I need help starting my essay.My mind go blank when I have to write anything let alone an essay please tell me where to begin thanks

Here’s my advice…

1) Begin with the essay prompt. Look at the prompt, and try to think about things in your life that have to do with what it’s asking. Make notes. Note down everything you can think of, and write it in whatever way makes sense to you. Don’t reject an idea because you think it’s dumb!!! Hey, too many people have been programed to think their ideas are dumb. Forget that. You’ve got to get the ideas started, and you’re programmed with a bunch of stumbling blocks. But now I’m rambling.

2)  Okay. Now you’ve thought about it some, and you’ve got some ideas. So, look at the question again. Write it in your own words. Think about how you’d answer the question, in just a short answer, and write down your answer.

3) Now you’ve got a basic answer to the question, and a bunch of ideas. Instead of a blank page, you’ve got some stuff to organize. And that’s all you need to do! Organize. Say you’re going to write 4 paragraphs. That’s a good start. Make 4 boxes on a page, and start putting things in different boxes. Don’t worry about writing the essay yet!

Box 1: Introduction

–write down your overall answer

–write down any ideas about an interesting way to begin

Box 2: Paragraph 2

–write down an example from your life that relates to the introduction.

–what does it mean to you?

Box 3: Paragraph 3

–write down a second example from your life (something that happened to you) that relates to your introduction.

–what does it mean to you?

Box 4: Conclusion

–why is this an important topic?

–how could this apply to the world, other people, or other parts of your life?

4) Now you’ve got a bunch of notes to write from. That’s much easier. Make each box into a paragraph… and you’ve got an essay!

I hope this helps,

Liz

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

I am going to take the Ged test,and i really need help for my essay because im not good at writting essays.so it would be a pleasure if you guys help me out with it!

So, I thought it would be a good idea to give some suggestions for the GED essay today! The GED essay isn’t too hard, but it’s important to know what they expect.

The GED essay should be fairly short, about4-5 paragraphs. Don’t make your essay too short, because it has to be an essay. The readers want to see that you can give what you’re writing a structure, and that you can think through what you want to say, not just write something off the top of your head.

Your essay needs a beginning, a middle, and an ending, and it needs to completely answer the GED essay prompt. That’s important. Let’s look at an example. Here’s a GED essay prompt:

Often, important goals require sacrifice.
What is a time when you gave up something to get something else that was important to you? Was what you gained worth the sacrifice? Why or why not? Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

This is an easier prompt, if you ask me, because it’s about your own life. But all the GED prompts ask you to use your own personal observations, experience, and knowledge. That means, you use what you know in your essay. You’ve got to show that you can communicate what you think.

The first step, is to figure out what you want to say. That means reading the prompt carefully, and then thinking about your life… think about what you know, what you’ve seen, and what you’ve done. Think of a story in your life that can help you answer the question.

This prompt asks for a story, something you’ve sacrificed. But let’s say it asked your opinion of making sacrifices. You can still think of a story in your own life about someone who made a sacrifice, or about when you made a sacrifice.

Like, a lot of GED students sacrifice time with their children to get their GED. Or, a lot of GED students sacrificed their high school education to help out their families. Your life is full of stories, and you need to think of the stories that will help you answer the question.

Okay… then it’s time to write. You need three parts to your essay.

1) The Beginning: Start out by saying something interesting! Give an overview of what you’re going to write, but don’t just repeat the question. I might write something like this:

When I was in high school, I met the man I thought would be the love of my life. I quit school to marry him. I didn’t think of it as a sacrifice at the time. Now, my marriage is gone, and I fully understand what I sacrificed by not finishing school. Still, I don’t regret the choice I’ve made.

I give an idea about what I’m going to write… and I  talk specifically about my life. I’m talking about something that I know, so it’s easier. And, I’m answering the question: The reader knows what I sacrificed, and that I don’t regret it. I’ve left out why I don’t regret it…. I’ll save that for the middle.

2) The Middle: This is the part that should contain most details. The GED asks you to include good specifics in your essay. That’s easiest if you’re writing about stories in your life. You know the details, because you lived them! Don’t be too general. Say what you mean, and stay on topic. The middle should be about 2-4 paragraphs (3 is a good number). You can either tell a story or write about 2-4 different points you want to make. Here’s what I’d write for this essay:

One day, my son came home from high school with math homework that was giving him trouble. I didn’t understand it at all. It made me realize clearly for the first time that my children were passing me in education. I knew that, without a high school diploma, I wasn’t qualified for many jobs, and I missed high school memories of dances, classes, and graduation night. But realizing that I couldn’t help my son anymore made me feel, for the first time, the cost of quitting school.

