Florida ged plus college Preparation Program Curriculum and Resource Guide
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- Sample Topics and Score Points for Selected Essays
CPT Placement Rubric6 = Outstanding A 6 paper skillfully argues a clear and specific position supported with relevant evidence and demonstrates excellent control of the elements of writing. A typical paper in this category exhibits all of the following characteristics:
5 = Strong A 5 paper competently argues a position, provides relevant supporting detail, and demonstrates good control of the elements of writing. A typical paper in this category exhibits all of the following characteristics:
4 = Adequate A 4 paper argues a position, provides supporting detail, and generally demonstrates control of the elements of writing. A typical paper in this category exhibits all of the following characteristics:
3 = Limited A 3 paper may attempt to argue a position that is uneven in its focus and/or development; or it may demonstrate uneven control of the elements of writing. A typical paper in this category exhibits one or more of the following characteristics:
2 = Seriously Limited A 2 paper may assert a position that is unfocused, and/or undeveloped; or it may demonstrate little control of the elements of writing. A typical paper in this category exhibits one or more of the following characteristics:
1 = Fundamentally Deficient A 1 paper attempts to address the topic, but without success. A typical paper in this category exhibits one or more of the following characteristics:
0 = Off topic Keystrokes: written in a foreign language; or no reference to topic Sample Topics and Score Points for Selected EssaysSample Topic Often in life we experience a conflict in choosing between something we want to do and something we feel we should do. In your opinion, are there any circumstances in which it is better for people to do what they want to do rather than what they feel they should do? Support your position with evidence from your own experience or your observations of other people. Sample: Score Point 2 To feel that it is necessary to do something is based on wanting to do a thing since after making a decision of a want there are things to do to satisfy this want. A mother obviously feels she should raise her baby because she wants to be a mother and to raise her baby is what she has to do to satisfy her want. Before having the baby, she looks beyond what she should do if she has the baby, at the responsabilities one has of bringing a human into the world. A car is another example. If a person wants a car, this person has to give something which means he should pay for the car since he wants it. By paying for the car satisfies his want of having a car. A religious person feels he should go to church to pray to God because in his concience he wants to go to heaven. Praying to God satisfies a religious person's wants. In conclusion, it is important to do what is necessary based on a want in life. Sample: Score Point 3 In our lives, we have a fight in choosing between something we want to do and something we feel we should do. We sometimes have to do something that we don't want to. However, there are differences in the result between doing something that I want to do and doing something I feel I should do. Of course, we can get a better result from doing what we want to do rather than to do what we feel we should do. Following are three examples that support this statement. The first example is studying. When I was in the junior high school, I was interested in the Japanese history and spent much time on it. I really enjoyed studying the Japanese history rather than studying for the exam. Therefore, I always got good grades in the Japanese History class. On the other hand, I really did not like the Math. I just studied for the exam because I had to so I could pass the class. I didn't want to do it and got no fun out of studying Math with that feeling. I was not good at Math exams. In the study, there are different results between doing what I want to do and doing what I should do. I can get a better result on something I want to do than on something I am forced to do. Second, people who are doing what they want to do are very bright. I watched the marathon live on T.V. The person who won the race was interviewed after the race. She said, "The training was so hard, but I could keep doing it because I like the marathon." Her face shone when she said so. I don't like running, so I am never going to be like her. However, she could stand for the hard practice because she likes running, and that is what she wants to do. People who do what they want to do are very bright, and they can take the victory in their lives. Third, people should choose what they want to do in life based on what they want to do. Life is too short to have a job that you don’t like. You will work many years so being unhappy everyday is not good even if it is right for someone else. In our lives, we will always have choices. Although we may have to do things we don’t want to do, if we have a choice we should more often do what one wants to do. Sample: Score Point 4 It is always hard to choose between what one wants to do and what one should do. Since humans can't predict the future, one will never know which is the best choice. Sometimes, it is better to choose what one wants to do rather then what one should do. What one wants to do may be better in certain aspects of life such as what job to take, what to do with your time, and even what to eat. One of the hardest things to pick is what job to choose in life. For example, one might want to become an artist. Then, when the person finds out that when you are an artist it may be harder to find a job and get paid a lot, they have to make a decision. My brother had to make a choice in his professional life when he became older. He knew that businessmen have a better chance to have a better job and get paid more. He then realized that he wouldn't have fun if he became a businessman because he really loves art. So, he decided to become an art major and he found a job that had to do with art. Even though he is not making tons of money, he is happy that he chose art. He says that it was more worth his time to enjoy his work and make less. Another part of life where people have to make choices is how to spend their time. It is hard to choose what to do because one has to give up doing something to do another thing. For example, I have to work four days a week. When I was looking for my job, I had to choose how many hours to work and how many days to work. This was a hard choice because three times a week I play on a basketball team. I had to choose if I should give up basketball or stay on the basketball team. I really needed money, so I should have given up basketball, but I didn't. I decided to work four times a week and still play basketball. I am glad that I don't work six or seven days a week because I am having fun playing basketball and I have learned to spend less money. I picked what I wanted to do and it turned out okay. Finally, even the smallest things in life such as eating what one wants rather then eating what the person should is hard to choose. Every time I go to a restaurant to eat, I have to make a decision. Should I eat what is healthy for me or eat what I want. Usually, I pick what I want to eat without having too much of junk. I just look for foods that aren't bad for me, but they also taste really good. I eat what I want to eat with a little of what I should eat. I am glad that I don't eat what I should eat always. As one can see, life has hard choices. It is hard to pick if one should do what they want or if they should choose what they should do. Sometimes, one just has to pick what one wants to do. This is true in picking a profession, picking what to do with ones time, and even which things to eat.
