STUDY GUIDE

STUDY GUIDE

1. What is the correct order of steps when writing an essay?

a. Drafting, Planning, Organizing, Editing and Proofreading, Revising.

b. Planning, Drafting, Organizing, Revising, Editing and Proofreading

c. Editing and Proofreading, Revising, Drafting, Organizing, Planning.

d. Planning, Organizing, Drafting, Revising, Editing and Proofreading.

2. What does the planning stage consist of?

a. Narrowing down topic, brainstorming, thesis

b. Writing the essay

c. Reviewing the essay and fixing any structural errors it may have.

d. Ordering the ideas in order based on spatial, chronological, or most to

least

3. What does the Organizing stage consist of?

a. Narrowing down topic, brainstorming, thesis

b. Writing the essay

c. Reviewing the essay and fixing any structural errors it may have.

d. Ordering the ideas in order based on spatial, chronological, or most to least

4. What does the Drafting stage consist of?

a. Narrowing down topic, brainstorming, thesis

b. Writing the essay

c. Reviewing the essay and fixing any structural errors it may have.

d. Ordering the ideas in order based on spatial, chronological, or most to least

5. What does the Revising stage consist of?

a. Narrowing down topic, brainstorming, thesis

b. Writing the essay

c. Reviewing the essay and fixing any structural errors it may have.

d. Ordering the ideas in order based on spatial, chronological, or most to least

6. What is the thesis of a paper

a. General topic

b. Structure of essay

c. Main idea of the essay d. All of the above

7. What is the best way to narrow down a topic?

a. Questioning

b. Brainstorming

c. Most to least order

d. Mapping

8. What is the best way to get ideas for your paper (circle all that apply)?

a. Questioning

b. Brainstorming

c. Most to least order d. Mapping

9. Which of the following do you not use when asking questions? a. Who

b. What

c. How many

d. When

10. True or false. The more ideas you obtain during the planning stage, the easier your paper becomes.

a. True

b. False

11. True or false. Planning is the easiest stage of the writing process.

a. True

b. False

12. True or false. The thesis is a paragraph long.

a. True

b. False

13. What does it mean to do free-writing?

a. Writing the narrowed down topic in the middle and writing ideas around it in a bubble-like fashion

b. Writing down as many ideas as possible

c. Both of these

d. None of these

14. What does it mean to do mapping?

a. Writing the narrowed down topic in the middle and writing ideas around it in a bubble-like fashion

b. Writing down as many ideas as possible

c. Both of these

d. None of these

15. When organizing a paragraph using chronological order, which of the following is the correct format?

a. Introduction, most, more, least, conclusion

b. Introduction, event 1, event 2, event, 3, conclusion

c. Introduction, left, up, middle, down, conclusion

d. Introduction, least, more, most, conclusion

16. When organizing a paragraph using most to least order, which of the following is

the correct format?

a. Introduction, most, more, least, conclusion

b. Introduction, event 1, event 2, event, 3, conclusion

c. Introduction, left, up, middle, down, conclusion

d. Introduction, least, more, most, conclusion

17. When organizing a paragraph using spatial order, which of the following is the correct format?

a. Introduction, most, more, least, conclusion

b. Introduction, event 1, event 2, event, 3, conclusion

c.Introduction, left, up, middle, down, conclusion

d. Introduction, least, more, most, conclusion

18. What should the introduction of a paper include?

a. Support the thesis

b. Thesis statement

c. Summary of paragraph

d. Opinion

19. What should the body of a paper include?

a. Support the thesis

b. Thesis statement

c. Summary of paragraph

d. Opinion

20. What should the conclusion of a paper include?

a. Support the thesis

b. Thesis statement

c. Summary of paragraph

d. Background information

21. True or false. Your introduction should be a paragraph where you introduce your topic to your audience

a. True

b. False

22. True or false. The paragraphs in the body should only focus on the idea discussed and not other ideas.

a. True

b. False

23. True or false. Your conclusion should be very long and the most complicated paragraph to write.

a. True

b. False

24. When revising the essay, which of the following questions should you NOT

ask yourself?

a. Does my introduction have enough background

b. information? Does my body support my thesis?

c. Am I pleasing my teacher?

d. Does my conclusion summarize my essay?