Still, I know I’ve gained a lot from my marriage, even though it ended several years ago. I remember another day, when my son got accepted into college. He came into the kitchen waving the letter and jumping up and down. I would have sacrificed anything to give him that.

I’ve got two middle paragraphs. The first one talks about what I missed out on… and the second one talks about why I don’t regret the sacrifice. I added details by telling stories, being specific about the moment that I realized I regretted quitting school and another moment that made me happy to be a mother. Thinking of specific moments and things that have happened in your life makes your writing better.

3) The End. Try to say something new in the last paragraph of your essay, instead of repeating what you’ve already said! Comment on what the issue means to you, and expand that into a bigger picture. If you have something new to say in your conclusion, that will leave a good impression on the reader. Here’s my ending:

Part of me will always regret giving up my high school days to get married, but I gained a lot from my sacrifice. I gained two wonderful sons. Now that I’m older, I am more dedicated to learning, too. I may have gotten a late start, but I’m ready to make new sacrifices to get my education and become a success.

On the GED test, you’ll have scratch paper to use. Use it to come up with your ideas and organize them before you write. After you write, go back and look over your essay. Ask yourself:

1. Did I answer the question completely?

2. Is my essay organized?

3. Did I use details and expand on what I mean?

4. Did I choose the best words to say what I mean?

5. Did I make any grammar and spelling errors?

Make any corrections that you can before the time is up. I recomment practicing writing timed GED essays before the test, and reviewing them by asking those five questions. Show your essay to other people, to get their opinion and see how you can improve.

That’s my best GED essay advice! Good luck on the test, everyone!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Sentence: Three of them went to the grocery store, two went home.

Which of the following changes should be made to this sentence?

1)   remove the comma after store

2)   replace to with two

3)   replace to with too

4)   add the word and after the comma

5)   no changes are needed

You might be able to answer this by a process of elimination, but it’s better if you really know the language rule it’s based on. In this case, the sentence is a run-on. It’s really two sentences: “Three of them went to the grocery store” is a complete thought, with a subject (three) and a verb (went). “Two went home” is also a complete thought, with a subject (two) and a verb (went). You can’t join two complete sentences with a comma. If you do, it’s an error known as a comma splice.

There are several ways to fix this comma splice. You could split the sides up into two sentences:

 Three of them went to the grocery store. Two went home.

You could join them with a semicolon:

Three of them went to the grocery store; two went home.

You could change one of them into a subordinate clause, with one of the words I talked about last time:

While three of them went to the grocery store, two went home.

You can see that now, the beginning isn’t a complete sentence. “While three of them went to the grocery store” isn’t a complete though. It leaves you wondering… while that happened, what?

The last way to join two sentences is with a comma and for, and, nor, but, or, so, or yet. You need to choose which word makes sense in the sentence. In this case, you can easily use the word and.

Three of them went to the grocery store, and two went home.

That’s choice 4, to add the word and after the comma. It fixes the comma splice! You can see how identifying sentences can help you on the GED… Good studying!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

One of those skills is seeing fragments. It’s a pretty common problem–not noticing fragments in your writing. On the multiple choice test, it’s a good thing to watch out for. Here’s an example:

If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day. Please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

This is a hard one to see, because if you just read it to yourself, it sounds okay. It might sound a little formal, but that’s all. Actually, you need to pay attention to where the periods are… where the sentences come to an end. Each sentence should stand by itself, to give you a whole idea. Try looking at them separately:

If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day.

Please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

Which one sounds complete? Which one sounds wrong by itself, without anything else? The first one is incomplete. It leaves you with a big question: If you can’t come back to work–then what? It doesn’t tell you. Words like if, when, since, because, while, after, although, unless, and now that begin a phrase that NEEDS to be attached to a whole sentence. They open up questions… because you did this–what happened? after you did that–what happened? unless you do this–what will happen? If you don’t have it attached to a sentence, the question isn’t answered. You don’t have a complete thought.

The GED test will ask you questions about fixing fragments like this. Try answering this GED writing practice question to fix the fragment:

If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day. Please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

Which group of words would be included in the most effective combination of these two sentences?