Doing what you want to do only provides short term benefits for yourself. For example, a person driving down the road accidentally hits a parked car. He or she looks around and realizes no one else saw the incident. The first thought that crosses his/her mind is I don't want to pay for this. He/she leaves without leaving a note or contacting the owner. The short term consequences of this incident seem good. The driver did what he/she wanted to and now does not have to pay for the damage he caused to the other car. However, the human conscience does not let the driver forget the incident. He/she begins to feel more and more guilty. After a week or so, his/her conscience has punished him/her worse than the cost of damage to the car. When people do what they believe they should do, the benefits are greater than if they had done only what they wanted to do. For example, a teenage girl commits herself to volunteer at a homeless shelter one day. On the morning she planned to go, she wakes up to a phone call from her friend asking her if she wants to go to the beach. The girl reluctantly says that she has volunteered at a homeless shelter while in the back of her head the thought crosses her mind that she could ditch the homeless and go to the beach with her friend instead. She chooses to do what she should do instead of what she wants to do. After spending the day wishing she had been getting tan instead of feeding the homeless, she goes home and realizes she made the right decision. Not only did she help those who really needed her help, but she also made herself feel better as a person. She had done what she knew she should do. After the incident, she had received more of what she wanted from the homeless, than she would have received from the beach. The feeling of success, of accomplishing something in the day. Deciding to do what you know you should do can often also benefit other people. In the previous example, the girl decided to help the homeless. If she had done what she wanted to, she would have only benefited herself. In the example before that, the driver did not stop after hitting a parked car. Not only did he feel guilty, but the person who's car he hit is now out a few hundred bucks. If he had done what he knew he should do both of them would have felt a lot better. In circumstances that allow you to choose between one road and another, some people chose to do what they want to do, and some what they know they should do. In these situations, the person who does what they feel they should do is better off than the person who does what they want to do.
At this time of the year, every senior who has been accepted to more than one college is racking their brains and deciding which college is the best. Problems such as money, proximity to home, and the educational programs of the colleges arise. For instance, I have a friend who is deciding whether to go to Cornell University, UC Berkley, or UCLA, which in my opinion are all extremely good schools. UCLA has offered her a full ride to their school and it is also close to home, but she'd rather not go there. UC Berkley and Cornell are the colleges she must choose between. It is obvious that she wants to go to Cornell, but the problem is that it is a very expensive school. Berkley, on the other hand, is not as expensive, but it is second on her list. The problem all comes down to money. She wants to go to Cornell, but that means her parents would have to spend thousands more dollars than if she went to Berkley. Her parents have told her that whatever her choice is will be fine with them, but her guilty conscious is telling her that it is too much money since her parents will now have to pay for three kids in college. I told her that since her parents are fine with it then she should go to Cornell where it will make her the happiest. I've known her for five years now and even though we are good friends, it is very clear to me that she is not happy here in California. She needs a change and choosing what she wants will bring her the happiness she needs. In this case, she did not listen to me and will attend UC Berkley next fall. Berkley is still a very good college, many people would die to go there, but she doesn't seem to be all that happy about her decision. Another example is Keri Strug at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Even though later we found out that she didn't have to do the vault, she didn't know it at the time. She had already hurt herself on the first vault and it was not a wise choice to vault again. However, Keri had worked all her life to get where she was. It was her dream to win the gold; she wanted it. The pressure was all on her. It was either go for what she wanted and win the gold or do what she should do and forget about it so she wouldn't injure herself further. As we all know, she went for what she wanted and got it. Not only were she and her teammates happy, but so was all of the people living United States of America. As I see people of different ages dying more and more each day, I begin to understand how little time we really do have on Earth. If we always do what we should instead of what we want, we are going to miss out on many wonderful experiences. I am not saying we should always do what we want because sometimes what we want can hurt others or even ourselves. What we want could be dangerous. What I am saying is that sometimes to be happy and to be able to live life to the fullest, we have to take that risk and go for what we want instead of doing what we should and taking the safe road all the time. Life is short, as we have seen from the recent incident in Columbine High School, and we shouldn't take life for granted. Living life means going for what you want, at least some of the time. Sample Topic Periodically, certain fixtures in American society need to be re-evaluated. The eight semesters for the attainment of a baccalaureate degree is one of those traditional fixtures that has now become archaic. That time allotment for undergraduate higher education may have been sufficient for the decade of the 1930s, perhaps even for the middle 1950s, but it is demonstrably inadequate for the challenges of the new millennium. The world has changed, an enormous amount of knowledge has been discovered in the last 50 years, and the time necessary to acquire the learning necessary to function as an intelligent professional requires a radical revision --- and extension --- of the entire academic curriculum. Young men and women cannot meet the