HiSET Writing study guide
HiSET Writing · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The HiSET Writing test is one of the subject tests in the HiSET exam, a route to a high school equivalency (HSE) credential offered in participating states. It is designed for adults who left high school before graduating and who now want a credential for work, college, or the military, as well as for anyone who simply wants to finish what they started. The test is not a trivia quiz about grammar rules. It asks you to make a piece of writing hold together: to organize ideas so a reader can follow them, to choose words and sentence structures that fit the purpose, and to apply the conventions of standard written English well enough that errors do not distract. Topics on this exam: Organization of Ideas, Language Facility, and Writing Conventions. The HiSET Writing study guide has 3 sections and about 952 words.
01Organization of Ideas
Every revision question starts the same way: read the whole paragraph and state its main idea in your own words before you look at the choices. A topic sentence announces that idea, and every supporting sentence must explain, illustrate, or prove it. A sentence can be factually true and still be wrong for the paragraph if it does not serve the main idea. That is the most common trap in 'which sentence should be deleted' items.
310 words, about 2 min02Language Facility
Language Facility questions ask whether a sentence says exactly what it means, in the fewest words, at the right level of formality. Three tests cover most items: Is the word accurate? Is the phrasing concise? Does the tone fit the passage?
308 words, about 2 min03Writing Conventions
The most heavily tested convention is where a sentence ends. A fragment lacks a subject, a verb, or a complete thought, as in 'Because the bus was late.' A run-on joins two independent clauses with no punctuation; a comma splice joins them with only a comma. Repair either with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction (and, but, so, yet, for, or, nor). A conjunctive adverb such as 'however' or 'therefore' cannot glue clauses with a comma; use a semicolon before it.
334 words, about 2 min