Essay Tips
Strategies for answering essay questions
If your college requires the essay portion for the Freshman Composition or the Literature exams, or if you are taking the English Composition with Essay exam, you should do some additional preparation for your CLEP exam. Taking an essay or a problem-solving test is very different from taking a multiple-choice test, so you will need to use some other strategies.
Please note, not all colleges require the essays. You should therefore check with the college or university to which you plan to send your scores to determine if an essay is required for credit.
Essay Formats
If you are taking the English Composition with Essay examination you will have to type your essay response into the computer at which your test is administered. You can familiarize yourself with entering responses via computer by using the CLEP Sampler (.zip/9.6MB; PC only; you will need a compression utility such as WinZip).
The optional essay portions of the Freshman College Composition and Literature exams, however, are written in by hand on paper and collected by test center administrators.
Know how the exam will be graded and by whom.
The essay written as part of the English Composition with Essay examination is returned to CLEP and graded by English professors from a variety of colleges and universities across the United States.
The essay portions of the Freshman College Composition and Literature exams, on the other hand, are graded by the faculty of the college you designate as a score recipient. The College Board does not specify the guidelines and criteria for grading essays. Therefore, it may be helpful to talk with someone at your college to find out what criteria will be used to determine whether you will get credit.
- Ask how much emphasis will be placed on your writing ability and your ability to organize your thoughts as opposed to your knowledge of the subject matter.
- Find out how much weight will be given to your multiple-choice test score in comparison with your free-response grade in determining whether you will get credit.
This will give you an idea of where you should spend the greatest effort in studying for and taking the exam.
Determine in what order to answer the questions.
Answer the questions that you find the easiest first so you can spend any extra time on the questions you find more difficult.
Estimate how much time you can give to each question.
When you know which questions you'll answer and in what order, determine how much testing time remains and estimate how many minutes you'll spend each question. Unless suggested times are given for the questions or one question appears to require more or less time than the others, allot an equal amount of time to each question.
Watch for key words like these in test questions.
Before answering a question, re-read it carefully to make sure you are interpreting it correctly. Pay careful attention to key words, such as those listed below that often appear in free-response questions. Be sure you know the exact meaning of these words before taking the exam.
|
analyze demonstrate enumerate list |
apply derive explain outline |
assess describe generalize prove |
|
compare determine illustrate rank |
contrast discuss interpret show |
define distinguish justify summarize |
If a question asks you to "outline," "define," or "summarize," do not write a detailed explanation; if a question asks you to "analyze," "explain," "illustrate," "interpret," or "show," you must do more than briefly describe the topic.
Organize your thoughts.
Write a brief outline on the scrap paper provided by the test center before you write your essay response. For more advice, go to Multiple-Choice Tips.