25. True or false. It is not necessary to revise your paper

a. True

b. False

26. True or false. Your thesis should be in your introduction.

a. True

b. False

27. What does it mean to edit and proofread your paper?

a. Writing the essay

b. Checking for spelling and grammar mistakes

c. Not doing anything at all

d. Writing a summary of your essay

28. Which of the following is a useful technique when revising an essay?

a. Allow time between drafting and revising

b. Reading it over once and not fixing it

c. Being the only person to read the essay since you are the only one that

knows what you want to say

The article below is a first draft Janelle wrote for her teacher. The article contains errors. Read the article to answer the following questions.

The Boston Tea Party

(1) In 1773 American colonists hated the new tax laws regarding imported British tea. (2) Tea is an important drink for British people. (3) It is also important for people in China, India, and other countries. (4) The American Colonists loved tea, too, but they thought they were being taxed unfairly.

(5) One, then another, and then another ship from the British East India Company arrived to deliver tea. (6) The colonists wanted to send it back to England. (7) The governor insisted they pay the taxes. (8) There was a deadline. (9) The colonists had to pay the taxes after 20 days.

(10) On the last night, the colonists gathered at the Old South Meetinghouse. (11) It was a big building. (12) The protesters dressed like Mohawk Indians to disguise themselves. (13) They carried tools. (14) They snuck onto the three ships, broke open the tea crates, and threw the tea in the harbor. (15) They dumped over 90,000 pounds of tea. (16) It would be worth $1,700,000 today. (17) The tea in the harbor stunk. (18) The authorities were mad. (19) They closed Boston Harbor. (20) It was closed until the tea was paid for.

(21) Some People say that the Boston Tea Party led directly to the American Revolution.

Refer to preceding article to answer the questions.

1. Which sentence contains a detail that is unimportant to the story.

a. sentence (1)

b. sentence (3)

c. sentence (15)

d. sentence (20)

2. The author wants to add the following sentence:

The colonists decided to boycott tea to make a point about the taxes.

Where could this sentence be added to help us understand the actions of the colonists?

a. after sentence (1)

b. after sentence (4)

c. after sentence (12)

d. after sentence (18)

3. Choose a sentence to replace sentence (13), giving more descriptive details.

a. The colonists were armed with tools.

b. The colonists carried hatchets and axes that would help them do their work.

c. They carried hatchets and axes.

d. They carried tools.

4. Sentences 17-20 are choppy. Choose the most effective way to rewrite them.

a. The tea stunk, and the authorities were mad, so they closed the harbor until

the tea was paid for.

b. The tea in the harbor stunk; the authorities were mad. They closed Boston

Harbor; it was closed until the tea was paid for.

c. The tea stunk, and the angry authorities closed the harbor to ships until the

tea was paid for.

d. The tea in the harbor stunk. The authorities closed Boston Harbor.

5. Which transition could be added to the beginning of sentence (8) to help connect the ideas in the third paragraph?

a. Unfortunately,

b. When

c. Because

6. Clarify sentence (6) by choosing the best word to replace the pronoun “it.”

a. the government

b. the taxes

c. the ship

7. Choose the best topic sentence for the final paragraph.

a. No one could ignore the impact of the colonists’ actions.

b. The next day was a bad one.

c. The colonists were excited, but scared after their act of disobedience.

d. The action started a war immediately.

8. Sentence (21) contains a capitalization error. Circle the incorrect word.

a. Boston

b. Tea

c. People

d. Revolution

9. What is the purpose of revising and editing an essay?

a. To write a proper thesis

b. To organize the paper for an outline

c. To improve the quality of the paper before handing it in to the professor all of the above

10. True or False. Revising a Paper is NEVER necessary.

a. True

b. False

11. True or False. When revising an essay, one of the first questions you should be asking yourself is: “Does my essay have a clear thesis?”

a. True

b. False

12. A Narrative essay is:

a. An essay that tells a story in an organized fashion for a reason

b. An essay that convinces the audience of a political point

c. An essay that describes an event using the five sense: Sight, Smell, Taste,

Touch, and Sound

d. An essay that compares and contrasts two different items.

