Writing and Language
Writing and Language tests your command of the recursive writing process, rhetorical choices, research, and standard English conventions in grades 5–12. Questions ask you to improve sentences and passages, choose evidence, organize ideas, and diagnose usage errors.
Core rules
- Analyze the rhetorical situation: purpose, audience, context, stance, and medium. A persuasive letter to a school board differs from a blog post for peers.
- Use a thesis that makes a defensible claim, then organize with reasons and evidence; commentary must explain how evidence supports the claim.
- Know the modes: argument (claim, counterclaim, rebuttal), informative/explanatory, narrative, and research.
- Apply conventions precisely: subject–verb agreement with intervening phrases; pronoun case; parallel structure; comma, semicolon, and colon rules; apostrophes; dangling and misplaced modifiers.
Worked example
Sentence: “The collection of essays that students annotated ___ on reserve.” The subject is collection, singular; “of essays” and “that students annotated” are modifiers. The verb must be is, not are. To explain the mark, identify the head noun, strip the modifiers, and match the verb.
Traps
A comma splice joins two independent clauses with only a comma; use a semicolon, period, or coordinating conjunction. “However” is a conjunctive adverb, not a coordinating conjunction. Do not put an apostrophe in a simple plural (“three essays,” not “essay’s”). Avoid passive voice only when active voice is clearer, not as a blanket rule. Do not confuse its/it’s or their/there/they’re.
Revision focus
When a passage asks for the best revision, check coherence, tone, concision, and evidence-not just grammar.