The GED Language Arts, Reading Exam - Nonfiction

For exam-ple, an annual report would likely use the third person, which is appropriate for a formal business document, Nonfiction FROM ESSAYS to commentary to reports and memos, nonficti

N onfict ion texts can be literary or functional The literary nonfiction you might see on the

GED includes essays and autobiographies/memoirs The functional texts you will see include commentary on the arts and business communications

 H o w N o n f i c t i o n I s D i f f e r e n t

While nonfiction texts may be imaginative, they differ from fiction because they are not about imagined people

and events Rather, nonfiction texts deal with real people and real events

There are other important differences between fiction and nonfiction as well In nonfiction, there is no nar-rator, so there is no “filter” between the author and the reader In a nonfiction text, the author is speaking to the

reader directly, expressing his or her personal point of view Thus, the voice in a nonfiction text is the unique voice

of the author

Point of view is important in nonfiction Remember, point of view establishes a certain relationship with the

reader First-person texts are more personal but also more subjective Third-person texts are more objective but less personal The point of view an author chooses will depend upon his or her purpose and audience For exam-ple, an annual report would likely use the third person, which is appropriate for a formal business document,

Nonfiction

FROM ESSAYS to commentary to reports and memos, nonfiction

texts are written for many different purposes and have many different functions This chapter describes the kinds of nonfiction texts you will see on the GED Language Arts Reading Exam

37

while an essay about a personal experience would

prob-ably use the first-person point of view and explore the

impact of that experience on the writer

 E s s a y s

There are many different types of essays The four most

common types are:

1 descriptive: describing a person, place, or thing

2 narrative: telling a story or describing an event

3 expository: exploring and explaining an idea or

position

4 persuasive: arguing a specific point of view

There are essays about every imaginable topic, from

what it is like to grow up poor (or rich, or bilingual,

or ) to why we should (or should not) clone human

beings The basic structure of an essay is main idea→

support Even if the writer is describing an experience, he

or she has a reason for telling that story, and that

rea-son—why the writer thinks the story is important

enough to tell—is the main idea

Essays will often make their main idea clear in a

the-sis statement This statement is likely to come at the

beginning of the essay Notice how the author below

states his thesis at the end of the opening paragraph of

his essay:

When you think of former president Bill Clinton,

what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Unfor-tunately, for many people, the first thing they

think of is Monica Lewinsky Like millions of

people around the globe, I was horrified by how

much the Whitewater investigation delved into

Mr Clinton’s private affairs No one needed to

know the sort of details that were revealed by Ken

Starr’s investigation But while I don’t want to

know the details, I do believe we have a right to

know what sort of lives our politicians are living I

believe their behavior in private is a reflection of

their true values and how they will behave in office.

One type of writing that you may see in essays (as well

as other forms of literature) is satire Satire is a form of

comedy in which the writer exposes and ridicules

someone or something in order to inspire change Satires

rely heavily on verbal irony, in which the intended

mean-ing is the opposite of the expressed meanmean-ing Satirists

also use hyperbole, which is extreme exaggeration, as well

as sarcasm and understatement in order to convey their

ideas

Jonathan Swift’s 1729 essay “A Modest Proposal” is one of the most famous examples of satire In the essay, Swift proposes that the Irish, who are starving, eat their own children to prevent “the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country.” Here’s a brief excerpt:

I have been assured by a very knowing American

of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fric-assee or ragout

Of course, Swift is not really suggesting that the Irish become cannibals He is using this ridiculous proposal to criticize the British for oppressing the Irish, especially poor Irish Catholics, who often had many children The absurdity of Swift’s proposal reflects his feelings about the absurdity of British rule in Ireland at the time and the British government’s inability to find a satisfactory solu-tion to the Irish famine

 A u t o b i o g r a p h y a n d M e m o i r

In an autobiography or memoir, the author will—very

subjectively, of course—tell the story of his or her life The difference between autobiographies and memoirs is that memoirs tend to be less comprehensive and more exploratory—they will cover less ground and spend more time examining the impact of people and events

on their lives Authors may write to clarify an experience, teach a lesson, or make a statement about a historical event or social movement As you read an autobiography

or memoir, look for what the author feels has shaped him or her Why has he or she chosen to relate these par-ticular events; describe these parpar-ticular people?

On the next page is a brief excerpt from Frank

McCourt’s bestselling 1996 memoir, Angela’s Ashes.

– N O N F I C T I O N –

Next day we rode to the hospital in a carriage with

a horse They put Oliver in a white box that came

with us in the carriage and we took him to the

graveyard They put the white box into a hole in

the ground and covered it with earth My mother

and Aunt Aggie cried, Grandma looked angry,

Dad, Uncle Pa Keating, and Uncle Pat Sheehan

looked sad but did not cry and I thought that if

you’re a man you can cry only when you have the

black stuff that is called the pint

I did not like the jackdaws that perched on

trees and gravestones and I did not want to leave

Oliver with them I threw a rock at a jackdaw that

waddled over toward Oliver’s grave Dad said I

shouldn’t throw rocks at jackdaws, they might be

somebody’s soul I didn’t know what a soul was

but I didn’t ask him because I didn’t care Oliver

was dead and I hated jackdaws I’d be a man

someday and I’d come back with a bag of rocks

and I’d leave the graveyard littered with dead

jackdaws

 C o m m e n t a r y o n t h e A r t s

The purpose of commentary is to illuminate or explain

other works of literature and art These texts review and

analyze a work of art (performance art, visual art, and

lit-erature) and generally have two goals: to help us

under-stand the work of art and to evaluate its success or value

A book review, for example, will typically offer some

background on the author, summarize the basic plot of

the story, and describe the main characters and their

chief conflicts It will also point out what makes the novel

good (e.g., the characters are especially endearing, the

plot has surprising twists and turns, the descriptions are

particularly lush, the structure is very unique) or bad

(e.g., the plot is trite, the characters are flat and

unbe-lievable, the writing is clumsy, the chapters are

disor-ganized) Thus, commentary can help you determine

whether a work of art is something you should

experi-ence, and if you do experience it, the commentary can

help you make more sense of your experience

The commentary on the GED can be of any sort,

including reviews of books, movies, concerts/musical

performances, dance productions, musicals, television

shows, plays, paintings, sculptures, photography, or

multimedia arts But you are most likely to see

com-mentary on a visual art or experience.

