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Language Arts, Writing, Part II
Part II of the GED Language Arts,Writing Test measures the
candidate's ability to write. Candidates are required to write an
expository essay (an essay that explains, clarifies, or informs readers
about a subject) and support the essay through personal observations and
experiences.
Content
In the GED Language Arts, Writing Test, Part II, candidates receive a
single topic and are asked to present an opinion or an explanation
regarding a situation about which adults would be expected to have some
general knowledge. The topics are specifically chosen by the GED Testing
Service (GEDTS) because they are found to be potentially interesting and
meaningful to candidates as well as to the readers who will score
them. No specialized content knowledge
is required to respond to a topic.
Format
Candidates have 45 minutes to write on their assigned essay topic.
The test directions encourage candidates to:
- Plan their essays.
- Make notes before writing.
- Revise and edit their final products.
Candidates are required to write their essays on two lined pages in
an answer booklet, with scratch paper for pre-writing and drafting. Only
the writing on the two pages in the
answer booklet will be scored.
Scoring
Essays are scored on a four-point scale. The GED Essay-Scoring Guide
(below) describes the general features of essays at the different points
on the scale.
The score scale ranges from 4 (high) to 1 (low). The four levels of
writing are described as:
- Effective.
- Adequate.
- Marginal.
- Inadequate.
These keywords describe general expectations for each level of
writing.
GED Official Essay-Scoring Guide
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
Inadequate |
Marginal |
Adequate |
Effective |
| |
Reader has difficulty
identifying or following the writer's ideas. |
Reader occasionally has
difficulty understanding or following the writer's ideas. |
Reader understands
writer's ideas. |
Reader understands and
easily follows the writer's expression of ideas. |
|
|
Attempts to address prompt but with little or no success in establishing
a focus. |
Addresses the prompt, though the focus may shift. |
Uses the writing prompt to establish a main idea. |
Presents a clearly focused main idea that addresses the prompt. |
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|
Fails to organize ideas. |
Shows some evidence of an organizational plan. |
Uses an identifiable organizational plan. |
Establishes a clear and logical organization. |
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|
Demonstrates little or no development; usually lacks details or examples
or presents irrelevant information. |
Has some development but lacks specific details; may be limited to a
listing, repetitions, or generalizations. |
Has focused but occasionally uneven development; incorporates some
specific detail. |
Achieves coherent development with specific and relevant details and
examples. |
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|
Exhibits minimal or no control of sentence structure and the conventions
of Edited American English (EAE). |
Demonstrates inconsistent control of sentence structure and the
conventions of Edited American English (EAE). |
Generally controls sentence structure and the conventions of Edited
American English (EAE). |
Consistently controls sentence structure and the conventions of Edited
American English (EAE). |
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Exhibits weak and/or inappropriate words. |
Exhibits a narrow range of word choice, often including inappropriate
selections. |
Exhibits appropriate word choice. |
Exhibits varied and precise word choice. |
Definitions of Descriptors
There are five major criteria or descriptors that are used in
evaluating an essay. The GED Testing Service defines them as follows:
Response to prompt refers to how well the candidate responded
to the topic, including whether or not the focus of the response
shifted. (return to Scoring Guide)
Organization refers to whether or not there is evidence that
the candidate had a clear idea about what he or she would write and was
able to establish a definable plan for writing the essay. (return to Scoring Guide)
Development and details refers to the candidate's ability to
expand on initial concepts or statements through the use of examples and
specific details rather than using lists or reiterating the same
information. (return to Scoring Guide)
Conventions of Edited American English refers to the
candidate's ability to use appropriately edited written English,
including the application of the basic rules of grammar, such as
sentence structure, mechanics, usage, and so forth. (return to Scoring Guide)
Word choice refers to the candidate's ability to use
appropriate words to express an idea. (return to Scoring Guide)
Frequently Asked Questions About The GED Language Arts, Write Test,
Part II Essay
- How are the GED Language Arts, Writing Test essays
scored?
- What is the passing score for the essay?
