DSST Principles of Advanced English Composition common mistakes
DSST Principles of Advanced English Composition · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Writing the essay around a broad topic (e.g., 'technology in society') instead of taking a defensible position and defending it.
Candidates treat the prompt as an invitation to survey a subject, because high-school essays often rewarded coverage over argument. The DSST argument task scores a clear, sustained thesis, so a survey reads as unfocused and loses holistic points.
What to do instead
Draft a one-sentence thesis with a claim and a because-clause before writing anything, then delete any paragraph that does not advance that claim. Practice converting neutral topics into arguable claims in under two minutes.
Summarizing the passage in the source-based task rather than integrating it into an argument.
Under time pressure, paraphrasing feels safe and productive, so candidates fill paragraphs with what the author said instead of what they will do with it. The task rewards synthesis and attribution, not comprehension display.
What to do instead
For each source, write one line naming the source's claim and one line stating how it supports, complicates, or qualifies your own position. Use the source as evidence for your point, never as the paragraph's subject.
Quoting or paraphrasing a source without a clear attribution or citation, leaving the reader unable to tell whose idea is whose.
Candidates know the ideas but write quickly and assume the reader will infer the source; in timed essays the citation habit is under-practiced, so attribution gets dropped.
What to do instead
Use a fixed frame for every borrowed idea: author, context, and signal verb (e.g., 'As the author argues in the passage, ...'). Check every paragraph for at least one explicit marker separating your voice from the source's.
Dropping a quotation into a sentence with no introduction, context, or follow-up analysis.
Candidates equate quoting with evidence and stop there, often because they have been taught to 'use quotes' without being taught the sandwich structure.
What to do instead
Apply quote-integration discipline: introduce the quote, quote only the decisive words, then spend at least as many sentences interpreting it as quoting it. If a quote cannot be explained in your own words, cut it.
Addressing only the strongest version of the opposing view, or ignoring counterarguments entirely.
Candidates fear that conceding anything weakens their case, so they either omit the other side or caricature it. Rubrics reward reasoned engagement with complexity.
What to do instead
Include one paragraph that states the best objection fairly, then rebut or qualify it. Reserve a sentence for a genuine concession where warranted; showing the limits of your own claim reads as stronger reasoning.
Using emotional appeals, anecdotes, or moral outrage in place of reasons and evidence.
Personal conviction produces vivid prose, and candidates mistake intensity for persuasiveness. Timed writing encourages the first thing that comes to mind.
What to do instead
After each body paragraph, ask 'what is the reason and what supports it?' Replace adjectives of judgment with a concrete example, statistic, or logical consequence. Keep one anecdote at most and tie it explicitly to the claim.
Producing paragraphs that mix several unrelated points or run as one undifferentiated block.
Candidates draft by free association and do not return to impose structure, often because they fear running out of time.
What to do instead
Impose a single controlling idea per paragraph, announced in a topic sentence and closed with a link to the thesis. Before submitting, verify each paragraph can be summarized in one phrase; split any that cannot.
Using transitions mechanically ('Firstly... Secondly... In conclusion') without showing the logical relationship between ideas.
Formulaic transition lists are easy to memorize and feel like organization, so candidates deploy them regardless of whether the ideas contrast, cause, or extend.
What to do instead
Choose connectives by relationship: concession, causation, exemplification, or contrast. Test by asking whether the sentence would still make sense with the connective removed; if yes, the transition is decorative rather than structural.
Losing control of sentence boundaries: comma splices, run-ons, and fragments in otherwise ambitious sentences.
Candidates attempt complex syntax to sound academic and join clauses without the punctuation or conjunction needed; editing time is sacrificed to drafting.
What to do instead
Reserve the final minutes for a boundary pass, reading each sentence for one independent clause per sentence unless properly joined. Practice combining short sentences with subordination and semicolons until the pattern is automatic.
Misreading the prompt's task words (e.g., 'evaluate' treated as 'describe', or 'compare' treated as 'list') and answering the wrong question.
Candidates skim the prompt and begin writing from the topic's first association, especially when the prompt is long or contains a source passage.
What to do instead
Underline the task verb and any constraints, then restate the assignment in your own words at the top of your notes. Before writing, check that the planned thesis answers that specific verb, and reread the prompt once mid-essay to confirm alignment.