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. That said, 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 stay focused on the multiple choice. What content areas does it cover?

To find the deeper meaning behind these content areas, let’s explore relevant questions related to 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 sources to find information?
• Organization of Ideas
  • Can you choose the best opening, transitional, and closing sentence?
  • Can you identify irrelevant (i.e., details that add nothing to the text) content?
  • 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 each question. Once you’ve developed your skills in this section, we’ll explore how you can apply them to the crucial essay section.

Everything you need to know to answer multiple-choice questions relates to two broad categories of skills: grammar and mechanics. You’ll apply what you learn in this section by answering 20 practice questions at the end.