A)  the day, please update

B)  the day that you please update

C)  the day, but please update

D)  the day, so please update

E)  the day, and you will please update

The trick to answering this kind of question is not to just look at the answers. They won’t make much sense by themselves. Try to put them in the sentence, to see what it looks like.

A)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day, please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

B)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day that you please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

C)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day, but please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

D)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day, so please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

E)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day, and you will please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

You might be able to tell by reading these aloud to yourself that answer A is right. It sounds best–most natural to your ear. The other way to tell is to know that fragments like this, that start with when or since or although or if or any words like that (they’re called subordinating conjunctions!)…anyway, if this kind of fragment goes with the sentence after it, you can usually just join them together with a comma. If it goes with the sentence before it, you can usually just join them together–no comma needed. Answers B, C, D, and E all add extra words… words that you don’t need and that are confusing at best! The best answer is A.

Good luck!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

The problem this essay has is grammar… and it also mentions a study, but it doesn’t give any details about it. Now, you won’t be able to look up anything while taking the GED…so just do your best! It’s really better to rely on your own experiences than a study or data. They don’t expect you to have a lot of facts and data at your fingertips. My suggestions are in ALL CAPS in the essay….

Despite laws that require people to wear seat belts, many people still do not wear them.I wonder if that forcing seat belts laws people will have trust in them from injury. [THE STRUCTURE OF THE FIRST SENTENCE IS A LITTLE OFF. THIS WOULD BE BETTER: I WONDER IF FORCING PEOPLE BY LAW TO WEAR SEAT BELTS WILL CAUSE PEOPLE TO TRUST THEM.] When I got [IN] my first accident [THE] seat belt did not protect me from injury. The injury resulted [FROM] a head on collision in which my head hit the windshield and I cracked it. I was so nervous, intense, and surprise[D] [GOOD WORDS!] that the seat-belt  did not protect me from injuring my forehead. I always trusted the seat-belt until this day.

People say seat-belt[S] [NO HYPEN IN SEAT BELT] protect anyone from flying out of the windshield but from my experience not all injuries. Especially, if there is a accident and your vehicle is on flames. Would [A] seat-belt [NO HYPHEN] give you a chance to survive while unbuckling it? I have seen on television when a person is trying to unbuckle while exiting [A] vehicle and died as a result from smoke inhalations. Accidents can occur within seconds and seat-belts [NO HYPEN] uses [USE...OR EVEN BETTER "ROB YOU OF TIME TO GET OUT"] some of the time to get out from it ["FROM IT" ISN'T NEEDED] during a fire.

According to different [YOU CAN JUST SAY "A SURVEY..." 'DIFFERENT' SEEMS TO SAY YOU'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT ANOTHER SURVEY] survey seat-belts [NO HYPHENS] only can protect eighty percent [OF] lives while the other thirty [TWENTY? IT'S EITHER 80/20 OR 70/30... 80+30=110% OF PEOPLE] is at risk from other injuries. My advice is anyone who is making a decision to drive should use methods to avoid accidents such as good judgment and precaution towards their surrounding. [EXCELLENT!]

And just maybe anyone can reduce the chance for a accident by one hundred
percent. [FANTASTIC CONCLUSION! LEAVES YOU WITH SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.]

Do you have a different opinion on this topic? Try writing your own GED essay for practice.

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

i have an essay due on tues the 2nd i have to think of one memoralble day i want to tell about i want to do it on having my two boys but i dont no how to start it i think of it in my head but it wont come out right on paper please help.

Gosh, I’m late getting back to you on this, but I hope this helps for future essays. First, don’t panic! You probably write better than you think. Just trying gets you a long way!

Sometimes it’s hard to get started writing, even if you have an idea. The good thing about writing about an event, like having a baby, is that you can write it as it happened… start at the beginning, write until you tell the whole story, and stop. That helps. But a lot of the time it seems like it just isn’t “coming out right.”

That’s okay. Writing is a process. That means that it doesn’t just all come together at once. It doesn’t have to be perfect when you write it down. It doesn’t even have to be close! The most important thing is to get started. Here’s what I suggest:

1) Prewrite. Start out by brainstorming what you remember, and just jotting down notes. You can just sit down and start writing, or you can make a map of things that are connected. Get your thoughts down… don’t worry about how it sounds.