- When I receive my score, how can I tell if I earned
a 2 or higher on my essay?
- I remember how my teachers used to score essays in
school. How do GED essay readers score papers? What do they consider the
most important elements of good writing?
- Will a specific number of errors in grammar, usage,
and mechanics lower my essay score?
- What will the essay topic ask me to do? Can I find
out what past topics have been on the writing test? Do I need any prior
preparation for the essay?
- When I took the Official GED Practice Tests, I found
that the essay question was not really a question. Why not?
- Does GED offer programs to help prepare GED
candidates to write essays for the GED Language Arts, Writing Test?
Where can I get help with writing essays?
- The older form of the GED Writing Test provided a
recommended word count for the essay. How long does my essay have to
be?
- Writing textbooks will not
always agree on the same point. For example, one book will tell writers
to use a comma after each item in a series (e.g., coffee, eggs, juice,
and toast), but another book might tell writers to omit the last comma
before the conjunction (e.g., coffee, eggs, juice and toast.). Which is
correct? Will essay readers give me a lower score?
- The GED essay-scoring
guide refers to "the conventions of EAE." What is EAE?
- How are the GED Language Arts, Writing Test essays scored?
The GED Language Arts, Writing Test essays are scored on a 4-point
holistic scale.
Two trained essay readers read each essay and score based on the overall
impression. The overall impression of each paper is based on five areas:
- Does the paper respond to the assigned prompt—did the
candidate use the topic on the test?
- Can the reader see or follow an organized plan for development?
- Are there specific and relevant details to support the paper's
focus?
- Are the conventions of language (grammar, usage, and mechanics)
generally followed?
- Is the word choice precise, varied, and appropriate?
The two readers' scores are then averaged. If the essay receives a
score of 2 or higher, the essay score is combined with the
multiple-choice score to form a composite. If a candidate receives on
the essay a score of 1 or 1.5, there will be no composite score, and the
candidate must retake both the multiple-choice and essay portion of the
test.
Please note that individual essay scores are not reported. On the
composite score, the multiple-choice results represent 65 percent of the
composite, and the essay represents 35 percent. (return to Questions)
- What is the passing score for the essay?
A GED candidate must earn a score of 2 or higher on the GED Language
Arts, Writing Test, Part II essay in order to receive a composite score
and obtain a passing score.
A candidate needs a 2 or higher to earn a passing score. States may set
a composite passing score (multiple-choice and essay) that is higher
than the current minimum GED passing score of 410. The composite passing
score cannot be set lower than the GEDTS minimum standard. (return to Questions)
- When I receive my score, how can I tell if I earned a 2 or higher
on my essay?
If you receive a Writing score that is more than 200 but less than 410,
you have earned a 2 (minimum passing score on the 4-point scale) on your
essay. However, you did not score high enough on the multiple-choice
section to earn the composite passing score of 410.
If you received a "0" or a single or double asterisk (* or **) on your
transcript, then you did not earn a 2 on your essay. Note: A single
asterisk (*) indicates that you did not write on the assigned topic and
your response was recorded as "off topic."
If a low essay score kept you from passing, you will still have to
retake both parts of the GED Language Arts, Writing Test. You may
benefit from additional preparation before retaking the test.
In addition to the Official GED Practice Tests, which are available
through education publisher Steck-Vaughn, GED candidates can find other
preparation guides at their local libraries, bookstores, and retail web
sites. (return to Questions)
- I remember how my teachers used to score essays in school. How do
GED essay readers score papers? What do they consider the most important
elements of good writing?
Good writing needs a focus, organization, and development with specific
and relevant examples, details, and explanations. You'll see these
elements at the top of our scoring guide. Our readers are especially
concerned with the development that supports a focus. They do not,
however, look for specific errors in grammar, usage, and
mechanics—they don't score with the same elements in mind that a
classroom teacher would.
Errors in grammar, mechanics, and syntax would affect a score only if
they are so numerous that they hinder the essay reader from
understanding and following the writer's ideas. Consequently, writers
need to minimize errors so that they don't distract the readers from the
ideas in the paper. (return to Questions)
- Will a specific number of errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics
lower my essay score?
