Composition and Rhetoric
Core concepts
The composing process - prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing - plus the rhetorical situation: purpose, audience, occasion, and persona. Know how to build a defensible thesis, organize body paragraphs around a single claim (unity) with clear links between ideas (coherence), pair evidence with commentary that explains its relevance, acknowledge and answer a counterargument, and select appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) suited to the audience. Research items test source evaluation, accurate integration of quotations, and citation conventions.
Traps
Weak theses announce ("This essay will discuss…") or state facts instead of arguable claims. A paragraph that stacks quotations without explaining them earns no commentary credit. Transitions carry logical meaning - however signals contrast, therefore signals causation - so a mismatched transition is a favorite distracter. Revision is not proofreading: revising changes ideas, structure, and evidence, while editing fixes surface errors. In persuasive prompts, a counterargument dismissed with insult rather than reasoning is a straw man. Conclusions should not introduce new evidence, and an expository prompt answered in persuasive mode loses organization points.
Rule of thumb
Apply two questions to any thesis: "So what?" and "Could someone reasonably disagree?" If no one could disagree, you have written a summary, not a thesis.
Worked example: In a paragraph arguing that later school start times improve attendance, the sentence "Many students also play sports" breaks unity unless the paragraph is about scheduling conflicts. Delete it, or rewrite it to connect explicitly to the claim about sleep.