1. Preparing for the GED Essay
CHAPTER 8
Preparing for the GED Essay
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

2. What the GED Essay Is Like
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
What the GED Essay Is Like
A GED essay is a group of related paragraphs about one topic:
Based on your personal observations, experience, and knowledge
Requires you to explain something, such as your opinion about a common issue
Does not require special knowledge about a particular topic
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

3. What the GED Essay Is Like
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
What the GED Essay Is Like
(Continued)
Sample GED essay topic:
TOPIC
What is one important goal you would like to achieve in the next few years?
In your essay, identify that goal. Explain how you plan to achieve it. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.
Reprinted with permission of the GED Testing Service.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

4. What the GED Essay Is Like
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
What the GED Essay Is Like
(Continued)
Your essay score is 35% of your total score on the Language Arts, Writing Test:
The highest score possible on the essay is a 4.
The lowest score possible is a 1.
A passing score is a 2 or higher.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

5. What the GED Essay Is Like
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
What the GED Essay Is Like
(Continued)
Two readers will score your paper holistically in terms of content and overall effectiveness:
Does it have well-focused main points?
Does it have clear organization?
Are its main ideas developed with specific details?
Are the sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, word choice, and spelling correct?
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

6. What the GED Essay Is Like
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
What the GED Essay Is Like
(Continued)
Here is a copy of the official GED Essay Scoring Guide:
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

7. Understanding the Essay Scoring Guide
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Understanding the Essay Scoring Guide
A “4” essay contains
A main idea that clearly refers to the essay topic
Ideas that are organized and easy to follow
Body paragraphs with a topic sentence and specific details and examples
Sentences and paragraphs that are written correctly with hardly any grammar or spelling errors
A wide range of vocabulary that is used correctly
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

8. Understanding the Essay Scoring Guide
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Understanding the Essay Scoring Guide
(Continued)
A “3” essay contains
A main idea that could be written more clearly
Ideas that could be organized in a better way
Body paragraphs with a topic sentence but unequal amounts of details and examples
Sentences and paragraphs that are written correctly with a few grammar or spelling errors
Vocabulary that is used correctly but could be more complex
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

9. Understanding the Essay Scoring Guide
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Understanding the Essay Scoring Guide
(Continued)
A “2” essay contains
A main idea that includes ideas not discussed in the essay topic
Some ideas that are hard to follow
Body paragraphs with a topic sentence and details and examples that could be stronger
Some sentences and paragraphs that are written incorrectly with noticeable errors in grammar and spelling
A limited range of vocabulary with some incorrect words
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

10. Understanding the Essay Scoring Guide
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Understanding the Essay Scoring Guide
(Continued)
A “1” essay contains
A main idea that does not respond to the topic
Ideas that are mixed up in order and hard to follow
Body paragraphs with irrelevant or missing details and examples
Sentences and paragraphs that are written incorrectly with many errors in grammar and spelling
A limited range of vocabulary that is often used incorrectly
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

11. Overview of the Writing Process
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Overview of the Writing Process
The writing process will help you write a good GED essay in 45 minutes:
1. Gather ideas:
Examine the assigned topic and think of specific things you want to say about it.
Use your own experiences to help you think of ideas.
Jot your ideas down on paper.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

12. Overview of the Writing Process
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Overview of the Writing Process
(Continued)
The writing process will help you write a good GED essay in 45 minutes:
2. Organize your ideas:
Check over the ideas you have gathered and put them in a logical order.
Make sure you have enough good ideas.
Cross off any ideas that aren’t about the topic.
Group the ideas in the order in which you will use them.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

13. Overview of the Writing Process
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Overview of the Writing Process
(Continued)
The writing process will help you write a good GED essay in 45 minutes:
3. Write your essay:
Put the ideas you have gathered and organized into sentence and paragraph form.
Focus on content at this point; don’t worry about errors in grammar or spelling.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

14. Overview of the Writing Process
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
Overview of the Writing Process
(Continued)
The writing process will help you write a good GED essay in 45 minutes:
4. Revise your essay:
Read over your essay and make sure it’s structured clearly and it answers the essay question.
Make sure your sentences are complete and there are no mistakes in grammar, punctuation, or spelling.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

15. The Five-Paragraph Essay
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
The Five-Paragraph Essay
The five-paragraph format is a good way to structure an essay on any topic:
The introductory paragraph states the topic you are going to address and your main idea.
The three body paragraphs express ideas that support and extend the main idea.
The concluding paragraph summarizes the essay and gives a final idea about the topic.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

16. The Five-Paragraph Essay
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
The Five-Paragraph Essay
(Continued)
Look again at the sample essay topic:
TOPIC
What is one important goal you would like to achieve in the next few years?
In your essay, identify that goal. Explain how you plan to achieve it. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.
Reprinted with permission of the GED Testing Service.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

17. The Five-Paragraph Essay
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
The Five-Paragraph Essay
(Continued)
Now read the sample five-paragraph essay:
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
BODY PARAGRAPH 2
BODY PARAGRAPH 1
BODY PARAGRAPH 3
CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH
Reprinted with permission of the GED Testing Service.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

18. The Five-Paragraph Essay
CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
The Five-Paragraph Essay
(Continued)
This essay received a score of 4. It contains
A main idea that clearly refers to the essay topic (to obtain a college degree)
Ideas that are organized and easy to follow (three body paragraphs that develop the main idea)
Body paragraphs with a topic sentence and specific details and examples (about paying for college, studying effectively, and training for football)
Sentences and paragraphs that are written correctly without grammar or spelling errors
A wide range of vocabulary that is used correctly
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

19. CHAPTER 8: Preparing for the GED Essay
THE END
Practice the skills you learned in this chapter by taking the Chapter Review Quiz or the GED Practice Quiz.
Copyright © 2002 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.