HiSET Writing Study Guide: Introduction

Welcome to the HiSET language arts: writing test study guide! In this guide, you will review content and strategies that will help you do your best on test day. Let’s jump in by examining the basics.

The HiSET language arts: writing test is the only part of the HiSET with an essay question. We’ll spend plenty of time discussing the essay, but for now, let’s focus on the multiple choice section. What content areas does it cover?

To confirm what you need to know in each of these content areas, let’s explore relevant questions for each.

• Language Facility
  • Can you express ideas and recognize idioms?
  • Can you demonstrate effective word choice when writing different kinds of sentences?
  • Can you recognize modifiers and parallel structure?
• Writing Conventions
  • Can you recognize and use the correct verb forms and pronouns?
  • Can you maintain grammatical agreement?
  • Can you recognize typical grammatical mistakes? (e.g. punctuation, capitalization, run-on sentences, sentence fragments)
  • Can you use reference materials to find information?
• Organization of Ideas
  • Can you choose the best opening, transitional, and closing sentences?
  • Can you identify irrelevant content (i.e. details that add nothing to the text)?
  • Can you propose changes to improve a text’s flow?
  • Can you choose the right transition words?

Our goal in this study guide is to ensure you can answer “yes” to every question above. Once you’ve developed your skills for the multiple choice questions, we’ll explore how you can apply them to the all-important essay section.

Everything you need to know to answer the multiple choice questions relates to two broad categories of skills: grammar and mechanics. You’ll apply what you learn in these sections by answering practice questions at the end.