NJ HSPA LANGUAGE ARTS : OVERVIEW

TWO READING PASSAGES NONFICTION PASSAGE FICTION PASSAGE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS: VERY IMPORTANT!!

PERSUASIVE ESSAY PERSUASIVE APPEALS LOGICAL – MIND (statistics, facts, reasoning, a plus b = c) ETHICAL – CONSCIENCE (sense of right and wrong) EMOTIONAL – HEART (tug on the reader’s heartstrings; make up a story that is very emotional) LOOKS LIKE THREE!!! THREE PARAGRAPHS???

TWO ESSAYS PERSUASIVE ESSAY For example: Many students in other countries are required to join the military after graduating from high school. Write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper persuading readers to either accept or reject this proposed policy. EXPOSITORY ESSAY For example: Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Write an essay in which you use literature, history, science, or your own personal experience that supports or refutes Roosevelt’s claim.

OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS Answer all parts of the question. Support your answer with evidence from the passage. Quote! Do not sit there with your head down when you are finished….make your open-ended questions better!!

MULTIPLE CHOICE Use the process of elimination Choose the best answer as sometimes two choices are “correct”, but one answer is the most correct! Do not leave answers blank: Eliminate as many answers as possible and then make an educated guess.

PERSUASIVE ESSAYS PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES Rhetorical Questions: Would you like your son or daughter moving on to a war directly after high school? Don’t you think it is necessary for people to serve their country? Repetition of key words or phrases: (How many times does a politician use key words in certain speeches). Parallel structure: Repetition of certain grammatical phrases. (I have a dream that one day…….., I have a dream that one day…….) Anecdotes/Stories: Tell a story!

EXPOSITORY ESSAY Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Write an essay in which you use literature, history, science, or your own personal experience that supports or refutes Roosevelt’s claim. Treat this essay like the 4-5 paragraph essays you have been writing since the beginning of your RBR career! Introduction Thesis Point 1 (Literature?) Thesis Point 2 (History?) Thesis Point 3 (Personal Life?) Conclusion

ALL ESSAYS NEED: An opening and a closing Transition words Descriptive details Strong vocabulary Organization

FINALLY….. Do your best! Try hard!! If you do not pass the HSPA, you will be in a mandatory HSPA study hall and English class next year. You are smart! Show it!