2) Organize. Try to put your thoughts in order… for a story like yours, it’ll probably be simple, starting at the beginning and going to the end. Decide something interesting to say in the introduction, and something important to tell people in the conclusion.

3) Draft. The draft doesn’t have to be perfect. Use your notes to write a beginning, a middle, and an end. Don’t let thinking it’s got to be perfect stop you from writing it. Just get it down on paper.

4) Review. Read what you wrote. It’ll probably sound better than you thought. But, you’ll still want to make some changes. Think if you can improve the structure or ideas, and also the grammar and spelling and things like that.

5) Finalize. Rewrite your essay neatly to finish it, according to what your teacher asked for. This is your final chance to make any little improvements. But you’ll have come a long way.

Following a process for writing helps you get it on paper much better than just trying to write without a plan!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com or call 1-888-880-2164.

The one thing that I think this needs is a stronger conclusion. What general thing… philosophical idea… big thought… can you tie it to? What does it tell you about the world in general? What did you learn about human nature or the world from this experience? If you had something to add at the end that said… “I learned how dependent people’s safety and feelings are on the world around us, and so I realized that helping make a better environment is really helping people.” Or something like that. That’s just an example. But if there’s something like that at the end, it would really tie the whole thing together.

The essay still has a few grammar problems, but they’re not too big a deal. I mean, there aren’t too many, and they don’t interfere with me understanding the essay, and that’s the most important thing. The organization is there, and the story is there. I’ve marked in ALL CAPS some grammar things to be aware of in the essay below.

See if you can make improve this essay… and try to write one of your own on the same topic!

Topic: How does the climate in your region affect you and the other people who live there?

Dry temperatures and no rain affected people and I around central Florida. As of result no rain, [MISSING SUBJECT...YOU COULD ADD 'THE WEATHER' HERE, OR CHANGE THE SENTENCE TO SAY 'A LACK OF RAIN BROUGHT...'] brought forest fires and dry air. this [NEEDS CAPITAL T IN 'THIS'] situation occurred during pollen season. Two months ago, in reference to dry temperatures, a forest fires occurred and I got depressed, agitated, and worried. This forest fire occurred only (forty-minutes distant drive) ['A FORTY-FIVE MINUTE DRIVE'] from where I live.According to the weather forecast the fire was spreading very rapidly because [OF] lack of rain and dry temperatures. [THE] Weather forecast also informed [US] that there would not be any rain for the rest of the week.

During this incident which was during pollen season and dry air brought breathing complications. [YOU CAN DELETE 'DURING' AND 'WHICH'...'THIS INCIDENT WAS DURING POLLEN SEASON...'] We had all these complications from the dry weather
climate.

If I were to go and make an er ran [ERRAND] people were either depressed or angry. A lot of confusion and caos [CHAOS] resulted because no one knew who or what provoked these forest fires.

I feared for myself and neighbors while this was going on. This dry weather lasted for a month, until it finally rain. [RAINED]

For more information on the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

HI Yesterday I took the tape test at Ircc here in florida and the only one im ready for is reading 100% cool ok what is this essay thing.what do I have to write about. im 50 and Im going back to get my GED I got married at 18 and should have stayed in school. ok about this essay.my score on lahnguage was 7.4 has to be 10.0 .wow I have the GED study guide its great .

Valerie,

Congratulations on being ready to pass the GED reading test! Remember, that’s a success already. The good news is that the GED essay doesn’t have to be tough. Really, it’s more about realizing what kind of thing they expect you to write.

You won’t know beforehand what the essay is supposed to be about. When you take the test, they’ll give you a prompt. It sounds something like this:

What event from your childhood taught you an important lesson that you use today?

In your essay, tell about the event, and explain how what you learned affects your life today. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

That last part… “Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge…” that’s important! It means that you need to write about what you know. The topic could be anything, but it won’t ask you about things you couldn’t know about. It asks for your opinions and experience from your life.

I usually tell people to brainstorm about people they admire, important things that happened to them, and important events in the world that they remember, to get your memories  going before you go take the writing test. You’re going to have to call up some memories and opinions to use in your essay, and thinking about some things you could write about in advance helps–even if you don’t necessarily end up using them on the test.

When you take the test, first read the prompt. Make sure you understand what it’s asking. The prompt up above asks about an experience in childhood and what you learned… so you’d need to pull something up from your memory. Take some time to think about what you’re going to write about. Even if the prompt doesn’t ask you to write about a specific event in your life, relating the prompt to a story in your life helps. Telling a story from your life is the easiest kind of writing, and it can help make your GED essay good!

