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DEMONSTRATION ONLY: This demonstration presents an abbreviated version of the complete PLACE course. Click 'Next' at the bottom of the screen or make a selection from the links on the left to begin. Not all links are available for the demo.
Write an Organized, Developed Composition
The Writing section of the PLACE requires you to write an essay in addition to answering multiple-choice questions.
Since you have a total of four and one-half hours to complete all sections of the PLACE Basic Skills Test, you should allocate approximately 1-2 hours to complete the task of writing your essay. This is a guideline, however, and each writer should allocate his time accordingly depending on his strengths or weaknesses.
Each essay is evaluated by at least two readers using a four-point score scale (see next page).
Graders will evaluate essays based on the following criteria:
| Appropriateness: |
the extent to which you address the topic and use language and style appropriate to the given audience, purpose, and occasion |
Unity and Focus: |
the clarity with which you state and maintain your main idea or point of view |
Development: |
the amount, depth, and specificity of your supporting details |
Organization: |
the clarity of your writing and the logical sequence of your ideas |
Sentence Structure: |
the effectiveness of your sentence structure and the extent to which your writing is free of errors in sentence structure |
Usage: |
the extent to which your writing is free of errors in usage and shows care and precision in word choice |
Mechanical Conventions: |
your ability to spell common words and to use the conventions of capitalization and punctuation |
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