GED and HiSET language arts — the two-argument essay

Both high-school-equivalency exams end their language arts writing with an essay, and both hand you two short pieces that disagree about the same issue. What they ask you to do with those pieces is not the same, and mixing the two tasks up is one of the easiest ways to lose points.

On the GED Reasoning Through Language Arts test, 45 of the 150 minutes are set aside for the extended response. GED Testing Service describes the task as analyzing two passages, deciding which argument has the more convincing evidence, and explaining why. Your own view of the issue is beside the point: a candidate who agrees with the weaker side should still say it is the weaker side. On the HiSET Language Arts – Writing subtest, the essay asks for your own position on the issue, supported with evidence from the passages and your own knowledge, and it expects you to acknowledge the opposing view. The essay has its own pass requirement there: at least 2 out of 6.

This material trains the moves both essays share. The quiz has twelve questions, each built around short original arguments on adult questions — trash pickup schedules, scooter speed limits, a fire station closure, late-night buses, parking meters, library hours. It asks what each exam's prompt wants, which thesis sentence fits the GED task, what a single anecdote can and cannot show, which piece of evidence best supports a workplace claim, and why a survey run by one side of a dispute proves little. It also covers how to explain a quotation rather than repeat it, how to deal fairly with the argument you find weaker, how to spend 45 minutes, and how to build a body paragraph and a conclusion.

The flashcards hold the vocabulary of the task: claim, evidence, reasoning, thesis, counterclaim, anecdote, appeal to fear, credible source, statistics, expert testimony, unsupported prediction.

The written work is where the essay is actually practiced: eight handwritten tasks, from writing a GED thesis and an introduction for a given pair of arguments to explaining a statistic, taking a HiSET-style position while acknowledging the other side, and writing a conclusion. Each comes with a reference answer and the points a reader looks for.

The oral exam puts you in front of an examiner who gives you a pair of arguments, asks which is better supported and why, and pushes on your reasons one question at a time.

Nothing here reproduces a real exam prompt, and no score is promised: the only way to know how an essay would do is to write several under time and read them against the published scoring criteria.

• Tell the GED extended-response task (which argument is better supported) from the HiSET essay task (your own position, with the other side acknowledged)
• Write a thesis that names a side and gives a reason in terms of evidence
• Judge evidence: recorded data from the setting, a survey's sample, a single anecdote, an unsupported prediction
• Explain how a quoted detail supports a claim, and how far it goes
• Deal fairly with the weaker argument instead of attacking or ignoring it
• Plan 45 minutes, build a body paragraph, and close with a conclusion that adds nothing new

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the task descriptions published by GED Testing Service (Reasoning Through Language Arts extended response, ged.com) and ETS/PSI for the HiSET Language Arts – Writing essay (HiSET Test at a Glance and free practice test, hiset.org). All arguments are original.