The readers who score the GED essay are looking for an overall
impression. The descriptors on the scoring guide shape that overall
impression.
If there are so many errors that the reader has difficulty understanding
and following the writer's ideas, then those combined errors will affect
the score given to the essay. (return to
Questions)
- What will the essay topic ask me to do? Can I find out what past
topics have been on the writing test? Do I need any prior preparation
for the essay?
Candidates will be asked to write on a topic of general interest. The
topics are brief and generally ask the candidates to state their views
about a subject and support their statements with examples from their
own observation, knowledge, or experience.
GED does not release its essay topics; however, Steck-Vaughn, a publisher of adult education
materials, produces the Official GED Practice Tests and offers materials
to help candidates study and prepare for the tests. GED candidates can
find other preparation guides at their local libraries, bookstores, and
retail web sites. (return to Questions)
- When I took the Official GED Practice Tests, I found that the
essay question was not really a question. Why not?
The essay topic is a statement to prompt or help you begin to write
about a topic. All of the topics are general enough that you will need
only your own knowledge, experience, or observations to respond. The
topics are expository, which means that they ask you to explain or
clarify a subject. (return to Questions)
- Does GED offer programs to help prepare GED candidates to write
essays for the GED Language Arts, Writing Test? Where can I get help
with writing essays?
GED only develops the tests for the states and Canadian provinces and
territories and does not offer test preparation. You may find it
beneficial, especially if you have been away from academic writing for
some time, to enroll in a review course and take the Official GED
Practice Tests so that you can get feedback on your writing. There are
several study guides available in local bookstores and libraries.
You may also want to check GED's web site: www.gedtest.org (go to the section
labeled "Prospective GED Test-Takers").
Call 1-800-62-MYGED (626-9433) to locate the testing center closest to
you. The center can tell you where to find an instructional program in
your area or one that best fits your needs. (return
to Questions)
- The older form of the GED Writing Test provided a recommended
word count for the essay. How long does my essay have to be?
GEDTS no longer recommends a specific word count for the essay. Your
response should be long enough to adequately address the essay topic.
The only specific requirement for the essay's length is that it must be
written only on the two lined sides of the answer sheet booklet. Essay
readers will not read additional pages. (return to
Questions)
- Writing textbooks don't always agree on
the same point. For example, one book will tell writers to use a comma
after each item in a series (e.g., coffee, eggs, juice, and toast), but
another book might tell writers to omit the last comma before the
conjunction (e.g., coffee, eggs, juice and toast.). Which is correct?
Will essay readers give me a lower score?
Both of the above comma usages are correct. Most English teachers will
agree that the comma before the "and" is optional; however, the writer
must be consistent. If the writer omits the comma before "and," then he
or she must omit it every time there is a series of three or more items.
Similarly, if a comma is used before the last item in a series, then the
writer must use it in all instances. Consistency is the key.
As a side note, multiple-choice questions on the GED Language Arts,
Writing Test, Part I do not test comma use between the next-to-last and
last items in a series. However, the comma between the first two items
(in a series of three or more items) will be tested. (return to Questions)
- The GED essay-scoring guide refers to
"the conventions of EAE." What is EAE?
Edited American English (EAE) refers to those conventions of grammar,
usage, and mechanics to which writers and speakers adhere in order to
communicate effectively. In 1997, the GED Writing Test Specifications
Committee adopted EAE as the norm for the variety of English that is
most used by educated speakers of the language.
For writers, the significance is that they still must employ a style,
grammar, and usage that allows a mutual level of comprehension and
understanding among educated speakers and writers. For example, EAE
still governs when to use who or whom, is or are, pronoun forms, verb
form and verb tense, adjective or adverb forms, parallel constructions,
and sentence structure. (return to
Questions)
Please direct questions about this page to:
ged@ace.nche.edu
This page last updated on 11/18/2008
| General Educational Development (GED) Tests, GED, Language Arts, Writing |
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