TOEFL Writing: Test of Written English
To wind up our introduction to the TOEFL, you'll be relieved to hear
that TOEFL Writing is not as challenging as the GMAT AWA. In TOEFL
Writing, the test makers don't really care how original your thoughts
are - they just want to see that you can structure them according to the
American Formula (think the Coco Cola secret formula!). The TOEFL
Writing Formula is much more basic and direct than those for Analysis of
an Issue or Argument. You basically need to supply about 300 words in
the following tight structure:
Paragraph 1: Introduction Sentence and Thesis Statement (what you
think and the 2 or 3 reasons you will use to justify it)
Paragraph 2: Your first reason with a couple of examples to
illustrate it
Paragraph 3: Your second reason with a couple of examples to
illustrate it
Optional Paragraph: Your third reason with a couple of examples to
illustrate it
Paragraph 4 or 5: Conclusion - or restatement of your Thesis
Statement
Be careful to stick to this style since more open-ended styles will
definitely bring down your score. If you manage to do this with very few
mistakes and using varied syntactical structure, you can approach the
high score of 6. It's important to decide whether you will type the
essay or hand write it. If your handwriting is abysmal, by all means
type it. The correctors give each essay just two minutes, so if they're
struggling to decipher your penmanship, they're more likely to be
brutal.
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