Read my essay

[cookderosa]

Wow guys, I was not expecting anything nearly in-depth as that. Thanks so much!

See, my main problem is that I am just not a speed writer one bit. I'm the kind of person that writes 10 rough drafts on 10 separate days before I turn in a paper. I really have difficulty brain storming my ideas, making an outline, writing the draft, and editing, all in 45 minutes. Any tips on what could help me do better on this, besides of course a lot of practicing? I noticed one of you said structure is very important. Would it be safe to say that having a clearly defined thesis, 3 organized paragraphs (or possibly 2 since I often can't finish 3 in 45 minutes) with no grammatical/spelling errors, and a brief conclusion would give me a passing grade, even if my content isn't especially good (assuming I stay on topic of course)?

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While I am not a grader- I would go out on a limb and tell you THAT was my entire strategy when I took the test, as well as what I think when I help my community college students study. I think (my opinion) that the purpose of a composition course (and this test) is learning how to write a functional essay; period. I also think that if you can pull off 5 weaker paragraphs instead of 4 stronger ones that you'll still be sitting better. That's just my gut- and I say that based again on the functional aspect of composition. The 5 paragraph essay is a golden standard- shoot for it. If they see that you have attempted 5 paragraphs, it automatically starts them thinking "ok, this guy knows what to do...." where having 4 might be a little confusing. Your grader TEACHES ENGLISH COMP to a bunch of undergrads all day long- believe me, he probably LOVES 5 paragraph essays! LOL

I wanted to strongly second the poster who suggested you write your opening sentence as if the reader doesn't know the prompt- that's solid advice.

Another strategy I take (totally personal preference) is to opening with the less than expected position. For example, if 99% of the people would take the obvious position, I might argue the opposite side.