When you write your essay, you need to have a beginning (1 paragraph is good). In your beginning, give an overview of what you’re going to write. What’s your point of view? What’s  the main point of your response?

Then, you need to have a middle, with details…probably 2-3 paragraphs. Now, if you have events from your life to put in your essay, those are details. Telling a story gives your essay details. That’s why writing about something that happened to you is a good thing… just make sure your story has a point, to relate it to what they’re asking you about.

Then, you need an end, usually 1 paragraph. Wrap everything up. What did you learn? How does what you wrote about apply to the world? Why is it important? What should the reader take away from what you wrote? Try not to repeat what you said… instead, give a bigger picture view about the issue.

When you’re done, you’ve got 4-5 paragraphs that tell your point of view, explain why you think that, with examples from your life, and apply what you’re talking about to the big picture…the rest of the world. Now, how do you know if you did it well? Here are the questions to ask…because this is how the essay is graded:

1. Did you answer the question? Does what you wrote  always relate to what they asked you to write about, and did you include everything they asked for in the prompt?

2. Is what you wrote organized, with a beginning, a middle, and an ending?

3. Do you have good details that explain what you mean? Details can be stories from your life, facts about the world, quotations (but you won’t be able to look anything up!), a description of what something looks like…  examples and events from real life!

4. Do you have good grammar and spelling? A lot of people have trouble with this, and learning grammar can take time. The most important thing is that your writing is clear, that they can understand what you mean. Try to use simple, clear sentences, and read over what you wrote to catch mistakes.

5. Did you choose good words that say what you mean? Working on your vocabulary can help you get ready for the test… but in general, try not to use the same word over and over, and try to use specific words like “angelic” instead of more general words like “good.” If you use the words “very,”  ”really,” and “good” a lot, try thinking of some other words that mean the same thing, that you could use on the test.

Take a look around my blog, and read some of my posts about the GED test and how to write a GED essay. I’ve also got a lot of sample student essays to look at that can help. Try writing a few practice essays (like one that answers the prompt at the top) to see how you do. Remember, the essay test is timed, so keep track of how long it takes you to write an essay. You’ll get faster with practice!

Good luck on your GED!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Here’s an essay by a GED student that might help you! It has a few grammar problems in it, but overall it’s a pretty good essay. Let me say, first, it’s good to start out by stating your opinion at the beginning of an essay, like this one. I think that overall the structure of the essay is good. The writer starts out by telling what his opinion is, and then relates it to his real life. Then, he gives reasons why he has that opinion, and ends with a conclusion. This is a structure that works!

The essay has got some grammar problems… I’ve put my notes on how to fix them in bold and blue in the essay below… These grammar issues are not as important as the structure, but improving them always helps!

The essay topic is whether it’s harmful for both parents of a preschool child to work outside the home. Here’s the essay:

Based on our opinion, (You don’t need to say “Based on our opinion” or “I think” in an essay.) it is harmful for both parents to work outside before a child’s preschool. My ex-wife (Madeline) and I decided in order to avoid any problems for our child we decided (You can remove “we decided,” because it’s already in the sentence, where it says “I decided.”) to split the hours in our jobs. Madeline would work days and I at night. The reason for these shifts is to always have one of us with our child. And while one of us were (”was” is correct) with our child we share (should be “shared”) the house chores also.

According to the media, there has (have) been day-cares, baby-sitters, or even some one (someone) close; (no semicolon is needed) who would: (no colon is needed) spank, shake, starve, and yell to any child they would take care off. (”of,” not “off.”) These situations brought us to our attention and fear. (This sentence is a little awkward… Maybe it would be better to say, “When these situations were brought to our attention, we were filled with fear.”)

I recommend a child to be in care of a parent (Adding “because he or she” would make this sentence clearer.) would be more prepared before pre-school. There is no other comparison, (it needs the words “with being,” or say “Nothing can be compared to being…”) taught by both parents, other than (it should say “instead of,” not “other than.”) some one (someone) else or agency. Parents can bring (”raise” would be a better word choice than “bring”) a child healthy, smarter, clean, and disciplined.

So when a child reach to an age (”reaches an age”) to start school they are well prepared. In my opinion, these are the reasons why both parents should be able to work out a schedule to spend the time with his or her (You can say “there” “their” here, because you used the plural “parents” before.) child. All the time dedicated, means a lot to a child.

