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Designed to test both your reading and writing abilities, free response essays are a series of three distinct tasks. One requires you to synthesize an argument from three separate sources, another requires you to analyze the rhetoric of a passage you are given, and you will be asked to craft your own argument in the third.
The essays require you to identify and explain the claims, evidence, rhetorical strategies, and reasoning that you encounter in texts, as well as to produce well-written and supported arguments of your own.
"Free response" is a term used to distinguish exam questions that require a written answer. These are different from other question types, such as those which involve multiple-choice or matching. A free response essay requires you to take a position and present evidence and argumentation in support of it.
The free response section of an exam includes three separate questions, each of a different type:
Synthesis
Rhetorical analysis
Argument
All of the free response questions require you to present a written argument. The synthesis and rhetorical analysis questions require you to read and analyze (usually non-fiction) textual sources. The synthesis question also asks you to synthesize (or bring together) information from three or more sources.
If you have 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete the free response component of the exam, 15 minutes should be spent reading the texts associated with each question. This leaves two hours of writing time or 40 minutes per essay question.
The free response section: a series of three essay questions that asks you to synthesize an argument from multiple sources, analyze a given passage, and defend your own position in an argument. It usually takes 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Fig. 1. Make sure to bring pencils to your exam!
A free response essay is designed to test the skills you have practiced throughout your English language or literature course. These skills are divided into four categories: rhetorical strategies, claims and evidence, reasoning and organization, and style.
The rhetorical strategies category assesses your ability to identify and understand an author's purpose and audience, as well as the central message, beliefs, and values expressed in their text. It also includes your ability to demonstrate this understanding in your own writing, including the use of appropriate introductions and conclusions. These skills test your understanding of questions such as:
This category of skills includes your ability to both identify and produce a thesis statement, as well as include the factual claims and evidence that are used in support of it. It also includes your ability to recognize and produce counter-arguments and qualifications that might modify and complicate an argument. Skills involving claims and evidence include the ability to answer questions such as:
Qualifying: Also known as hedging, qualifying is a way of acknowledging the complexities of the issue you are examining.
By showing that a view you disagree with may be partially correct or that you are aware of your own argument's limitations, you show an awareness that issues are not black and white.
Here are some common formulations you could use to qualify your argument:
Similar to the category above, these skills include your ability to identify the support for a thesis or produce your own support, but this time through the use of reasoning and argumentation rather than facts and evidence.
Reasoning and organization skills include the ability to answer questions such as:
This category includes your abilities to write clearly and effectively using conventional rules of spelling, grammar, and punctuation and to carefully choose your words to modify the tone and style of your writing. It also includes your ability to recognize and explain how another writer does these things.
Style skills include the ability to answer questions such as:
There are three types of free response essays: Synthesis, Rhetorical Analysis, and Argument. The first two require you to respond to texts that are provided in the prompt, and the third requires you to develop your own argument based on a given topic. Each of them will take about 40 minutes to write.
The synthesis essay involves combining information from at least three different sources (six or seven will be provided in the prompt) to craft an argumentative essay. You will be given a question, for example, whether television has had a positive or negative effect on democratic elections or what the advantages and disadvantages of wind farms are, and a series of texts with relevant information or arguments related to that question. After reading through the texts provided, you will need to develop a thesis statement that can be supported with evidence from these texts.
For a rhetorical analysis essay, you will be given a single text, often a speech by a political figure, that you will need to analyze. Your analysis should pay close attention to the text's central message and intended audience, the reasoning and evidence used to support it, and how rhetorical devices such as diction and tone may modify it. It is essential to quote parts of the text as evidence to support your understanding of it.
A prompt for an argument essay will provide you with a claim or an idea. You will need to take a clear stance for or against the claim or idea. You will need to support your stance using evidence from your own experience and education. Clear reasoning, effective use of diction and syntax, and adherence to conventions of grammar, spelling, and punctuation will also be taken into account in scoring your argument essay.
Fig. 2. A free response essay can have many creative elements.
There is no strict free response format in terms of word count, the number of paragraphs, or what those paragraphs should contain, but there are some features that any high scoring essay must have, including a thesis statement, details and argumentation, and nuance and sophistication.
Each essay needs to have a clear thesis statement somewhere in the introductory paragraph. Your thesis should be a claim that can be backed up with evidence and reasoning.
While you're free to organize your essays in whatever way you think is most effective, it is essential that you have convincing evidence in each of them.
For each essay, you should try to explore complexities, tensions, and possible counter-arguments for each position. Your own writing should be clear and make use of literary and stylistic techniques that enhance its persuasiveness throughout the essay.
While there is no requirement that you organize your essay in any particular way, the classic 5 paragraph essay with an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph is always a fail-safe method.
The free response essay is used to test your understanding of rhetorical situations, claims and evidence, reasoning and organization, and use of style. These are the key skills.
A free response essay is any question on a standardized test that requires a long written response. On some tests, there are three separate free response essay questions: synthesis, rhetorical analysis, and argument essays.
There is no set format for a free response essay but it is common to use the five-paragraph essay format.
There are three types of free response essay:
Regardless of question type, a free response essay needs to be well-organized with a thesis statement and supporting paragraphs. You should make use of evidence using specific details, and use reasoning and argument to the best of your ability.
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