GK Test Prep: Essay Cheat Sheet Study Guide

Planning Introduction Paragraph (3-4 sentences)

1. BREAKDOWN PROMPT
Introduce the writing topic WITHOUT
2. BRAINSTORMING
3. THESIS STATEMENT stating your opinion. Use the prompts
4. OUTLINE fluff to give you ideas.

Narrow it by giving further background

on topic.

Be VERY specific, where you give your

thesis statement. (Restate prompt and
answer with 2-3 main points/reasons.

Body Paragraphs

S: Statement (Transition + Topic Sentence)

R: Reason (Tell how it pertains to prompt/thesis)
E: Evidence (Transition + Give an example)*
E: Explanation (Elaborate/explain the example DEEPLY)
S: Sum It Up (Transition + Bring it back to the thesis)

*You will want to have more than one evidence/explanationshoot for 2 in each paragraph.

Body Paragraph Tips:

For your evidence/explanation, use IMAGERY to SHOW the reader what youre talking about. Think of the 5
sensessee, hear, touch, taste, smell.
Do not ramble. Make your evidence/explanations PURPOSEFUL, and connect to your thesis statement.
Use transitions to help organize body paragraphs, starting from the beginning of the first sentence, to show
youre telling an example, and to show youre ending the paragraph and summing it up.
Be SPECIFIC. Think about questions the reader may have. (For example: One of my favorite hobbies includes
shopping. Questions I have as a reader: What stores do you shop at? What brands/designers do you look for?

Conclusion Paragraph
Transition + Restate Thesis (in a different way than your intro paragraph so youre not being repetitive).
Sum up main points from body paragraphs.

Conclusion Tips:

KEEP IT SIMPLE. THIS PARAGRAPH SHOULD NOT BE LONG AT ALL!

 GK Test Prep: Test Taking Tips

Essay:

Choose the prompt that you feel confident in writing. You always want to WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW. If you are
not passionate about either prompt, choose the prompt that you can come up with the most evidence for.
Your writing is what is being scored. The scorer is not going to judge you based on your personal beliefs or ideas.
For example, if the scorer hates basketball, they will not lower your score because you wrote an essay on
basketball.
Planning is going to help gather your thoughts and keep them focused. You should only spend a maximum of 10
minutes planning.
This is an example time management plan:
o Planning: 10 minutes
o Drafting: 30 minutes
o Review/Revise: 10 minutes (Question Flood during this!)
You must be specific and elaborate. This is the difference between a 3 and 4 paper. 3 papers are GENERAL, while
4 papers are SPECIFIC. (coffee shop vs. Starbucks)
While conventions are scored, 4 papers exhibit OCCASIONAL errors.
I highly suggest managing your time so that you have time at the end to reread and revise your paper. This will
allow you to enhance word choice (bad vs. terrible), make ideas clearer, and fix any grammatical/spelling errors.

ELS:

You only have 40-minutes for this test, which means that you have roughly 1-minute per question. If a question
is tripping you up, then mark it for review, and move on because you can always go back! It is better to answer
all of the questions you know first, so that in case you do run out of time, those are answered and points
earned.
If you struggle with the organization questions (the questions with the paragraphs and you have to put the
sentences in order), mark them for review, and go back if you have time in the end.
For the organization questions, you do not need to read the whole paragraph. Most questions ask you about the
first three sentences, so youre wasting time by reading the whole paragraph first. It is wise to read the fourth
sentence, to make sure the third sentence you choose logically connects to it.
Read the sentences very carefully, and go with your gut. This test relies heavily on you reading the sentences in
your head, and picking up on the error. Most errors can be spotted if it sticks out as sounding odd.
Study the commonly misused words list, such as their, there, theyre. These are the easy errors to spot and
should be easy points.

Biggest tip: BREATHE! Youve seen this test or material

before, so do not let it conquer you.