I like the ending. I think the last sentence sounds good. What do you think? Can you make any other improvemens to this essay, or find a way to make it sound better? When you look through your own GED essay, try reading it quietly out loud to yourself or in your head, to see how it sounds. Use your ear to hear if it sounds right..or natural. That’s the best way to fix any mistakes!

Let me know if you need any help with your GED essay!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passged.com, or call 1-888-880-2164.

HEY I TOOK THE GED BUT THE ONLY TEST THAT I DIDN’T PASS WAS THE WRITING, BECAUSE OF THE ESSAY WAS OFF TOPIC CAN YOU PLEASE HOPE ME? MY TAPE WAS TO TALK ABOUT THE TELEVISION. CAN YOU PLEASE HOPE FOR I CAN PASS THIS TEST AND I COULD GET MY GED. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE HOPE THAT YOU CAN GIVE ME ..

Loraine,

Thanks for writing in! It’s great that you passed all the other parts of the GED test. You can pass your writing test. Being off topic is a problem! Just because the last question was about television doesn’t mean you’ll get that question next time. You’ll get a different question… but it’ll be about something that relates to your everyday life. The topics ask for your opinion about something that you can relate to… and you need to relate it to your life and your experience.

To stay on topic, you need to understand the question. A GED essay prompt sounds something like this:

Some people say that it’s important to live and work with people who are different from you, who come from different cultures and have different ideas. Other people want to be around people with similar cultures and ideas to their own.

In your essay, tell whether you think it’s more important to be around people who are different from you or people who are similar to you. Explain why. Use your personal observations, experience, and knowledge to support your essay.

A GED essay prompt really has two parts. The first part introduces an idea. When you took the test, the idea was about television. Here, the idea is whether it’s better to be around people who are the same as you or people who are different from you. Remember… read the prompt closely. If it’s about television, what’s it saying about television? Whether television is good or bad? Here, it’s about whether being around people with different ideas and cultures (that could be political ideas, religious views, speaking different languages, from different countries…all kinds of differences) is good or bad.

When you read the beginning of the prompt, that introduces an idea, try to relate it to your own life. Do you live with people who are very similar to you? Family that comes from the same place you do? Do you work with people who are all the same? Have you ever had a friend, family member, or coworker who was very different from you? You should ask yourself the same kinds of questions no matter what the topic is. If it’s about television, ask: Do I watch a lot of television? Do I think that television is important? Is television a good or bad thing? No matter what the topic is, ask yourself what you already know about it…what you already think. Because that’s what the GED essay wants you to write about… about what you already know!

Now, there’s a second part to the question. It tells you what to include in your essay. In the example I give, it tells you to PICK A SIDE. Do you agree that it’s better to be with people who are the same? Or people who are different? Maybe you’re not sure. But for your essay, you need to pick a side to write about. If you can see advantages to both, that’s okay… pick one that you’re going to write about.

Then, it says to tell WHY, and to use examples FROM YOUR LIFE. That’s going to be part of every good GED essay. You need to tell why you think something, and you need to give examples from your life. So, if you’ve ever had a good friend who’s different from you, that’s a good basis for your essay. If you’ve had problems because you and your mother are too different from each other, that’s a good basis for your essay.

The prompt tells you everything that needs to go in your essay. To stay on topic, you just need to include what it tells you to. Write about the topic, what you think about it, why, and how it relates to your life. Sometimes, it’s easy to get off track. A good way to stay on track is to keep your writing organized. Before you start writing, think about what paragraphs you’ll write, and what they’ll say.

A good way to organize your writing is to have about five paragraphs:

1) Introduction…tell what you think, and introduce three reasons why that’s what you think.

2) Talk about the first reason. Use an example or story from your own life!

3) Talk about the second reason. Use an example or story from your own life!

4) Talk about the third reason. Use an example or story from your own life!

5) Conclusion…end by summing up what you think, and making a point about it… how do you think it affects other people and the world? How do you think it affects the future?

You don’t have to have three reasons. You could have two, or four. But this gives you an idea of how to organize your writing. If you read and understand the prompt, include what it asks for in your essay, and keep your essay organized with a BEGINNING, a MIDDLE, and an ENDING, then you’ll pass!

For more information about the GED test or GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passged.com.