GED Test Essay: Drafting the Middle
I’m still working on that GED essay to prepare for the test. Last time, I showed you how I drafted the first paragraph of a GED practice essay. Doing the first paragraph takes a little extra time, I think, because you want to make a good impression on the GED test readers. The middle is easier for me. So, here’s how I drafted the middle of the GED writing essay: Just to remind you, here’s the practice GED test question…
Sometimes, we don’t know in advance how we’ll react to a new situation.
Describe a time when you were faced with a new or difficult situation and explain your reaction. Do you wish you’d acted differently? Why or why not? Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.
And here’s the first paragraph of my GED essay (at least, so far)…
The unhappiest time in my life was when I didn’t talk to my son for a year. The reason was that I reacted bad to my son getting engaged. His engagement was surprising and shocking to me, and I wish I had reacted differently.
Now I’ve got to turn my outline of the middle part of the GED essay into a draft. I planned out two paragraphs. The first one tells a story:
Second paragraph: Story of my son telling me he’s engaged.
- I didn’t know the girl
- Thought he was too young
- Was upset
- He got angry
That’s easy. I just want to tell the story: begin at the beginning, go on to the end, and then stop…
My son came over one day for dinner, and he bought a girl I never met before. He didn’t even tell me he was bringing anyone. Than he told me they were getting married. I was very upset! I thought he was too young. When he saw I wasn’t happy, my son got very angry at me, we had a fight.
Here’s the outline of my next paragraph…
Third paragraph: what happened next
- Son wouldn’t talk to me
- Hard to get friendship/trust back
- Getting to know daughter-in-law
It’s more storytelling, so I’ll go on with my story…
Because I couldn’t be happy about their getting married, my son wouldn’t talk to me. He said he would talk to me, if I accepted him getting married. But I got stubborn. I thought he was making a big mistake. Finally, though, his wedding date came up. I was sad that I might miss his wedding, and I called him. It was hard for him to trust me, after how angry and stubborn I was. But we both wanted to get along. I spent some time getting to know the girl he was engaged too and I figured out that I liked her. I was able to go to their wedding, and now, I love my extended family.
I know a lot of people teach a five paragraph essay for the GED test, but you don’t need five paragraphs. I’ve got four in my GED essay.
The middle part needs to have details in it, and the good thing about telling a story like this is that it gives a lot of details. You just tell what happened. Next time, I’ll show you the draft of the GED essay conclusion. That’s the other important part… you want to start with a good impression and then leave off the GED test reader with a great impression!
To find out more about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at passGED.com.
