Clep College Composition

[Bassmanj]

I have a few questions about the College Composition test I am planning to take on Friday:

1. I have hear that you cannot copy and paste while writing your essay. Is this true? Can you copy and paste stuff you have written? Can you copy and paste passages from the source material you cite on the second essay?

2. Do you need to list your works cited after your essay?

3. This is kind of a silly question, but should you indent your paragraphs? In all the essay examples, the paragraphs are separated by a double space. Should I just stick with the example essay format?

Four days to test day and I am already nervous, lol. I am scoring in the low 80's on Peterson's, but my essays are still way to slow. Any last minute study advice would be much appreciated.

[Storyteller]

This is my experience from July 2011:
I couldn't figure out how to copy & paste, but I saw a recent post that said you could. My thinking is, if you can't figure it out quick, then just type out your quotes since time is of the essence in the 40 minute essay.
You don't cite after the essay like a college paper. Just include the quote and reference who said it, etc. Ie...According to Spence, he wrote, "........" (You get the idea.)
I didn't see anything about indenting. That seems too much to ask anybody who has 30 & 40 minutes to put together cogent essays.
Practice writing essays under the clock.
The opinion essay is 30 minutes and the citation essay is 40 minutes.
Just keep practicing and watch your spelling, there is no spell-check.
Good luck.

[CLEPitgirl]

In reply to question #1. When you go to the testing center, tell the test administrator that you want to take the pre-test tutorial. This is not a part of the actual test, but it will familiarize you with where everything is and how to use certian functions like copy and paste. (From what I remember I was able to copy and paste from the supplied sources only)

Question #2 I do not believe that you have to list additional sources cited after your essay. I didn't and I passed. I just wrote the essay and put " marks around anything I cited.

Question #3 I would stick to the normal essay format, which is indenting at the beginning of every paragraph. I think that they put a space there to make it easier for you to read. Just my opinion.

Just as a tip of advice, you should focus more on the quality of your essay, than the quantity of the words. The graders are looking for a well-structured, grammatically correct, logical, coherent essay.

To help with your speed try this: Print out some essay prompts and try not to read them. Put each one in an envelope and mix up the envelopes. Set a timer for 30 minutes and select an envelope, then start the timer and read your prompt. Upon reading your prompt form an opinion and type out 3-5 supporting points. (a word or phrase will suffice) Then arrange your points in a format where your second best is first and your best is last. Use this for your essay outline. Then type your indroductory paragraph, use one paragraph for each supporting point, and close with good summary/conclusion paragraph. When you are finished go back and proofread your essay, checking for grammatical errors and overall coherence. When the timer goes off immediately STOP typing. Then go over your essay. Evaluate where you spent the majority of your time, and if the time was well spent. Later pull a new envelope and try again. I went through about 3-5 envelopes a day for two weeks to prepare.

Here is a good formula for the 30 minute essay: 5 min spent reading your prompt, forming a position, and typing out 3-5 supporting points; 20 min actually writing the essay; and 5 min proofreading.

40 min essay: 10-15 min reading prompt and sources, form an opinion, and type out 3-5 supporting points; 20-25 min typing essay; 5 min proofreading

Here are some sites where you can find some practice essay prompts:
SAT Essay Topics: Practice your essay writing
GRE Revised General Test: Analyze an Issue

These should give you plenty of practice. I hope this helps.

[BGSU_Alum_86]

One note to clarify what CLEPitgirl suggested at the beginning. You do not need to tell the test center administrator that you want to take the "pre-test tutorial" as there is a standard tutorial built into the pre-test screens. Every candidate has the option to click through the tutorial screens. The test center administrator does not have to do anything different than get you registered for your exam and get you started - the rest is up to you. Your official test time does not begin until you actually enter the test module (first question appears).

My suggestion would be to talk with the test center administrator at the time you are making your appointment, warning them that you might like additional time to work through the tutorial. As this is not counted in the "test time", but rather the "appointment time", they might want to book you a longer appointment to not cause a problem if someone is scheduled immediately after your appointment.

[CLEPitgirl]

Thanks for clearing that up BGSU_Alum_86. When I took the test, the testing administrator actually asked me if I would like to take the pre-test tutorial. So I assumed it was optional.