Subtest I: Reading, Language Arts, and Literature Study Guide for the CSET Multiple Subjects Test

Writing Strategies

Writing is a skill. And although it is one we practice from a very early age, it is one that can continue to improve and become more refined the more we practice. Writing is essential to success both in school and in life. It allows the writer to communicate ideas to an audience he or she may never meet face to face. Effective writing is impactful and the building blocks to effective writing start very early in life. Knowing and understanding why people write and the appropriate techniques to employ when writing for a variety of audiences and purposes is imperative. Different styles of writing use different strategies of organization and development to achieve their purpose. This section explains the basic writing strategies that students should apply as the foundation of any writing they do.

Stages of the Writing Process

Authors know that a text is never really “finished.” There is always something that can be reworked or reworded to improve the overall flow or understanding for the audience. To continue to improve a text, writers embark on the writing process, which includes five main steps: prewriting, writing, revising, editing, and publishing. At the publishing stage, the author may decide the text is ready to share with an audience, and based on feedback from the audience, may go back into the writing process and revisit the revising and editing stages again before future publication.

Prewriting— This step includes brainstorming and planning the structure and content of the text. If research needs to be done, this is the stage for that, too. Gathering information from a variety of sources, taking notes, researching, and brainstorming are all activities that take place during the prewriting stage. There is a lot of thinking and consideration by the author that takes place at this time as he or she thinks about and considers the ideas they wish to express and how to do that most effectively based on the audience and purpose.

Writing— Once the prewriting stage is complete, writers begin to draft the text. The rough draft is the first opportunity to develop the ideas from the prewriting stage. Each subsequent draft through the revising and editing process continues to improve the text. Several drafts may be written before a text is ready to move on to revising.

Revising— Revising means looking at the text as a whole and addressing any gaps in the information or getting rid of repeated ideas. Revising is a holistic activity, meaning that you’re not looking at the details or going through the text sentence by sentence, but looking for weakness in the argument or the need for another example or the organization of the textas a whole. A text may go through the revising and editing stages multiple times once the writing is complete to continue to improve the text. There is rewriting that is done during this stage as text may be added, deleted, or moved around to achieve the most effective organization.

Editing— This is the step in the writing process where the focus shifts to the details. In the editing stage, the text is reviewed literally line by line to ensure correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. This is the point where writers will improve word choice, tweak sentence structure, and make other modifications to polish the text. It is not uncommon for a text to go through several rounds of revising and editing before the text is considered “final.”

Publishing— Once it is finalized, the author shares his or her writing with an audience. For a student, this often means submitting it to the teacher for grading. For a journalist, it is submitting a text to the magazine or news organization for print or digital publication. Although it sounds official, the publication stage just means that it goes beyond the author and is experienced by an audience. If you write a letter, when you send it to the recipient, you are “publishing” it.

Prewriting Strategies

Although many people feel that prewriting is an unnecessary, cumbersome “extra” step in the writing process, it is actually a very valuable one that should not be overlooked. Prewriting allows a writer to organize his or her thoughts and helps give greater focus to the writing. Here are some common prewriting strategies.

Outlining— In creating an outline, the writer organizes ideas and examples he or she wants to present in the writing. By completing an outline, the writer can easily see where there may be missing examples or what other content may be necessary to include to help the text flow easily for the reader. It also allows the writer to play with the organizational structure, moving paragraphs around until he or she feels the message will best be conveyed to the audience. If an outline is not completed as a prewriting step, the writer risks forgetting important components to include or may realize part way through drafting that the organization does not make sense and will need to start again from the beginning.

Graphic Organizers— Graphic organizers, like outlines, can also be used for planning purposes. There are many different types of graphic organizers that can be used in the prewriting phase, but what they all have in common is that they help the writer visualize and organize the information he or she wants to include in the writing. Flow charts, essay maps, Venn diagrams, and T-charts are all examples of graphic organizers that can help writers organize their thoughts before they begin drafting.

Note-taking— Especially useful when writing about other text(s), note-taking involves the writer taking notes about the ideas or evidence presented in a text that he or she finds interesting and would like to explore in his or her own writing. There are several different strategies for taking effective notes during reading, while listening to a speaker, or when brainstorming as a prewriting activity. The mapping, outlining, and charting methods of note-taking are generally among the more helpful as writers prepare to draft their text.

Principles of Writing

As with language itself, there are rules or conventions or principles of writing that authors are expected to follow and employ in their writing. Different types of writing utilize different principles, but the idea is always to improve the writing to make it more accessible to and meaningful for the audience. Here are some principles of writing with which you should be familiar.

