1. Cahsee Types of Writing

2. CAHSEE Writing Writing Application On the writing portion of the CAHSEE exam, you will be given a “Writing Task” which is one essay question. You may be asked to do one of the following: Biographical Narrative Response to Literature Expository Essay Persuasive Essay Business Letter

3. Biographical Narrative Tells the story from the life of a real person. Often, this type of CAHSEE essay question will ask you to write about someone who is important in your life.

4. Response to Literature You read a (literature) text and are asked to respond (write an essay) based on a question regarding that passage. This type of question asks that you first comprehend the text, then write about it (use TtT and chunking!).

5. Expository Essay Expository essays (also called compositions) are most often nonfiction, meaning that it deals with real people, things, events and places. The question may ask you to write about an important moment in history or technology, or a question about school.

6. Persuasive Essay A persuasive essay (or composition) asks you to defend a position or argue for your side of an issue about which people disagree. A sample question may ask you to write an essay for your school paper in which you convince the readers of the importance of volunteer hours as a graduation requirement or a convincing essay about whether or not there should be art and music in school. The readers want you to think about the other side of the argument and keep that in mind as you defend your ideas

7. Business Letter A Business Letter is a formal correspondence about a business related matter. When you’re writing a business letter, your purpose may be to apply for a job to complain to request information Etc.

8. Business Letter (continued) Besides the way it looks, treat the business letter pretty much the same way you would treat an essay. It should include:  Salutation  Introduction  Body  Conclusion  Signature

9. CAHSEE Essay Writing #1. Remember Make sure to answer all parts of the writing task. If the question is asking you to describe the main characters decisions and emotions, make sure to address both.

10. CAHSEE Essay Writing # 2. Remember Make sure you have the correct five-paragraph essay structure with a strong introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusion. Use specific details and examples from the passage to demonstrate your understanding of the main idea’s and the author’s purpose. Vary your sentences to make your writing more interesting.

11. CAHSEE Essay Writing # 3. Remember Real people (usually teachers) are hired by the testing company to grade essays. They read a lot of essays, give it a score (1 through 4) quickly, and two grader’s scores are combined for your final score. Make your essay easy to read both in terms of the structure, and in terms of handwriting. If the grader has to struggle to read your essay, they can’t pay attention to your great ideas!

12. Your CAHSE Essay Should Include Five strong paragraphs (at least four sentences) A thesis statement at the end of the introduction paragraph Clear main ideas Supporting evidence Understandable writing  Clearly written (check your handwriting!)  Good (enough) spelling  Clear grammar

13. How should my essay look? Introduction Body paragraph 1 Conclusion Body paragraph 2 Body paragraph 3

14. Kind of like a hamburger…. Introduction Body Paragraph 1 Body Paragraph 2 Body Paragraph 3 Conclusion