1. More FSA Writing boot camp!
What am I going to be asked to do?

2. There are two kinds of Prompts
Informative/explanatory: you are asked to develop and support a controlling idea
Opinion/argumentative: You will be asked to argue and support a claim (don’t forget to address the counterclaim!)
The stimulus (a set of texts on one topic) will be presented along with a writing prompt that asks you to write an essay about a topic. You will be required to synthesize inform from the text sets and you must cite specific evidence from the texts to support your ideas.

3. What exactly am I going to be asked to do?
You will be given 120 minutes to read a stimulus and respond to a writing prompt in which you will provide information on a topic or take a stance to support an opinion or argument.

4. Here’s what it will look like
Write an explanatory essay about how the weather effects crop production. Your essay must be based on ideas and information that can be found in the “weather” passage set.
Write an argumentative essay in which you argue for or against the idea that hurricanes are a force of destruction. Use information from the passages in your essay. OR

5. Be sure you are writing the right mode!
Once you have started you essay, go back and reread the prompt to make sure you are writing an informative or argumentative essay! If you write the wrong mode ie: argumentative instead of informative your essay will be marked unscorable (0)!
What’s the difference? Informative/explanatory essays inform or explain about a topic or controlling idea, argumentative essays attempt to change the reader’s mind by stating your claim and addressing the counterclaim.

6. Use the CEI format for both kinds of prompts!
Use this form to ensure you adequately support your claim! The majority of your score is based on evidence and interpretation.

7. What is CEI? CEI stands for Claim, Evidence and Interpretation.
You must state your Claim (your thesis statement or answer to the prompt)
You must provide Evidence in the form of direct quotes from the provided texts to support your claim.
You must Interpret the evidence. Assume your reader does not know anything about the topic and explain, explain, explain!
The majority of your grade comes from the Evidence and Interpretation, so don’t skimp on these!