HiSET Language Arts Writing Exam
Everything you need to know!
In this test section, you are asked to demonstrate editorial and proofreading skills. You will give short texts: letters, essays, newspaper articles, personal accounts, and reports. A section will be underlined in each text, and you will have to decide what (if any) revision is necessary or appropriate for the underlined section. The HiSET assesses how well you can proofread a document.
Aspects of the questions you will be graded on include being able to assess whether the style is appropriate for the piece, whether the transitions are logical and make sense, whether the discourse is structured and organized in a manner that makes it plain what the writer is thinking, how clear and concise the section to be revised is, and your grammar usage and mechanics as a proofreader.
The writing section also contains an essay. For the essay, you will be given a short prompt. This prompt may take any form: it may focus on an issue, which you will then be expected to argue for or against; it may ask you to respond with a personal story; it may require you to provide information on a given topic. This section of the test will have human graders, people reading over your essays, and they will be looking for mastery of five things.
Development. Are your ideas fully expressed? Have you explained yourself or your position well? Does your writing engage and persuade?
Organization. Is your essay presented in a sensible order? Do things flow naturally? Will the reader understand what point you’re trying to make?
Language Facility. How rich is the language in your essay? Can you find the right word for the concept you want to express? Are you able to use language to keep readers interested in your essay?
Writing Conventions. Do you have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion? Can you use the essay structure to elaborate on why and how the given viewpoints fail? In other words, you’re being asked to write to the specific style of an essay here.
This test section has 50 multiple-choice questions and one essay question, giving you 120 minutes.
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