WORD CHOICE (IS THE WORD CHOICE ACCURATE, DIVERSE, AND APPROPRIATE

5. Word choice (Is the word choice accurate, diverse, and appropriate?)As a general guide, you will need to write about four or five paragraphs to have a sufficiently developed essay.That includes an introductory paragraph that states your main idea, two or three paragraphs developing and sup-porting that main idea, and a brief concluding paragraph. Your essay should be approximately 250 to 300 words.

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G e n e r a l W r i t i n g S t r a t e g i e s

K

^NOWING

Y

^OUR

P

^URPOSE

As important as knowing whom you are writing for isknowing whyyou are writing. What is the goal of yourTo do well on the essay exam, you need to have a solidessay? What are you hoping to convey through your writ-grasp of general writing strategies. These strategies areing? The more clearly you can articulate your purposethose basic techniques writers use to develop a readablewhile you outline your essay, the more effective yourand engaging text. They include:writing and revising states will be.Here are some verbs you might find helpful for

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writing in a way that is appropriate for audiencedescribing your purpose:and purpose

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providing appropriate and sufficient supportshow describe explain

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crafting effective introductions and conclusionsprove convince demonstrate

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using effective transitionscompare contrast review

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revising for more effective writinginform summarize proposedefend explore encourageAudience and PurposeAt its core, effective writing has a constant awareness ofOf course, your specific goals will be guided by theand attention to audienceand purpose. Good writers areprompt you receive on the GED. In a narrative essay, foralways thinking about their readers: Who are they? Whatexample, your main purpose will be to describe. In a per-do they know about the subject? What prejudices or pre-suasive essay, your main purpose will be to convince. Inconceived notions might they have? What will keep theiran expository essay, you may aim to inform, compare,attention?propose, or explain, depending upon your topic.Good writers are also always thinking about purpose.As you think about how to write your essay, thinkIs their goal to teach a lesson? Provide information?about how you would fill in the blank in the followingEntertain? Answer a question? Convince or persuade?sentence:

W

RITING FOR

Y

OUR

A

UDIENCE

My goal in this essay is to: .Knowing your audience will help you make a couple ofkey writing decisions. First, it helps you determine yourBeginnings, Middles, and Endslevel of formality. Will you use slang or very formal lan-As you know, essays have three distinct parts:guage? It depends upon your relationship with yourreader. On the GED, you will be expected to write for a

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beginning (introduction)general audience. That is, you should assume your read-

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middle (body)ers are “everyday” people with a wide variety of interests

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end (conclusion)and backgrounds. You will need an appropriate level offormality for this audience. Treat your readers withYou will be expected to have all three parts in yourrespect, but do not put them off by sounding too formalGED essay.or pretentious. Avoid slang (too informal) or jargon(technical or specialized language). Let your writing be

I

NTRODUCTIONS

natural without being too informal.First impressions count, and that’s why introductions areYour audience also determines the level of detailandso important in writing. A good introduction:specificityin your essay. Because you are writing for a gen-