| Exemplary Prose: |
| Essential Writing Skills in Context |
Write essays in a variety of rhetorical modes including process, personal narrative, historical or chronological, persuasive, analytic, comparison, contrast, and objective reports.
The HSGQE may ask you to demonstrate your writing skills by using various modes of writing. Below is a list off all the different modes that you should be prepared for:
Process writing, also know as expository writing, is explained in more detail on the process writing page. In short, a process paper asks you to do one of two things:
1. Write about facts, ideas, etc., with detailed explanation.
2. Write about something with authority, putting forth an idea or explaining a process. Return to top.
Personal narrative is a chance for you to speak about a topic of which you are an expert, your life experiences, while at the same time showing off your storytelling skills. (A narrative is a story.) One of the biggest problems my students have encountered when faced with such a prompt had to do with truth. I have often been asked whether the student's writing had to be truthful. My answer comes down to one word: embellishment. If the prompt, for example, asks you:
Think about a time you felt (frightened, frustrated, annoyed, nervous, embarrassed, satisfied, or surprised. Pick one and tell the story of what happened.
and you find that the story you want to tell lacks excitement or pizzazz, then, by all means, embellish your story to make it interesting. In this situation, you are writing to entertain, and if the experience you recall from your past can't keep the reader on his/her seat, then feel free to embellish. Return to top.
Historical or chronological papers as you to retell or chronicle an event that you are familiar with. Organization in thought and story sequence are imperative if you are to do well on this writing assignment. Return to top.
Persuasive writing, without a doubt, is the favorite of all my students. For some reason, the majority of my former students just loved having a chance to explain their position on an issue and convince anyone that would listen to their point of view. One word of advice on this topic: consider! Consider the opposing point of view when writing a persuasive paper and pay it the respect it deserves by presenting it (and then explaining why it is wrong). By including the opposing view in your persuasive paper, you show the reader that you have thought deeply about the issue and have come to a conclusion that you hold deep in your heart. Besides, maybe the reader will embrace the opposing view and by recognizing their beliefs, you'll have a better chance of actually persuading them. The old adage: "You attract more flies with honey than vinegar" works well when writing to persuade. Return to top.
Analytical writing has been discussed in the Analysis section of this CD on the Alaska Benchmarks page. Return to top.
Comparison / contrast writing has been overdone, in some educator's opinion, in our public schools. I don't necessarily agree with that assessment because I find the compare-contrast paper an excellent way for students to develop as critical thinkers and writers. On the HSGQE, a comparison - contrast paper may ask you to look at two different things (cats and dogs), occupations (teachers and jail wardens), or people (mother and father) and write intelligently about their differences and similarities. A first-rate comparison-contrast paper not only dutifully lists all the traits of each subject, but usually has what I like to call a revelation aspect to it that shows the writer has learned something from the activity. Return to top.
Objective writing is a skill that transcends life. Objectivity, by definition, is unbiased in nature and, therefore, would be the opposite of a persuasive paper. An objective writing paper would not include your opinions. Instead, you would focus on reporting facts and situations, while refraining from making judgments or opinions. (I find this very difficult.) Return to top.