CHSPE Essay Writing 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which revision corrects the dangling modifier in: 'Running to class, the bell rang'?
- The bell rang, running to class.
- Running to class, students heard the bell ring. (Correct answer)
- When the bell rang, running to class happened.
- Running to class was when the bell rang.
Correct answer: Running to class, students heard the bell ring.
The participial phrase 'Running to class' must be immediately followed by the noun it modifies — the students, not the bell.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of an appeal to authority (ethos)?
- Imagine how you would feel if your school closed forever.
- Nine out of ten dentists recommend brushing twice a day.
- Studies show that exercise reduces stress by 40%.
- The American Medical Association states that vaping poses serious health risks to teens. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The American Medical Association states that vaping poses serious health risks to teens.
Ethos appeals to credibility by citing a respected organization or expert to support a claim.
Question 3: A student is told her paragraph 'lacks unity.' What should she fix?
- Add more transition words between sentences.
- Remove or revise sentences that drift away from the paragraph's main idea. (Correct answer)
- Increase the paragraph's length to at least ten sentences.
- Begin every sentence with a different type of sentence structure.
Correct answer: Remove or revise sentences that drift away from the paragraph's main idea.
Unity means every sentence in a paragraph directly supports the topic sentence; off-topic sentences must be removed or relocated.
Question 4: Which sentence uses parallel structure correctly?
- She likes hiking, to swim, and riding bikes.
- She likes hiking, swimming, and to ride bikes.
- She likes hiking, swimming, and riding bikes. (Correct answer)
- She likes to hike, swimming, and bikes.
Correct answer: She likes hiking, swimming, and riding bikes.
Parallel structure requires that items in a series use the same grammatical form — here, all gerunds (-ing).
Question 5: What is the best way to address a counterargument in a persuasive essay?
- Ignore it so it does not weaken your position.
- Place it at the end so the reader finishes on a negative note.
- Acknowledge it fairly, then explain why your argument is still stronger. (Correct answer)
- Insult the opposing viewpoint to make it seem unreasonable.
Correct answer: Acknowledge it fairly, then explain why your argument is still stronger.
Acknowledging and then refuting a counterargument shows intellectual honesty and strengthens your credibility.
Question 6: Which word choice is most appropriate for a formal CHSPE essay?
- Kids should get more sleep.
- Adolescents require adequate sleep for optimal cognitive function. (Correct answer)
- Teenagers gotta sleep more, it's super important.
- Young folks really need their Zzz's.
Correct answer: Adolescents require adequate sleep for optimal cognitive function.
Formal academic writing uses precise, professional vocabulary rather than slang or colloquial expressions.
Question 7: When revising an essay, which step should come FIRST?
- Correcting spelling and punctuation errors.
- Checking that ideas are well-organized and fully developed. (Correct answer)
- Formatting the margins and font size.
- Counting the number of sentences per paragraph.
Correct answer: Checking that ideas are well-organized and fully developed.
Revising for content and structure (big-picture issues) should happen before editing surface-level errors.
CHSPE Essay Writing 4
Which revision corrects the dangling modifier in: 'Running to class, the bell rang'?