GED Writing and Organization Practice
Writing items ask you to improve a passage rather than produce one: choose the better transition, reorder sentences, cut what does not belong, and match tone to purpose. The same judgments carry into the Extended Response.
Question 1 of 8
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“The program cut wait times by half. ______, families still reported difficulty reaching a caseworker.” Which transition fits best?
Transitions signal relationships
Each transition word declares a relationship, and the wrong one breaks the logic even when the sentence reads smoothly. However and nevertheless mark contrast. Therefore and consequently mark result. Furthermore and likewise mark addition. For example marks illustration.
Read the two sentences on either side and name the relationship before looking at the choices. Choosing first and checking after is how people talk themselves into a plausible but wrong transition.
Organization and unity
Every body paragraph should serve one controlling idea. When a question presents a sentence that does not fit, the answer is almost always to delete it rather than relocate it. Test writers include the move-it option specifically because it feels less wasteful.
Sentence-ordering questions follow a predictable logic: background first, then the event or trigger, then the response or result. Look for pronouns and definite articles — a sentence beginning with this decision cannot come before the decision is described.
Writing the Extended Response
Spend the first ten minutes reading both passages and marking the strongest evidence in each. Then write a thesis that names which argument is better supported and why. Devote one paragraph to each reason, quoting briefly and explaining what the quotation proves. Close by restating the judgment.
Keep sentences plain. Scorers reward clarity and evidence, not vocabulary. An essay with three specific citations and simple sentences beats an elegant one that never touches the texts.
Frequently asked questions
- How much time do I get for the GED essay?
- 45 minutes, scheduled between the two multiple-choice blocks of the RLA test.
- Should I give my own opinion in the essay?
- No. The prompt asks which passage argues its position more effectively based on evidence, not which position you agree with.