increased challenges of the sciences, business and the humanities without a more sophisticated preparation, particularly when it is realized that for the majority of these students the bachelor's degree will be the terminal point of their formal education. Adapted from an editorial by Eugene Fitzgerald Sample Passing Essay Eugene Fitzgerald believes that four years of undergraduate study is insufficient time to earn a bachelor's degree. Because of the "enormous amount of knowledge" discovered in recent years, he feels that the American educational system is in need of a radical change, one that would expand the amount of time spent in class. Fitzgerald asserts that by increasing the time allotted to earn a bachelor's degree, students are more likely to become successful, knowledgeable, and productive members of society. Fitzgerald focuses only on our need to change the quantity of time spent studying; he fails to recognize that the quality of study time is even more important. Higher education of the 2000s cannot be compared with that of the 1930s. Although the number of semesters required to earn a bachelor's degree has remained the same, the quality of learning during those eight semesters is much higher. The use of computers has enlightened and taught students more than was ever thought possible in the 1930s. Science laboratories are much more advanced, and other modern learning devices are being employed to help students gain as much knowledge as possible. Fitzgerald seems to think that American students should study more to be able to handle the challenges of the modern world and become "intelligent professionals." Perhaps this is partly true, but each student has the right to decide for him/herself how much time should be spent on learning. If a student feels his undergraduate learning experience was inadequate, he may choose to attend graduate school. The American educational system always welcomes any citizen with the desire to learn. Lastly, the tradition of the American educational system has been fixed in our minds for decades, and the majority of Americans feel comfortable with its familiarity. There is a proverb that states, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Fitzgerald is trying to "fix" our higher learning system when there is no real proof that it is inadequate for our citizens' needs. Instead of concentrating on expanding time spent in classrooms and lecture halls, Fitzgerald should perhaps focus on creating methods to make the time already spent in classrooms more productive. Passing Essay Explanation The essay passes because it clearly meets the exam requirements to explain the writer's position and to argue your own position on what the writer has said. The opening summary is in the student's own words (except for a few words quoted from the passage), and it explains Fitzgerald's point of view concerning the time needed to earn a college degree. The student next states a position on Fitzgerald's argument ("[Fitzgerald] fails to recognize that the quality of study time is even more important"), and supports the statement with specific reasons for taking such a stand. The student also refers back to the exam passage in the course of the essay, pointing to Fitzgerald's idea that more learning time is needed to produce "intelligent professionals," and suggesting that this may not always be true. The essay demonstrates both a full comprehension of the exam passage and the ability to take a stand on another writer's argument in an organized, logical fashion. Sample Failing Essay In his editorial, Eugene Fitzgerald maintains the position that an enormous amount of knowledge has been discovered in the last 50 years, and the entire academic curriculum requires a radical revision. He points out that the time allotment for undergraduate higher education may have been sufficient in the past decades, but it is inadequate for the challenges of the 2000s. He suggests young men and women cannot meet the increased challenges of the sciences, business and the humanities without a more sophisticated preparation in college. I agree with Fitzgerald that undergraduate courses should be updated. I feel as though the undergraduate curriculum should be more related to the individual's field of study and that the curriculum should be updated annually. Many mandatory undergraduate courses are not related to your field of study. I believe this is a waste of time and money, because you could be concentrating more on courses that are related to your major. Undergraduate courses should be updated annually so that students can stay informed about what is going on in their field. Changes take place every year concerning undergraduate fields of study, but many students are uninformed of the changes. Updated material concerning undergraduates should be taken seriously. Undergraduates are the future of America, and someone at the appointed universities should be responsible for seeing that students receive information annually concerning their field. Undergraduate courses should be made to relate more closely to one's desired field of study. Courses should be updated annually so that our leaders of tomorrow can stay on top of their fields and so that they do not waste their time studying things that will not be important in their careers. Failing Essay Explanation The essay does not pass for several important reasons. To begin, the student writer does not follow the directions to summarize the passage in your own words. The student instead uses Fitzgerald's words, and the opening paragraph of the essay is little more than a rearrangement of lines from the passage. The aim in requiring students to summarize is to see how competently you can read and explain a text. A summary that is not in your own words fails to demonstrate your real understanding of the passage. In addition, the student's own argument is not relevant to the passage. The student misinterprets the passage to mean that college courses should be "updated," and then discusses how colleges can improve the undergraduate curriculum. However, this is not what Fitzgerald has said in the passage. Once again, the student does not follow the exam instruction. Students must state a position on the writer's position, and discuss their own ideas on the argument presented in the passage. Since the essay is off the subject, the student has failed to present a focused argument directly tied to Fitzgerald's passage. Temple University. 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