13. A descriptive essay is:

a. An essay that tells a story in an organized fashion for a reason

b. An essay that convinces the audience of a political point

c. An essay that describes an event using the five sense: Sight, Smell, Taste,

Touch, and Sound

d. An essay that compares and contrasts two different items.

14. If the teacher asks you to describe an event that you saw, which type of essay will you use?

a. Narrative

b. Descriptive

15. If the teacher asks you to tell a story for a purpose, what type of essay will you

use?

a. Narrative

b. Descriptive

Read the following essay and answer the questions that follow.

I have cried bitterly only twice in my life: once when my old girlfriend left

me and once when my cat died. Mop was very special to me. Her death taught me not to delay getting proper care for loved ones.

Mop came into my life as a kitten. Her mother died when she was very small, so I raised her all by myself. I took her to work every day and gave her milk every hour for two or three weeks until she was big enough to stay home. When Mop was two or three years old, I took in a stray Tomcat and Mop soon got pregnant. Mop got sick shortly after she had kittens. Her kittens all died and she got weaker and weaker. She ate and drank very little and spent most of her time lying on the floor and staring into space. I thought about taking her to the vet, but I did not want to spend all that money and I hoped that she would eventually just get well on her own. Finally, she looked so sick and unhappy that I gave in and took her to the vet. He said she was too far-gone and would soon die. I took her home and watched her carefully. A day or two later, she died in my arms. As I held her thin body in my hands, I remembered all the fun we had and the times I was mean to her. I felt my heart breaking and I cried hard for ten minutes. Then I wrapped her in a plastic bag and took her to Monkey Mountain, where I buried her in an unmarked grave beside a trail.

I felt bad about waiting so long to take Mop to the vet and I decided that if any of my pets or family members got sick, I would not wait to take them to the doctor. If I had acted sooner, Mop might still be alive, or at least she would not have suffered so much for so long.

16. What type of essay is this:

a. Narrative

b. Descriptive

17. What is the reason for the author to have written this essay:

a. Express the love he had for his cat

b. Explain how he will be a better pet owner since he did a poor job with his cat

c. Explain how happy he is that his cat died

d. All of the above

18. How many characters did the author include?

a. 1. Himself

b. 2. Himself and the cat

c. 3. Himself, the cat, and a stray

d. 4. His sister, himself, the cat, and a stray

19. Why did he hold off on taking her to the vet?

a. He was scared of the vet

b. He felt embarrassed

c. He did not want to spend the money

d. None of the above

20. When was the other time he cried?

a. Death of a grandparent

b. When his girlfriend broke up with him

c. When his best friend moved to another country d. Death of a father

Read the following essay and answer the questions that follow:

One of nature’s great killers is also one of its great artists. Spiders are carnivores that as a genus feed on everything from flies to rats. Many of them catch their prey with webs of great complexity and beauty.

Spider webs are so common that we often hardly notice them. They hang in and stretch between trees or fence posts. Most of them are difficult to see unless they get wet or dusty. When we do see them, we wonder that so small a creature with so small a brain could so accurately weave such an intricate pattern of threads running back and forth like the spokes of a wheel. A dew-covered web sparkling in the bright morning sun is one of the most memorable sights in anyone’s life.

Few people can recreate in pencil, paint or string even the most basic design found in the most commonplace of works. Spider webs are the snowflakes of the animal world.

21. What type of essay is this:

a. Narrative

b. Descriptive

22. What is being described

a. Spider

b. Artist

c. Spider Web

d. Painter

23. He is using one sense in order to describe the main object. Which one is it?

a. Sight

b. Sound

c. Smell

d. Touch

24. How does he feel about the article?

a. He hates walking through them

b.He loves seeing them

c.He hates seeing them

d.They disgust him

25. How does he describe spiders?

a. One of natures greatest killers

b. One of the worst Artists

c. A peaceful animal