Writing

The Grammar Portion of the Writing Test is based on: 

Organization of Ideas (22%) 

1. Select logical or effective opening, transitional, and closing sentences 

2. Evaluate relevance of content 

3. Analyze and evaluate organizational structure of a text or portion of a text 

4. Recognize logical transitions (e.g., however, consequently, likewise) and related words and phrases

Language Facility (43%) 

1. Recognize appropriate use of phrases and clauses, parallel structure, and modifier placement 

2. Recognize effective and varied use of compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences 

3. Recognize idiomatic usage (e.g., phrases like “to miss the boat,” “to cut corners,” “to feel under the weather”) 

4. Express ideas precisely, maintaining appropriate style and tone 

5. Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations (e.g., the shades of meaning among look, glance, stare, glare, and scowl) 

Writing Conventions (35%) 

1. Recognize correct forms of verbs, modifiers, and pronouns (e.g., comparative vs. superlative adjectives; subjective vs. objective pronoun case) 

2. Maintain grammatical agreement (e.g., subject-verb or pronoun-antecedent) and avoid inappropriate shifts in verb tense or pronoun number and person 

3. Recognize and correct incomplete sentence fragments and run-ons 

4. Recognize correct capitalization, punctuation, (e.g., commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, quotation marks, ellipses), and spelling 

5. Use reference sources (e.g., dictionaries, thesauruses, glossaries) appropriately