CLEP College Composition Modular study plan
CLEP College Composition Modular · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Revision Skills, Including Sentence-Level Skills
Identify and repair sentence-boundary errors - fragments, comma splices, and fused sentences - in a set of 60 practice sentences
Combine short, choppy sentences into clear complex and compound structures using subordination and coordination
Correct subject-verb agreement and pronoun-antecedent agreement errors in a 400-word draft passage
Log each error you make into a personal error-tracking sheet organized by error type
Your checkpoint
A corrected 400-word passage plus a categorized error log listing at least 15 distinct error instances with the rule that fixes each
Revision Skills, Including Sentence-Level Skills
Revise 25 sentences for parallelism in lists, comparisons, and correlative conjunctions
Reposition misplaced and dangling modifiers so each sentence names its true subject
Eliminate wordiness, redundancy, and unnecessary passive voice from a 350-word paragraph while preserving meaning
Reorder scrambled sentences within two paragraphs to restore logical flow and add appropriate transitions
Your checkpoint
A before-and-after revision portfolio of 20 items, each showing the original sentence, the revised sentence, and a one-line justification
Revision Skills, Including Sentence-Level Skills & Ability to Use Source Materials
Integrate quoted material into your own sentences using correct attribution and punctuation
Convert three direct quotations into accurate paraphrases that preserve the original meaning
Select and insert transition words that signal addition, contrast, cause, and concession across a paragraph
Distinguish main ideas from supporting details in a 600-word source passage by outlining its structure
Your checkpoint
A 250-word synthesis paragraph drawing on two short source passages, with correct attribution and a labeled outline of each source
Ability to Use Source Materials
Paraphrase a 300-word source passage without borrowing its sentence structure or phrasing
Evaluate three sources for credibility using author, publication, currency, and evidence criteria
Assemble a source-based argument outline that cites at least two sources in support of a single claim
Identify and correct three instances of accidental plagiarism in sample student writing
Your checkpoint
An annotated source set (three sources) plus a one-page argument outline mapping each claim to its supporting source
Ability to Use Source Materials & Rhetorical Analysis
State the thesis, purpose, and intended audience of a 500-word argumentative passage in one sentence each
Label the rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) at work in a published editorial and explain how each is constructed
Evaluate whether an author's evidence actually supports the stated claim, citing specific gaps
Identify the function of each paragraph in a provided essay - introduction, support, concession, refutation, conclusion
Your checkpoint
A 400-word rhetorical analysis of a self-selected editorial identifying thesis, audience, appeals, and one weakness in the evidence
Rhetorical Analysis
Detect bias, loaded language, and faulty causal reasoning in three short opinion passages
Match tone and diction to a specified audience by rewriting the same paragraph for two different readers
Assess how an author's organizational pattern (chronological, compare-contrast, problem-solution) serves the argument's purpose
Complete two timed rhetorical-analysis sets of 10 questions each under 15-minute limits
Your checkpoint
Two timed analysis sets scored, each at 80% or better, with a written explanation of every missed item
Conventions of Standard Written English & Revision Skills, Including Sentence-Level Skills
Apply comma, semicolon, colon, apostrophe, and hyphen rules correctly across 50 targeted items
Distinguish commonly confused words (its/it's, their/there, affect/effect, who/whom) in 30 fill-in items
Maintain consistent tense, voice, and point of view across a 300-word revision task
Proofread a deliberately flawed 350-word passage and mark every convention error
Your checkpoint
An 80-item conventions practice set completed at 90% accuracy or higher, with corrections written out for every miss
Revision Skills, Including Sentence-Level Skills & Ability to Use Source Materials & Rhetorical Analysis
Complete a full-length timed mixed practice set covering all four domains in one sitting
Re-read your error log and rank your five most frequent error types by count
Write and apply a personal three-step checking routine for each of those top five error types
Re-attempt every item you previously missed and confirm you can now explain the correct answer
Your checkpoint
A full-length practice score report paired with a final one-page remediation sheet listing your top five error patterns and the fix for each
Milestones
Week 4: Score 80% or better on a 25-question revision-and-source-use quiz covering sentence-level revision and source integration, and confirm your error log shows improvement in at least two of your week-1 error categories
Week 6: Score 80% or better on each of the two timed rhetorical-analysis sets and correctly state thesis, audience, and one evidence weakness for a cold passage in under 15 minutes
Week 8: Reach your target scaled score on a full-length timed practice test and demonstrate that no single error category accounts for more than 25% of your remaining misses