California State Writing Test
Traits of “4” Writing
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Clearly addresses all parts of the writing task
Demonstrates a clear understanding of purpose
and audience
Maintains a consistent point of view, focus, and
organizational structure, including the effective
use of transitions
Includes a clearly presented central idea with all
claims and statements supported
Includes a variety of sentence types
Includes sophisticated vocabulary
Contains few, if any, errors
The Writing Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pre-write – gather ideas, plan and
organize essay
Draft – write your essay using your prewriting
Proofread – fix any grammatical errors
Revise – make sure everything “sounds
right”; insert sophisticated vocabulary
and figurative language, check for
sentence variety
Narrative
Sample Prompts
 Imagine that your mom woke you up with the
following news: “School has been canceled for
the day! You can do anything you want!” Write
a story about an adventure you had on your
school-free day. (Fictional Narrative)
 As much as we may love our friends, we
sometimes find ourselves very angry with them.
Write a story about a time when you had a
conflict with a close friend. (Autobiographical
Narrative)
Narrative
You will be scored on how well you:
 tell a story about a fictional or autobiographical
event;
 develop a plot with a beginning; middle, and
end;
 develop a setting and characters; and
 use appropriate strategies such as suspense,
action, descriptive detail, and, perhaps, dialogue
to make your story more interesting.
Narrative
climax
Pre-write
Title _________________________________________________________
falling action
rising action
exposition
conflict
characters
setting
resolution
Persuasive Essay
Sample Prompt
 Most private schools require students to wear
uniforms. Should public school students wear
uniforms too? Write a letter to your principal in
which you argue for or against school uniforms
for public school students. Give convincing
reasons that support your opinion and address
the concerns of those who would argue against
your position. Explain your reasons with specific
details.
Persuasive Essay
Your writing will be scored on how well you:
 state your position of the topic;
 describe the points in support of your
position, including examples and other
evidence;
 anticipate and address readers’ concerns
and arguments against your position; and
 use grammar, spelling, punctuation, and
capitalization.
Persuasive Essay
Pre-write
Strongest Support
More Support
Thesis
Counterargument
Conclusion
Persuasive Essay
How do I do it?
Paragraph 1 (Introduction)
 Hook the reader with an exclamation, question,
shocking fact or statistic, anecdote, etc.
 Give background information on your topic.
 State your thesis (position) – this is what you will
be convincing your reader.
Persuasive Essay
Paragraph 2 (Strongest Support)
 Start with a topic sentence that gives a reason
for your position. It should be persuasive!
 Explain your reason with at least three details
elaborating with examples. Your details and
examples should support your thesis.
 End the paragraph with a concluding sentence
that restates your reason in a different way.
Persuasive Essay
Paragraph 3 (More Support)
 Start with a topic sentence that gives another
reason for your position. It should be
persuasive!
 Explain your reason with at least three details
elaborating with examples. Your details and
examples should support your thesis.
 End the paragraph with a concluding sentence
that restates your reason in a different way.
Persuasive Essay
Paragraph 4 (Counterargument)
 This is where you anticipate what the other
side may feel (who disagrees with you).
Some may feel that…however…
 Convince the reader that the other side is
wrong with at least three reasons that
support your argument.
 End the paragraph with a concluding
sentence.
Persuasive Essay
Paragraph 5 (Conclusion)
 Restate your thesis.
 Summarize the main points of your
argument.
 End in a way to make your reader think.
Response to Literature
Sample Prompt
 Read the following story. Write an essay
in which you present your understanding
of the characters and the overall meaning
of the story. Support your ideas with
examples and/or evidence from the text.
Response to Literature
Your writing will be scored on how well you write
an essay that:
 shows your understanding of the author’s
message and your insight into the characters
and ideas presented in the story;
 is organized around several clear ideas and/or
images from the story; and
 justifies your interpretation by giving examples
and citing evidence from the text.
Response to Literature
Pre-write
Title & Author
Character
Setting
Conflict
Quotes to Support Theme
Thesis
Central Image/Idea
Evaluation/Connection
Response to Literature
How do I do it?
Introduction (1 paragraph)
 Begin with the title and the author of the selection you
read.
 Follow with a brief summary. The summary should only
include the exposition – characters, setting, and conflict.
Do not tell what happened in the entire story, just the
beginning.
 End the paragraph with your thesis statement. In a
response to literature, the thesis statement would be
what you believe to be the theme, or the overall
meaning/message, of the selection.
Response to Literature
Body Paragraphs
 Explain the theme using evidence from the text. You can
also use quotes. This is the “meat” of your essay. Don’t
just summarize; relate everything back to the theme.
Include your interpretations and insights.
Response to Literature
Conclusion (1 paragraph)
 Evaluate the theme. Make a connection between the
theme and the real world to end the essay.
Summary
Sample Prompt
 Read the following informational article.
After reading the article, write a summary
of what you have read.
Summary
Your writing will be scored on how well you:
 state the main idea of the article;
 identify the most important details that
support the main ideas;
 write your summary in your own words,
except for quotations; and
 express the underlying meaning or the
article, not just the superficial details.
Summary
How do I do it?
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Read the article once first.
Go back through the article and pick out the
main points.
 Begin the summary with a sentence something
like this: In the article “Name of Article,” the
author states…
 Rewrite the main points in your own words.
 Remember, a summary should be shorter than
the original article.