Writing and Communication Skills
What this domain tests
Writing and Communication Skills assesses sentence correctness, paragraph unity, organization, and clarity. Expect questions on fragments, run-ons, punctuation, parallelism, pronoun reference, transitions, and revision for concision.
Core rules
- A complete sentence needs a subject and a finite verb and must not begin with a dependent word unless an independent clause follows.
- Join two independent clauses with a period, semicolon, or comma plus a coordinating conjunction.
- Keep parallel items in the same grammatical form: 'reading, writing, and speaking,' not 'reading, writing, and to speak.'
- A pronoun must have one clear antecedent; repeat the noun if ambiguity results.
- A paragraph should develop one controlling idea, with transitions showing the relationship between sentences.
Worked example
Revise: 'The report was written by the committee, and it was submitted late because they had trouble agreeing.' Problems: passive 'was written by,' vague 'it,' and 'they' with an unclear antecedent. Revision: 'The committee wrote the report but submitted it late because its members could not agree.' Reasoning: the active voice names the actor, 'it' clearly refers to the report, and 'its members' supplies a logical antecedent.
Traps
- Fixing a run-on by inserting a comma alone (comma splice).
- Treating a phrase as a sentence: 'Because the bus was late.'
- Shifting tense or person within one paragraph.
- Using 'however' as a conjunction without punctuation.
- Choosing a wordy revision that adds no meaning.