GACE English (713) common mistakes
GACE English (713) · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Choosing an answer because it matches a personal reaction to the passage or poem rather than evidence stated or clearly implied in the text.
The exam is built for future English teachers, so candidates often trust their instincts as strong readers and skip the step of locating textual support; distractor options are written to sound emotionally plausible.
What to do instead
For every answer, point to the specific sentence, line, or stanza that supports it before selecting. If you cannot cite the text, eliminate the option. Practice by annotating each passage with line numbers and writing a one-line justification for your chosen answer.
Confusing the main idea or central argument with a supporting detail that appears early and is stated vividly.
Vivid or first-mentioned details stick in memory, and under time pressure candidates stop reading once they recognize a familiar phrase in an option.
What to do instead
After reading, cover the answer choices and write a ten-word summary of the whole passage. Then match options against your summary. Treat any option that covers only one paragraph as a detail distractor unless the question asks for a detail.
Misreading the scope or task word in a question, answering 'which is NOT' or 'the author would most likely agree' as if it asked for the opposite.
Speed reading and test anxiety cause candidates to skim the stem and jump to the options, where the most attractive answer is often the true-but-wrong-polarity choice.
What to do instead
Underline the task word and any negation in every stem before looking at the choices. Circle 'EXCEPT,' 'NOT,' and 'most likely.' Build a habit of restating the question to yourself in your own words before evaluating options.
Identifying a literary device by name only, without explaining how it functions in the passage or how it shapes meaning.
Candidates memorize definitions of metaphor, irony, and allusion but are asked to analyze effect; recognizing the term feels like completing the task.
What to do instead
For each device, practice the sentence frame: 'The author uses [device] in order to [effect on the reader or meaning].' Eliminate options that merely label a device without connecting it to theme, tone, or characterization.
Treating a narrator's or speaker's voice as identical to the author's own viewpoint.
High school analysis often blurs author and speaker, and first-person passages invite the assumption that the 'I' is the writer.
What to do instead
Before answering questions about tone or attitude, identify who is speaking and what that speaker knows or fails to understand. Ask whether the passage signals irony or distance from the speaker. Flag any option that attributes a character's view directly to the author.
Analyzing a poem line by line in isolation, missing how form, line breaks, and the turn of the poem create meaning.
Candidates unused to poetry default to paraphrase and treat each line as a separate statement rather than reading the poem as a structured whole.
What to do instead
Read the poem twice: once for the literal situation, once for structure (stanza breaks, rhyme, volta, shifts in diction). Note where the tone or argument turns. Answer questions about structure before those about individual lines.
Revising a sentence in isolation without checking whether the revision fits the surrounding paragraph's logic and tone.
Questions present a single underlined sentence, so attention narrows to grammar; the correct answer often depends on cohesion with the preceding or following sentence.
What to do instead
Always read at least one sentence before and after the target sentence. Test each option by substituting it back into the paragraph and reading aloud mentally. Prefer options that preserve the paragraph's established subject and verb tense.
Applying a memorized grammar rule without checking what the sentence actually needs, such as 'fixing' a sentence that is already correct or choosing an option that creates a fragment.
Candidates drilled on common errors overcorrect, and the 'no change' option feels like a trap even when it is right.
What to do instead
Evaluate the original sentence first and decide whether an error exists before reading the choices. If the original is grammatical and clear, seriously consider NO CHANGE. Check each revision for a complete main clause and logical connection.
Writing an essay that summarizes the passage or states a position without citing specific textual evidence to support each claim.
Timed writing pushes candidates toward general statements, and the constructed-response rubric rewards evidence-based argument, not summary or opinion.
What to do instead
Plan two or three body paragraphs, each with a claim, a quoted or paraphrased detail, and commentary linking the detail to the claim. Budget time to reread the prompt and confirm every paragraph answers it. Practice under a timer with the rubric criteria in view.
Ignoring the constructed-response section's requirements for organization and language use while focusing only on content.
Candidates concentrate on what to say and run out of time to revise, leaving unclear transitions, vague pronouns, and mechanical errors that lower the score.
What to do instead
Reserve the final minutes for revision: check topic sentences, pronoun reference, and sentence boundaries. Outline before writing so organization is set in advance. Practice scoring your own responses against the published criteria to see where language and organization points are lost.