ENGLISH COMPETENCY EXAMS
AT COLLEGE OF THE REDWOODS

Suggestions for Writing the Competency Exams

1) Make sure that your introductory paragraph has a solid thesis that ventures a judgment that is more than simply common knowledge. For instance, if someone were to write an essay that addressed presidential politics and the effects that campaign contributions have on them, a student thesis that simply stated "Presidential politics is corrupt" would not be enough. You would need to go further to express how and why this has happened. A better thesis might be developed by writing: "Presidential politics has been corrupted by the presence of money."

2) Don't simply agree (in your thesis) with a position that you've read in a prompt. Typically, by just agreeing and restating what you read in the prompt, your score will go no higher than a two or three on the rubric. Rather, it is better to present your position without a simple "agree" or "disagree."

3) Consider using a plan of development (POD). A POD is usually a sentence that follows the thesis and lets the reader know what areas you will investigate in your body paragraphs. Although not required in the rubric, a POD is a good idea because it helps signal to the reader what is coming, and it helps keep the writer on track too. To write a POD, after your thesis, provide two-three areas (typically) that you will investigate in the body paragraphs of your essay. For instance, using the above thesis (in number 1), you might write:

Presidential politics is increasingly corrupted because in order to purchase enough advertising time, (1) candidates must constantly seek more donations to pay for advertising time on television, (2) candidates become obligated to big money donors, and (3) candidates gravitate toward popular positions that attract more money.

4) Make sure to use transitions between paragraphs and with your conclusion. Typically, you might use "first," "second," and "third"; "next"; "in addition," "similarly," and "in contrast," for your body paragraphs; you might use "in conclusion," "clearly," or "thus" for your conclusion.

5) Make sure to develop your body paragraphs with solid topic sentences that directly support the thesis (through the plan of development) and use several examples that follow the lead of the topic sentence. For instance, using the first part of the plan of development from above, you might write:

The first reason that politics has become corrupted is that candidates must constantly seek more donations to pay for advertising time on television (topic sentence. To begin with, Vice President Gore will need to raise nearly 100 million dollars to run his campaign, and more than 70 percent of that will go to TV ads. Secondly, since the average contribution is less than $10,000, that means that Gore will need to ask thousands of donors for their help. (Notice how in this paragraph the topic sentence has been followed by two brief examples.)

6) Make sure to expand your examples by explaining and analyzing the examples you've provided. Don't just accept a fact at face value. For instance, taking the second fact above, you might go further with your original idea:

To begin with, Vice President Gore will need to raise nearly 100 million dollars to run his campaign, and more than 70 percent of that will go to TV ads. If Gore is spending this much time asking for money, it is very likely that he will not be able to focus on issues as well as he might if he were free from the obligation of raising so much money. (Note how the underlined sentence further analyzes what the writer is driving at.)

7) After you've given an example, try tying that example back to the text you've read with a quote from the prompt you were given. Taking the example from #6 (above), you might then tie that to a quote from the text.

To begin with, Vice President Gore will need to raise nearly 100 million dollars to run his campaign, and more than 70 percent of that will go to TV ads. If Gore is spending this much time asking for money, it is very likely that he will not be able to focus on issues as well as he might if he were free from the obligation of raising so much money. Pauline Jones notes this very fact when she writes, "Politicians today are bought and sold long before they make their first decision in office." (Note here how the quote strengthens your position by providing evidence from the article to support your example and analysis.)

8) Make sure your conclusion echoes your thesis or somehow frames the essay in the same way that you began. For instance, if you wanted to echo the idea that you brought up with the thesis in #1 (above), "Presidential politics has been corrupted by the presence of money," you might then conclude by writing that:

If we are going to clean out the sewer of politics today, the first thing that we're going to have to do is stop filling it up with more sewage--and in politics that sewage is money. (Note how here the writer simply echoed the idea of corruption and turned it into the image of a sewer.)

Or another way to do this is:

Now that we understand the problem, the only reasonable action is to band citizens together in large numbers and pressure our politicians to enact campaign reform. Should we not do this, we are going to be stuck with a system that has been bought and sold. (Note how here the writer has helped the reader to understand his/her argument and then has called upon the reader to act upon this knowledge. This is a classic way to end an argumentative essay.)