How to Make a Plan and Write an Introduction—Video 4 of How to Pass the GED Extended Response

Hey, GED test takers,
I'm Alice.

I passed the GED Reasoning
through Language Arts test,

and I'd like to help you pass too.

I studied
with the Writing for the GED Test series

from New Readers Press.

Practicing with these books
boosted my confidence

and helped me to write
a great extended response.

In this video, I'll share some tips
from Writing for the GED Test

that will help you maximize your score
on the extended response.

In videos 2 and 3,

you learned how to analyze the passages,

choose the best supported argument,
and gather evidence.

Now it's your turn
to write an argument.

What do you need to include
in your response?

How do you begin?

Planning your response
is an important step.

It will only take a few minutes,
and it'll help you get your best score.

Spend about 25 minutes
planning and writing your response.

Before you can plan your response,

you should know
what a good extended response looks like.

Every well-written essay
has an introduction,

a body,
and a conclusion.

Your response will be an argument
or an argumentative essay.

Remember that you are not writing
your opinion on the topic.

You are writing an analysis
of two authors' positions

and explaining which argument
is stronger.

In the first paragraph,

introduce the topic you are writing about
and state your claim.

Your claim, or thesis statement,
tells your position.

The body of the essay
presents reasoning and evidence

to support your claim.

This is the longest part of the response

and should be at least two paragraphs.

The concluding paragraph
sums up your main points

and restates your claim.

First, let's focus on the introduction.

The first paragraph of your response
is the introduction.

Here you will introduce the topic
you'll be writing about,

give a summary of the two positions,

and then clearly state your claim.

What's that?

A claim or a thesis
is a statement that can be proven.

It is not an opinion.

Your claim statement tells the reader
what you are writing about.

Since the extende-response prompt says

to determine which argument
is best supported,

your claim must clearly state
which of the two positions is stronger.

Be sure to state your claim
as if it is a fact

and the rest of your essay
will prove that it is true.

For example,
Mayor Lin makes a stronger argument

because she uses logic
and supports her point with statistics.

This is a claim statement.

It's a statement that you can prove

with evidence and reasoning
from the text,

but you can improve
your introductory paragraph

by providing some background

and giving an overview of your reasoning.

For example, in her speech,
Mayor Lin argues

that the city of Hope Valley
should adopt mandatory recycling

because it saves landfill space,

saves money,
and is easy to do.

Mr. Grimley, however, says
that mandatory recycling is a bad idea

because it is an expensive waste
of his time;

his argument
sounds like an emotional rant.

Mayor Lin's speech
is the stronger of the two positions

because she uses logical arguments
based on statistics

and a model
from a successful recycling program.

Your claim is very clear,

and you have given the reader an idea
of what reasons to expect

in the body of your essay.

Here's a tip to improve your score.

Make sure that your response
is focused on the passages

and not your opinions.

Remember, the prompt asks you

which argument is best supported,

not which argument you agree with.

In the next video,
I'll help you write the body

and conclusion paragraphs
and site supporting evidence.

If you want to learn more about

or practice planning your essay
and writing your introduction,

purchase Writing for the GED Test,
book 3

by New Readers Press.