Organization— To be effective, a piece of writing must be well-organized. Writing that is “all over the place,” that jumps from idea to idea without a logical flow, can affect the reader’s ability to understand and appreciate the message being presented. Organization in writing comes in the way that paragraphs are presented, but also within the paragraphs in how the ideas are presented. Topic sentences, body sentences that include evidence and explanation, and transition sentences help to present an organized text. Then, ensuring that those paragraphs follow in a logical, meaningful order also builds a sense of organization and flow for the reader.

Transitions— Transitions are the words, phrases, or sentences that move the reader from one section of text to another. Transitions may be found at, or near, the beginning of new paragraphs, or within a paragraph to indicate a shift in ideas. Sometimes, a transition sentence may come at the end of a paragraph as a way of introducing the reader to what will come in the next paragraph. Transition sentences serve as “links” to help the writer move the reader through the text without losing the reader along the way.

Point-of-View— The point of view in writing refers to the voice being used by the writer to present his or her text. The writer may choose to use a first-person point of view, but more commonly, a removed third-person voice is used. This helps to alleviate any bias the reader may have against the writer and give greater consideration to the content of the text rather than the perspective from which it is being delivered.

Word Choice— Good writing is not a happy accident. Good writing comes as the result of careful consideration of word choice. Understanding the purpose for writing, and being aware of the target audience, writers select their words purposefully to achieve their purpose effectively.

Conventions— Writing conventions are often lumped all together and referred to as “grammar,” but there are actually several writing conventions, of which grammar is one. Other conventions include spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Following the standard conventions of English helps writing be clear and understandable to the reader.

Style— Writing style refers to the structure and word choices a writer chooses to use to convey his or her message. Styles can be very unique, a reflection of the writer’s personality.

Purpose— Why does a writer write? There are generally four common purposes for why a writer writes: to express oneself, to inform or explain to the reader about a subject, to persuade the reader about a position with regard to an argument, or to entertain.

Audience— The audience is the person or group of people at whom a piece of writing is directed. Understanding the audience and purpose, writers will craft their text with these elements in mind as they dictate word choice, organization, and so on. For example, if a writer wants to write about plastic pollutants in the environment, he or she is going to express the ideas much differently for an audience of kindergarteners than for an audience of lawmakers.

Produce and Publish Writing

It used to be that to publish a text meant that it was printed in the newspaper or book form for a wide distribution. Writers would submit their texts to a media outlet or publishing house and wait agonizing days, weeks, months, or even years to see their work published, if it was accepted at all. Today, however, just about anyone can publish their writing through the use of technology. What used to take hours to painstakingly type up on a manual typewriter now flies by with fingers clicking keys on a keyboard and can be uploaded to a vast Internet audience in the blink of an eye.

Technology— Although there is nothing wrong with the good old-fashioned pen-to-paper approach to writing, many people these days are using technology to help them produce and publish their writing. Programs like Microsoft Word® allow users to type their ideas into a document where spell-check and grammar-check runs in the background. Google docs® allow multiple people to be working on a document at the same time, sharing ideas and revising each others work in real time.

Online publishing outlets like Amazon®, Luly®, or AuthorHouse®, just to name a few, offer writers the opportunity to self-publish their own books. Digital media outlets like e-books, personal websites, or blogs allow writers to share their texts immediately with an online audience.

Even sending texts, emails, or memos to friends and co-workers is a form of publication of your writing. And non-written communication has gotten a boost from technology, too, with web conferencing programs like Skype® or Google Hangout® giving people the opportunity to communicate with an audience that may be spread out globally. And don’t forget YouTube® videos as a source of non-written communication—some of those videos have been viewed millions of times!

Writing Applications

As students proceed through elementary and into middle and high school, the level and types of writing they are expected to produce increases. Younger students experiment with narrative writing, opinion writing, and informative/explanatory pieces, and as they advance, the rigor of the expectations for these pieces increases. Eventually, argumentative and persuasive texts are added to the writer’s toolbox. Regardless of the type of writing, writers must consider their audience and purpose along the way. Applying the principles of composition to the different writing genres, you should be familiar with the following terms.

Principles of Composition

No matter the type of writing being created, the writer must take time to plan and organize his or her ideas to develop an effective text. Applying the principles of composition, which is to say considering the format, structure, and organization, the word choice, the examples used to support or explain a writer’s ideas must take place for a text to be effective and relevant to the intended audiences.

