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GeorgiaEnglish Literature

The Extended Writing Response

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do the argumentative and informational modes differ, and how do you tell from the prompt which one is required and write to its expectations, including addressing a counterclaim in an argument?

Argumentative and informational modes: distinguishing the argumentative mode (take and defend a position, address a counterclaim) from the informational/explanatory mode (explain or analyze a topic without taking a side), reading the prompt to identify the required mode, and writing to each mode's expectations on the Georgia Milestones extended writing response.
How to handle the argumentative and informational modes on the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC essay: telling them apart, reading the prompt to identify which is required, and writing to each mode's expectations, including addressing a counterclaim in an argument.
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How do you organize an essay so it builds logically, with an introduction, developed body paragraphs, transitions, and a conclusion, and how do you elaborate ideas in depth rather than listing thin points?

Organizing and elaborating ideas: structuring the source-based essay (introduction with controlling idea, developed body paragraphs, transitions, conclusion), creating logical progression and coherence, and elaborating ideas in depth rather than listing thin points, on the Georgia Milestones extended writing response.
How to organize and elaborate the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC essay: structure (introduction with controlling idea, developed body paragraphs, transitions, conclusion), logical progression and coherence, and depth of elaboration over thin lists. Organization and coherence are part of the idea-development trait.
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How does the seven-point two-trait writing rubric work, what does each trait reward, and how do you use it to write toward the top score on each?

The seven-point writing rubric: how the two-trait analytic rubric works (Idea Development, Organization, and Coherence 0 to 4; Language Usage and Conventions 0 to 3), what each trait rewards, why ideas carry the larger share, and how to write toward the top of each trait on the Georgia Milestones extended writing response.
How the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC essay is scored: the seven-point two-trait rubric, Idea Development, Organization, and Coherence (0 to 4) and Language Usage and Conventions (0 to 3), what each trait rewards, and how to write toward the top. Learning the rubric is the highest-leverage essay skill.
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What does the source-based extended writing response actually ask for, and how is writing from two passages different from a stand-alone opinion essay?

Understanding the extended writing response: what the source-based essay in Section 1 asks (read two passages, then write an essay drawing and citing evidence from them), how it differs from a stand-alone opinion essay, the mode the prompt sets (argumentative or informational), and how it is scored on the seven-point two-trait rubric.
What the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC extended writing response asks: a source-based essay written from two passages in Section 1, how it differs from a stand-alone opinion essay, the mode the prompt sets, and how it is scored on the seven-point two-trait rubric.
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How do you select, embed, and explain evidence from the two passages, so each quotation or paraphrase is tied to your controlling idea rather than dropped in unexplained?

Using evidence from the passages: selecting relevant evidence from both texts, embedding quotations and paraphrases smoothly, and explaining how each piece supports the controlling idea (the point-evidence-explanation move), on the Georgia Milestones source-based extended writing response.
How to use text evidence on the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC essay: selecting relevant evidence from both passages, embedding quotations and paraphrases smoothly, and explaining how each supports the controlling idea. Explained evidence is what the idea-development trait rewards.
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How do you state a single, clear claim or controlling idea that answers the prompt and sets up the whole essay, rather than a vague topic statement or a fence-sit?

Writing a claim or controlling idea: stating a single, clear, defensible claim (for an argument) or controlling idea (for an informational essay) as a full sentence that answers the prompt and previews the essay, and placing it where a reader expects it, on the Georgia Milestones extended writing response.
How to write a claim or controlling idea on the Georgia Milestones American Literature EOC essay: a single, clear, defensible sentence that answers the prompt and previews the essay, avoiding vague topic statements and fence-sits. The controlling idea anchors the idea-development trait.
9 min answer →