CLEP College Composition study plan

Diagnose baseline weaknesses by writing two timed 45-minute essays and coding every error as convention, organization, or idea-development.

Rank the ten most frequent convention errors you make (comma splices, fragments, agreement, pronoun reference, tense shift) and rewrite five sentences correcting each.

Draft a reusable 5-minute revision checklist that targets structure before surface editing.

Practice sentence-combining and sentence-boundary decisions on 20 self-written items to reduce fragments and run-ons.

Revise three of your own paragraphs to tighten thesis, topic sentences, and transitions, cutting at least 15 percent of words without losing meaning.

Reorder a scrambled draft so each paragraph advances one claim, and justify each move in a margin note.

Apply cohesion devices (pronoun chains, parallel structure, transitional logic) to two drafts and label each device used.

Write and revise one full essay under 50 minutes, then self-score organization and development against a rubric you build.

Identify the revision priorities in sample passages by ranking which sentence-level or structural change most improves clarity.

Annotate two short source passages to separate main claim, supporting evidence, and author's assumption.

Draft a paragraph that integrates one source with a signal phrase, accurate paraphrase, and a clear link to your own point.

Distinguish quotation, paraphrase, and summary by producing all three from a single 200-word passage.

Evaluate source reliability by scoring five self-written source profiles on authority, currency, bias, and relevance.

Synthesize three sources with differing views into a single balanced paragraph that acknowledges counterevidence.

Detect and correct misrepresentation of a source by comparing a draft claim against the original passage's scope and qualifiers.

Build an attribution habit by adding accurate in-text markers to every borrowed idea in a 400-word draft.

Analyze how purpose, audience, and occasion shape diction and tone in three passages you write in contrasting registers.

Identify appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) and logical fallacies in five short self-authored arguments, naming each device precisely.

Revise a source-based argument to remove one fallacy and strengthen one appeal with concrete evidence.

Assess how a writer's word choice signals stance, and rewrite a neutral sentence three ways to shift stance deliberately.

Draft two essays from prompts in 45 minutes each, then revise one to raise rhetorical effectiveness without changing the thesis.

Adjust tone and register for two specified audiences (a skeptical expert, a general reader) using the same evidence.

Cut empty phrases and nominalizations from a draft, replacing them with direct verbs and concrete nouns.

Test paragraph-level revision by rewriting two weak body paragraphs to add evidence, analysis, and a link back to the thesis.

Complete two full-length timed practice sets mixing revision, source use, and rhetorical analysis, then log every miss by domain.

Re-teach your three weakest concepts by writing a short explanation and two practice items for each.

Practice multi-question passage sets by reading the passage once and predicting likely revision targets before answering.

Reduce time per item while maintaining accuracy by setting a per-question pacing target and tracking it.

Simulate full exam conditions twice and compare scores to your week-1 baseline.

Review your error log and confirm each top-ten convention error is now corrected in fresh writing.

Finalize a one-page exam-day strategy covering time allocation, passage order, and revision-first habits.

Write one polished essay from scratch in 45 minutes to confirm sustained performance under time pressure.