PARCC - Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Writing Practice Questions 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which opening sentence would be most effective for a PARCC argumentative essay about school lunch policies?
- School lunch is an important topic that many people care about.
- Every year, millions of students eat school lunches that fail to meet basic nutritional standards, yet policy reform remains stalled. (Correct answer)
- I think school lunches should be healthier because students need good food.
- This essay will discuss the pros and cons of school lunch policies.
Correct answer: Every year, millions of students eat school lunches that fail to meet basic nutritional standards, yet policy reform remains stalled.
An effective argumentative opening immediately establishes the issue with specific, compelling detail and implies a clear stance, drawing the reader in. The other options are vague, use first person inappropriately, or announce the essay's structure instead of engaging the reader.
Question 2: When revising a prose-constructed response, which change would most improve the coherence of the writing?
- Adding more quotations from the text regardless of relevance
- Replacing transition words with longer sentences
- Ensuring each body paragraph begins with a clear topic sentence that connects back to the thesis (Correct answer)
- Increasing the total word count by restating ideas multiple times
Correct answer: Ensuring each body paragraph begins with a clear topic sentence that connects back to the thesis
Coherence is built when each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that ties back to the central argument, guiding the reader through the essay's logic. Adding irrelevant quotes, removing transitions, or padding word count all weaken rather than strengthen coherence.
Question 3: A student writing a literary analysis on PARCC needs to support a claim about a character's motivation. Which evidence use is most effective?
- Summarizing the entire plot of the story to give context
- Quoting a line of dialogue and explaining how it reveals the character's internal conflict (Correct answer)
- Mentioning that the character seems interesting and complex
- Listing several events from the story without connecting them to the claim
Correct answer: Quoting a line of dialogue and explaining how it reveals the character's internal conflict
Effective evidence use means selecting a specific textual detail and directly explaining how it supports the claim. Summarizing plot, making vague statements, or listing unconnected events does not demonstrate analytical thinking required by PARCC.
Question 4: Which revision best corrects a weak concluding sentence in an argumentative essay?
- 'In conclusion, I have discussed many important points in this essay.'
- 'Therefore, as the evidence clearly demonstrates, strengthening after-school programs is the most effective strategy for closing the achievement gap.' (Correct answer)
- 'So, that is why I believe after-school programs are good.'
- 'After-school programs have pros and cons that people should think about.'
Correct answer: 'Therefore, as the evidence clearly demonstrates, strengthening after-school programs is the most effective strategy for closing the achievement gap.'
A strong conclusion synthesizes the argument by connecting evidence to a precise claim, reinforcing the essay's purpose. The other options either vaguely restate that an essay was written, use informal language, or present a both-sides statement that undermines the argument.
Question 5: In an informational writing task, which sentence structure best clarifies a complex process for the reader?
- The process, which has many steps that are all very important and must be done carefully, should be followed.
- First, gather your materials; next, measure each ingredient precisely; finally, combine them in the order listed. (Correct answer)
- You need to do several things and make sure not to skip any steps or you might get it wrong.
- It is a well-known fact that the process involves multiple stages.
Correct answer: First, gather your materials; next, measure each ingredient precisely; finally, combine them in the order listed.
Sequenced transitions (first, next, finally) combined with parallel sentence structure break a complex process into clear, manageable steps, which is the hallmark of effective informational writing. The other options are wordy, vague, or use a filler phrase instead of actual instruction.
Question 6: A PARCC writing prompt asks you to compare two authors' perspectives on the same topic. Which organizational strategy is most effective for a point-by-point comparison?
- Devoting the first half of the essay entirely to Author A and the second half entirely to Author B
- Writing one paragraph about each author's biography before analyzing their texts
- Addressing a single aspect of the topic in each paragraph, discussing both authors' views within that paragraph (Correct answer)
- Summarizing both texts in the introduction and then writing a conclusion
Correct answer: Addressing a single aspect of the topic in each paragraph, discussing both authors' views within that paragraph
A point-by-point structure organizes the comparison around shared themes or aspects, allowing the reader to see the authors' perspectives in direct relation to each other within each paragraph. A block structure (all of Author A then all of Author B) makes comparison harder to follow, and biography or summary-only approaches avoid analysis entirely.
PARCC - Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Writing Practice Questions 1
Which opening sentence would be most effective for a PARCC argumentative essay about school lunch policies?