Transcript Points to Remember for Writing a Strong Open Response

Points to Remember for Writing
a Strong Open Response
1. Identify how many parts are in the question. (How
many different things do you have to address in your
answer?)
Circle the verbs in the task.
Make sure you answer each section in the order it is
assigned.
Tip: Check each part off with your
pen/pencil as you complete it.
2. Begin with a central idea (purpose)
statement in one paragraph by itself.
A central idea is the point you will be
attempting to prove in your writing.
Sample Task:
Identify and explain two examples of
external conflict that occur in the first
chapter of Elie Wiesel’s Night.
Sample Central Idea:
There are at least two examples of
external conflict that occur in the first
chapter of Night.
3. Have a separate paragraph
for each section of the
question.
Use a topic sentence for each
paragraph.
Sample topic sentence for
Body Paragraph 1:
One example of external
conflict occurs as the Jews of
Sighet refuse to listen to
Moshe the Beadle’s tale of
horror.
Topic sentence for Body
Paragraph 2:
A second example of external
conflict occurs in the
treatment of Eliezer and the
Jews by the Gestapo.
4. Give a detailed and in-depth
response that uses concrete
details and commentary to add
depth.
Details are the support points
for your central idea.
Commentary explains how a
detail supports the central
idea.
If you are asked to read a passage and cite
examples from it, use exact quotations from
the text.
Be sure to incorporate the quotation into your
own sentence.
Sample Incorporated Quotation: One example
of an idiomatic expression in the novel Cold
Sassy Tree is “dog bite your hide.”
One example of external conflict occurs as the
Jews of Sighet refuse to listen to Moshe the Beadle’s
tale of horror. Even though he tries to warn them,
the Jews, much to their peril, treat Moshe as if the
death and nightmare he has escaped (which involves
seeing babies “thrown into the air and the machine
gunners” use them as targets) as a figment of his
imagination. This needless man-against-man conflict
could have saved the Sighet Jews’ lives--if they had
only chosen to listen instead of treat Moshe in such a
rude and demeaning manner.
A second example of external conflict occurs
in the treatment of the Eliezer and the Jews by the
Gestapo. By the end of chapter one, Eliezer’s
beloved synagogue has been turned into a huge
station--a station for two things: “luggage and tears.”
Waiting to be marched to cattle trains for
deportation, the people pressed into the synagogue
are treated as little more than animals, having to
relieve themselves in corners. The man-againstsociety conflict that is evident in this particular
passage is, indeed, representative of the conflict that
underlies that entire Holocaust: the treatment of a
human being as less than what he really is.
5. Use transitions to make the response
cohesive. (“cohesive”: sticks together)
For example, to make the response cohesive,
use transitions like “one element emphasized
in the work” and “another important element
in the piece.”
6. Conclude with a single-sentence conclusion
that pulls the entire response together in a
thoughtful manner.
Sample Conclusion:
Sadly, the conflicts of the Holocaust,
which Wiesel touches from the very
beginning of his book, cause us all to cringe at
the cruelty that people can easily inflict on
one another.
7. If you are given a list of examples, be
sure to pull your answers FROM THOSE
EXAMPLES!
(Note that “e.g.” means “for example.”)
6. Make sure you read the Scoring Guide
before and after you write your response.
Aim for the highest possible score -- in this
case, a “4.”
Check again to make sure you have
answered every part of the question and
have addressed the question according to
the scoring guide.
7. Keep within the space of the
answer sheet. Anything outside
of the lines of the answer sheet
will not be scored.
8. Proofread your response
carefully to make sure you have
said what you intended to say and
that you have said it well.
Created by Vickie C. Ball
Harlan High School
420 E. Central Street
Harlan, KY 40831
[email protected]