Chapter 11
Extended Response Writing
In this chapter, we'll guide you through the process of assembling and organizing points for your argument and writing the essay. Then we'll give you some practice.
Anyone can learn to write an essay. Yes, anyone. You need a plan to follow (which we'll give you in this chapter) and confidence (which will increase as you get more practice writing and evaluating your own work).
You can use our method to help you analyze the arguments you encounter in everyday life beyond the test, too. Try it the next time you get a message from someone urging you to buy something or do something. Switch into active reading (or active listening) mode right away and start looking for the main arguments and how well they're supported. You'll soon know whether you should consider the request or not.