Writing, Speaking, and Listening
Core concepts
Writing items assume a recursive process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing, with feedback loops. Know the major modes-narrative, informative/explanatory, and argumentative-and their organizational patterns. A thesis states the central claim of an essay; a topic sentence states the focus of one paragraph. Coherence comes from logical order and transitions; unity comes from every sentence serving the paragraph’s point. Style questions cover audience, purpose, voice, sentence variety, concision, and conventions. Research items cover evaluating sources, integrating quotations, avoiding plagiarism, and citation formats. Speaking items cover audience analysis, speech organization, signposting, delivery (pace, volume, eye contact), and visual aids. Listening items distinguish hearing from active listening, and include critical and empathic listening, note-taking, questioning, and barriers such as noise, jargon, and bias.
Traps
The classic confusion is revision versus editing. Revision reshapes ideas, organization, and evidence; editing corrects mechanics, grammar, and usage. Argument differs from persuasion: argument relies on reasoned evidence, persuasion may also use emotional or ethical appeals. Items about oral presentation sometimes borrow writing criteria, but delivery and audience adaptation are specific to speaking. Passive listening is not active listening; paraphrasing and questioning are.
Rule of thumb
Ask two separate questions: during revision, “Does this draft accomplish its purpose for this audience?”; during editing, “Is every sentence correct and consistent?”
Worked example
A student moves a paragraph to improve the flow and adds a transition. That is revision, not editing. Correcting a comma splice in the same draft would be editing.