California State Writing Test

Traits of “4” Writing Clearly addresses all parts of the writing task Demonstrates a clear understanding of purpose and audience Maintains a consistent point of view, focus, and organizational structure, including the effective use of transitions Includes a clearly presented central idea with all claims and statements supported Includes a variety of sentence types Includes sophisticated vocabulary Contains few, if any, errors

The Writing Process Pre-write – gather ideas, plan and organize essay Draft – write your essay using your pre-writing Proofread – fix any grammatical errors Revise – make sure everything “sounds right”; insert sophisticated vocabulary and figurative language, check for sentence variety

Narrative Sample Prompts Imagine that your mom woke you up with the following news: “School has been canceled for the day! You can do anything you want!” Write a story about an adventure you had on your school-free day. (Fictional Narrative) As much as we may love our friends, we sometimes find ourselves very angry with them. Write a story about a time when you had a conflict with a close friend. (Autobiographical Narrative)

Narrative You will be scored on how well you: tell a story about a fictional or autobiographical event; develop a plot with a beginning; middle, and end; develop a setting and characters; and use appropriate strategies such as suspense, action, descriptive detail, and, perhaps, dialogue to make your story more interesting.

Narrative Pre-write climax rising action falling action exposition resolution Pre-write Title _________________________________________________________ characters conflict setting

Persuasive Essay Sample Prompt Most private schools require students to wear uniforms. Should public school students wear uniforms too? Write a letter to your principal in which you argue for or against school uniforms for public school students. Give convincing reasons that support your opinion and address the concerns of those who would argue against your position. Explain your reasons with specific details.

Persuasive Essay Your writing will be scored on how well you: state your position of the topic; describe the points in support of your position, including examples and other evidence; anticipate and address readers’ concerns and arguments against your position; and use grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

Persuasive Essay Pre-write Strongest Support More Support Thesis Counterargument Conclusion

Persuasive Essay How do I do it? Paragraph 1 (Introduction) Hook the reader with an exclamation, question, shocking fact or statistic, anecdote, etc. Give background information on your topic. State your thesis (position) – this is what you will be convincing your reader.

Persuasive Essay Paragraph 2 (Strongest Support) Start with a topic sentence that gives a reason for your position. It should be persuasive! Explain your reason with at least three details elaborating with examples. Your details and examples should support your thesis. End the paragraph with a concluding sentence that restates your reason in a different way.

Persuasive Essay Paragraph 3 (More Support) Start with a topic sentence that gives another reason for your position. It should be persuasive! Explain your reason with at least three details elaborating with examples. Your details and examples should support your thesis. End the paragraph with a concluding sentence that restates your reason in a different way.

Persuasive Essay Paragraph 4 (Counterargument) This is where you anticipate what the other side may feel (who disagrees with you). Some may feel that…however… Convince the reader that the other side is wrong with at least three reasons that support your argument. End the paragraph with a concluding sentence.

Persuasive Essay Paragraph 5 (Conclusion) Restate your thesis. Summarize the main points of your argument. End in a way to make your reader think.

Response to Literature Sample Prompt Read the following story. Write an essay in which you present your understanding of the characters and the overall meaning of the story. Support your ideas with examples and/or evidence from the text.

Response to Literature Your writing will be scored on how well you write an essay that: shows your understanding of the author’s message and your insight into the characters and ideas presented in the story; is organized around several clear ideas and/or images from the story; and justifies your interpretation by giving examples and citing evidence from the text.

Response to Literature Pre-write Title & Author Character Setting Conflict Quotes to Support Theme Thesis Central Image/Idea Evaluation/Connection

Response to Literature How do I do it? Introduction (1 paragraph) Begin with the title and the author of the selection you read. Follow with a brief summary. The summary should only include the exposition – characters, setting, and conflict. Do not tell what happened in the entire story, just the beginning. End the paragraph with your thesis statement. In a response to literature, the thesis statement would be what you believe to be the theme, or the overall meaning/message, of the selection.

Response to Literature Body Paragraphs Explain the theme using evidence from the text. You can also use quotes. This is the “meat” of your essay. Don’t just summarize; relate everything back to the theme. Include your interpretations and insights.

Response to Literature Conclusion (1 paragraph) Evaluate the theme. Make a connection between the theme and the real world to end the essay.

Summary Sample Prompt Read the following informational article. After reading the article, write a summary of what you have read.

Summary Your writing will be scored on how well you: state the main idea of the article; identify the most important details that support the main ideas; write your summary in your own words, except for quotations; and express the underlying meaning or the article, not just the superficial details.

Summary How do I do it? Read the article once first. Go back through the article and pick out the main points. Begin the summary with a sentence something like this: In the article “Name of Article,” the author states… Rewrite the main points in your own words. Remember, a summary should be shorter than the original article.