English Comp w/Essay CLEP

[dancer82]

What is the essay portion of the test like? Like how long does it have to be? I'm nervous about this part of the test because I never have much to say. Every time a teacher assigns a certain number of pages, I usually only end up with half or less. Like if they say the paper must be 4 pages, I end up with 1-2 pages. Will I fail the test if my essay is too short? I'm also nervous because from what I've read, the essay topic asks you to write about your opinion on something. What if I end up getting a topic of which I have no opinion one way or the other? Guess I would just have to pretend? lol. Or maybe tell why I don't favor one side over the other?

And about the first part of the test, does anyone know if it's similar to the COMPASS test? I had to take that and scored very well. I got a 98 out of 99 on the writing (grammar/spelling) portion, and an 87 out of 99 on the reading (comprehension/vocab) portion. So I'm not too worried about the first part of the exam, especially if it's similar to the COMPASS test which from a couple other threads on here it sounded like it probably is. I will study for it anyways just in case though, but I'm mainly worried about the essay.

[Kelsey]

Yes the essay portion of the exam is very scary for me too! I have already taken this one, but failed with a 49. I know that it was the essay portion that bombed my test score, but I did have computer issues where I couldn't scroll up and down on the screen to read and edit my essay. So I know that's what killed it for me.

The essay portion: they give you a statement and you have to decide whether you agree or disagree with what is being said. They prefer you to use some kind of examples to back up your opinion, either with examples from history, personal experience, or literature etc. You want to try to have a standard 5 paragraph essay: Introduction, 3 paragraphs for body (3 points you are using in your argument) and closing paragraph. This is the format they are looking for. And it's really hard for me to come up with an opinion sometimes because I see both sides of what they are asking. I mean there's pros and cons to almost everything isn't there? But you do need to choose a side. It does't matter what side you choose and maybe you don't even agee or believe it yourself, but choose a side that you feel you can write confidently about and have good points to back it up. They only give ya 45 minutes, so don't waste any time on deciding your opinion and just go with it! Good luck to you. I am currently studying for this test to take again! I hope I can take it by next week. Here's a link to some essay topics that you can practice with if you want to. -Kelsey

GRE General Test: Analytical Writing — "Issue" Task Topics

[Elinor]

My essay topic was very abstract, or could be anyway. I'm not very good with abstracts, but I managed to crank out the essay in the given time. My topic was similar, but not exactly, to "Necessity is the Mother of Invention: agree or disagree. Use examples..." etc. So, the way I saw it was that there were two ways to go about this essay: I had to agree, or I had to disagree. Personally, I disagreed, but, after unsuccessfully trying for about 10 minutes to write an outline to that end, I decided to switch sides for the essay. I wasn't completely satisfied with my essay; it had WAY too many cliches to be really good. However, it couldn't be helped, so I just made sure my spelling and grammar were as correct as possible. I know the essay knocked down my score some, but I still passed with a 64.

Go for it! If you're good at the other part of the test, you'll probably pass!

[dancer82]

Thanks for the info and tips!

[studyhard]

As others said, you only need five paragraphs. You just need to have a logical thought flow and good writing skills.

The hardest part is the time limit. I would ask a family member or friend to dream up a couple of topics for you (so that you're unprepared for the subject until they hand it to you) and then practice writing an essay in 45 minutes. I wrote two practice essays, I think. Give yourself about thirty minutes to write your thoughts, spend the next ten minutes editing, and use the last five to read through the whole thing from start to finish to catch any other errors.

Topic-wise, the topic will be broad enough that you don't have to have a specific knowledge ahead of time. In other words, you'll see something like, "Is the death penalty right or wrong" instead of "Should President Nixon have issued Executive Order #47?"

[dancer82]

Thanks.



I think my main problem is thinking of 3 different points. I can usually only think of 1. I haven't actually tried to write a practice essay yet though. Hopefully when I sit down and do that, it won't be as hard as I think. But so far, just from looking at those GRE examples and examples that people mentioned in the Specific Exam Feedback forum, I usually haven't been able think of more than one reason/point to make.

So say I get a really low score on the essay... like for argument's sake, say I get a 0 on the essay part, could I still pass if the multiple choice part score is high enough? Or is failing the essay part an automatic fail?

[dancer82]

ok, I still can't think of more than one point to make for each sample topic I've tried so far... so I guess I should probably just take the class since I don't think I'll pass the test.

[Kelsey]

I have an idea! Since you can only think of one point to apply, maybe there are different aspects to that one point that you could write on. Instead of thinking of 3 different points, maybe just use the one point with 3 different things in that one point. Take for example, they give you the essay topic of "There has been much controversy over the issue of abortion in America. Do you believe that the government should stop supporting abortion funding."

Let's say you agree that the government should stop funding abortions, and you can only think of one point...let's say it's "because people who have abortions are really committing murder." Then you could go from there and pick two points that back up that opinion. I don't know, just an idea! I really hate that you can't think of anymore topics. It's so much cheaper and saves so much time. But if you don't think you can pass, then do what you need to do! I hope everything works out for! Good luck and God Bless! ~Kelsey

[SandraNC]

Is the essay written in a word processor-like program? Or is it handwritten?

[Kelsey]

Is the essay written in a word processor-like program? Or is it handwritten?

It's in a word-processor like program. They have a box underneath the topic that you are given and you just type it out!