College Writing

College Writing Study Guide

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 This Study Guide Welcome to the Achieve College Writing Study Guide. This study guide will help you navigate the Achieve College Writing course, providing you with complementary material and references for all of the course’s most important concepts. While the guide is structured differently than your course, it nevertheless contains all of the material you’ll need to succeed on the test. The guide begins with the skills you need to improve your writing skills and proceeds to the application of those skills on the test. Over the next eight weeks, you will be going on a dif�icult but necessary journey to becoming a better writer. Make no mistake about it: writing is dif�icult. Even the most talented and respected published authors �in d writing to be profoundly strenuous but ultimately rewarding. And at the same time, writing is ubiquitous. Try to name a profession that doesn’t involve writing. Writing isn’t just important in your professional life, as it serves as both legal documentation and necessary communication between coworkers; it is also important in your personal life. In the 21 st century, we’ve turned most interpersonal conversation into written communication with the popu- larity of texting instead of talking on the phone, and social media apps are mostly text-based. Under- standing how to become a better writer will make every aspect of your written communication clearer, smarter, better. 1.2 The Test The test will consist of two essay questions, and you will have two hours to complete both questions. You may divide your time however you wish, spending more time on one essay and less time on the other. The �irst essay question is a proposal, which will provide you with an audience and scenario and ask you to argue for a particular outcome. The second question is an analysis and response ques- tion, which will present you with two texts on a controversial issue and ask you to argue for your position on that issue. We will go over the test questions and the skills you will need to be successful in Chapters 5 and 6.

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