Appropriate structure— Each genre of writing has its own unique structure. Narratives tell stories with a beginning, middle, and end. Opinion pieces allow the writer to express his or her opinion about a subject with support as to why the writer feels a particular way about a subject. Argumentative writing addresses both the writer’s position and the opposition’s likely counterarguments. Understanding the structure of different types of writing is a key principle of composition. Beyond organization into paragraphs, determining the order and content of those paragraphs is based on understanding the structure of the genre. There are a variety of structures a writer can choose from, including: chronological, compare/contrast, description, cause/effect, and problem/solution.

Logical development of ideas— If you have ever tried to explain something to someone and had them look at you quizzically, then you understand the importance of the logical development of ideas. Sometimes, as writers or speakers, our brains get going so fast that our fingers or mouth can’t keep up and ideas end up jumbled in their presentation. This leads to confusion on the part of the audience. Thus, understanding how to logically present ideas to the audience and in what order, knowing what examples or support will make the most sense to them, and how to transition effectively from one to the next is critical.

Vocabulary— Not all words are created equal. Understanding and using the appropriate vocabulary in the appropriate context for a target audience is an important principle of composition. If you use vocabulary that speaks “above” your audience, they aren’t going to understand your message. If you use vocabulary that is too basic, they may become bored or insulted. It is important to consider vocabulary and word choice in writing. If there are terms the audience is likely not going to know or recognize, provide context clues to help them figure those words out. Using precise word choice helps send a clear message to the audience.

Context— Context refers to the words in a text that help to explain, support, or define an unclear or unknown idea. Looking at the context of a text, or the “environment” of the writing as a whole can help you understand and make meaning of ideas that may be new to you. In the same way, when you are the writer, you must include enough contextual support or explanation to help your reader understand your message.

Compose/Analyze Writing in Different Genres

There are a number of different genres of writing. The most common types are informative, opinion/argument, and narrative. Each of these genres require specific aspects to be included and serve different purposes. Being able to both compose these types of text and analyze these types of text for their elements and style are critical skills on the CSET®.

Arguments— Argument or opinion writing is one of the easiest types of writing because the writer is simply presenting opinions or feelings about a subject. As students get older, the addition of logical and relevant proof to support those opinions or feelings is introduced, but there is no right or wrong answer in an argumentative text so long as there is support and explanation for the opinion provided. The audience may not agree with the argument the writer poses, but must admit that the position is a plausible one if the writer has done an effective job of explaining his or her reasoning.

Informative/explanatory texts*— This type of writing seeks to explain or inform the reader about a subject. It generally includes information presented in a **rational, straightforward way. Because the writer is seeking to provide information or understanding about a topic, there is a sense that the writer comes to the task prepared; that is, having done the research to be able to educate the reader about the subject. Informative and explanatory texts provide information and supporting evidence to further explain that information. The structure is usually formatted with an introductory paragraph that includes the thesis statement, body paragraphs that provide information and/or explanation of the subject, including supporting evidence and explanation of that evidence, and then a conclusion that summarizes the main points and brings the text to a close.

Narrative— Narrative writing tells a story to the reader. Using descriptive and figurative language, narratives develop characters who often face conflict or challenge during the course of the plot. Rather than the intro paragraph, body paragraphs, and conclusion paragraph of argument or informational texts, narratives often employ a plot mountain or diamond approach to structure, introducing the setting, background, and characters, then actions that lead to a conflict and the choice a character or characters must make, and then the resolution of how it all works out once that character(s) makes the choice. The story has a sense of beginning, middle, and end, is organized into clear, coherent paragraphs, and may also include the use of dialogue. Narratives may be written as fiction or non-fiction texts.

Summary— A summary is a text that is written about the main points of another text. Written in a writer’s own words, summaries are objective presentations of another’s text, without the writer’s opinions. Summaries are shorter in length than the original text and include the main points and key details without also including every detail, example, or piece of evidence. Summaries may be more than one paragraph, but they will not be as long as the original text. To write a summary, the writer must have a reasonably clear understanding of the message and purpose behind the original text to be able to condense the main ideas into his or her own words.

Letter— Letters can be written for a variety of purposes and to just about any audience. Formal letters to a business regarding a job opening or a complaint letter to a company whose product is faulty or a friendly letter to a long-lost friend are all different types of letters. Letters begin with a salutation or greeting, body paragraphs that explain the purpose of the letter, and a closing, followed by the writer’s signature. Business letters may also include contact information for the writer of the letter.

Research report— Research reports are informative by nature. They require the writer to research information about a particular topic, process and make sense of that information, synthesize the information, and present the findings in a way the audience will understand, even if they didn’t do the research themselves. Research reports are objective and do not generally include the writer’s position on the subject.