beautiful tonight.” 4.Rhonda says that you can kill a dog by feeding it chocolate. C.Specific words5. Tonight I’d like a hamburger with all the trimmings. 6. The pile of junk on Carlos’s bed made it impossible for him to sleep there. D.Active verbs7. My sleep was shattered by a blood-curdling scream. 8. Every bit of the stew was eaten by the hungry hikers.E.Concise words9. Without any doubt whatsoever, the success of this project has been due to the fact that everyone involved gave it his or her absolute utmost effort.10.One of the very positive benefits of exercise is that after the person returns back to her normal everyday activities, she is not infrequently in a better mood than in the period of time before she exercised. TEST: THE FOURTH STEP IN ESSAY WRITING (II): COMBINING SENTENCES THROUGH COORDINATION AND SUBORDINATION On separate paper, use coordination and subordination to combine the groups of simple sentences below into one or (in most cases) two longer sentences. Omit repeated words. Since a variety of combinations is possible, you might want to jot several combinations on your paper. Then read them aloud to find the combination that sounds best. Keep in mind that, very often, the relationship between ideas in a sentence will be clearer when subordination rather than coordination is used.1.? Everyone laughed at the boss’s story. ? Stan laughed harder than anyone else.? He didn’t get the joke.2.? My car developed an annoying rattle.? I took it to the service station.? The mechanic couldn’t find what was wrong.3.? I have always wanted to play the piano.? My parents couldn’t afford music lessons.? I still want to learn.? I am taking an adult ed course at our high school.4.? A Vietnamese restaurant opened in our town.? It has been doing a tremendous business.? The food is reasonably priced.? It is a delicious combination of Chinese and French cooking.5.? A person at the party told a racist joke.? I decided to leave.? My boyfriend told me to calm down.? I didn’t want to be around people like that.6.? The burner was set only at “medium.”? The soup boiled over the top of the pot.? The mixture hit the hot stove.? It smoked, hissed, and bubbled.7.? I couldn’t decide which of the two sweaters to buy.? The saleswoman convinced me to take both.? At home, I regretted the expensive purchase.? I vowed to return one of the sweaters.8.? Debbie felt nervous and out-of-place at the party.? She sat by herself at the end of the couch.? She didn’t want people to feel sorry for her.? She kept a strained smile on her face.9.? Mr. Blatt always mixes up the students’ names.? People get the feeling he doesn’t care.? Being called by another name is embarrassing.? It makes the students feel unimportant as well.10. ? The Mars Curiosity rover made an apparently exciting discovery.? It turned out to be a shiny piece of robot litter.? Curiosity continues its exploration of Mars.? Scientists believe Curiosity will make many more discoveries, perhaps even fossils.TEST: THE FOURTH STEP IN ESSAY WRITING (III):VARYING SENTENCES On separate paper, combine each of the following groups of simple sentences into one longer sentence, using the strategy indicated.A. Special Opening Words and Phrases1. Elias walked out of the theater. He was shocked by the movie’s violence. 2. The new receptionist was timid. She answered the office phone for the first time. 3. The cat was curled up in a sunny spot on the windowsill. It paid no attention to the people passing by. 4.Lillian was nauseated and feverish. She could not face the idea of making dinner for her children. B.Series of adjectives5. An odor filled the house. The odor was damp.The odor was musty.The house was cold.The house was creepy. 6. Hakim snarled at his computer. Hakim was impatient.Hakim was angry.The computer was ancient.The computer was slow. C.Series of verbs7. The runner stretched her legs.She rotated her shoulders.She talked quietly to herself. 8. The termites swarmed over the woodpile.They burrowed under the loose bark of the logs.They began to feast. WRITING A THESIS STATEMENTThis activity will give you practice in writing an effective thesis—one that is neither too broad nor too narrow for the supporting points in an essay. An added value of the activity is that sometimes you will construct your thesis after you have decided what your supporting points will be. Thus, you can gain experience here in writing a thesis that stems from a set of supporting points.1. Thesis a.All the resorts, from beaches to mountains to amusement parks, charge top dollar at thistime. b.The heat and humidity during the summer months make traveling extremely uncomfortable. c.Highways, campsites, and motels are jammed with other vacationers.2. Thesis a.Daydreaming allows us to exercise our imaginations. b.Time spent daydreaming can aid relaxation and help eliminate stress. c.Often, solutions to difficult problems pop into the mind while a person daydreams.3. Thesis a.Cutting down on salt will reduce water retention and that bloated feeling. b.Salt reduction may also help hypertension. c.Without salt, the natural flavors of food come through.4. Thesis a.A digital camera permits on-the-spot deletion of poorly-shot photos. b.Digital cameras are lightweight and compact. c.Digital cameras have the capacity to hold many consecutive photos. ................
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