When reading commentary, one of the most impor-tant skills to have is the ability to distinguish between fact and opinion While commentators do deal with facts, commentary is by nature highly subjective; they are shar-ing their personal reactions to an experience with a work

of art A good commentator will always explain why he

or she feels the way he or she does about a work of art For example, a movie critic might praise a film because the story was original and moving, the actors convincing, and the special effects stunning

Remember, however, that the reviewer’s feelings about the film are opinions, no matter how well the author might defend them There are many nondebat-able facts about a work of art such as a film, including when it was made, how long it took to make, who made

it, how much it cost, the events in the plot, how the spe-cial effects were created, etc But the reviewer’s judgment

of these facts is a matter of debate, and therefore a mat-ter of opinion You might find the story in a movie inmat-ter- inter-esting while your friend finds it boring

As you read commentary, pay attention to word choice Even in sentences that seem to express facts, com-mentators can express their opinion For example, look

at the following sentences They have the same meaning but convey different attitudes:

Raquel Ramirez plays the role of Ophelia.

Raquel Ramirez shines in the role of Ophelia.

 B u s i n e s s - R e l a t e d D o c u m e n t s

Business documents were new to the GED as of 2002, and you will see one on the Language Arts, Reading Exam These texts can range from employee handbooks and training manuals to letters, memos, reports, and proposals

Business documents are unlike the other nonfiction texts because they:

■ are meant for a specific audience

■ have a specific, business-related purpose

While essays, autobiographies, and commentary are meant for a general reader, business documents (with the exception of annual reports) are designed for a much

smaller and more specific audience Memos and letters,

for example, are often addressed to only one individual

The purpose of each business document, too, is very

specific and related to business A memo may provide an

agenda for a meeting or a reminder about forms that

need to be completed; a proposal may describe a plan to

improve or expand business; a training manual will show

employees how to perform specific tasks

The purpose of the document will usually be made

very clear right from the start As the saying goes, in

busi-ness, time is money, and in order to save the reader time,

writers of business communications state their purpose

clearly at the beginning of the document For example,

notice how the main idea of the following letter is stated

in the second sentence:

Dear Ms Ng:

Thank you for your recent application for an

auto-mobile loan from Crown Bank Unfortunately, we are

unable to process your application because

informa-tion is missing from your applicainforma-tion form

We need the following information to complete the

loan application process:

1 the number of years in your current residence

2 your driver’s license number

3 the name and telephone number of your

insur-ance provider

Please provide this information to us as soon as

pos-sible You may call me at 800-123-4567, extension 22,

or fax me at 222-123-4567 Please include application

code XT121 on your correspondence.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter

I look forward to completing your loan application

Sincerely,

Victor Wilson

Junior Loan Analyst

Crown Bank

Readability Techniques

To maximize time and clarity, business-related

docu-ments will use several readability techniques These in-clude chunking information and using headings and lists.

Business writers often organize information into small, manageable “chunks” of data That is, they will group sentences or paragraphs according to the specific topics or ideas they discuss and set those sentences apart with line breaks and/or headings

Headings and subheadings provide “titles” within the text to guide readers topic by topic through the docu-ment Headings show readers how ideas are related and help readers find specific information in the document (Notice, for example, how headings are used throughout this book.)

To make information easier to process, business writ-ers will also use bulleted or numbered lists as often as possible, especially when providing instructions It is eas-ier to see the items in a list when they are separated and listed vertically rather than running together horizon-tally in a regular sentence or paragraph For example, notice how much easier it is to absorb the information in the bulleted list than in the following narrative:

To apply for a permit, you must bring proof of residency, a photo identification, a copy of your birth certificate, and proof of insurance

To apply for a permit, you must bring:

■ proof of residency

■ a photo identification

■ a copy of your birth certificate

■ proof of insurance

Whether the text is a business document or a personal essay, remember that writers always write for a reason Think about the writer’s purpose Why is he or she writ-ing? Look for clues in both content (including specific facts and details) and style (including word choice and tone) Check for topic sentences and thesis statements that express the author’s main idea

– N O N F I C T I O N –

In t h i s ch a p te r, you will review the structure of the reading exam and specific tips you can use to

improve your score on the test Read this chapter carefully, and then review your notes from the whole Lan-guage Arts, Reading section When you are ready, move on to the practice questions that follow

 T h e G E D L a n g u a g e A r t s , R e a d i n g Te s t i n a N u t s h e l l

This GED exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions about texts from three different time periods: pre-1920, 1920–1960, and 1960–present Each exam will include a poem, an excerpt from a play, a commentary on the arts,

a business-related document such as a memo or report, and at least one excerpt from a work of fiction Each pas-sage (except the poem) will be approximately 200–400 words long

Questions will test your basic comprehension of the texts (20%), your ability to analyze the texts (30–35%), your ability to “synthesize” (draw inferences from) ideas from the texts (30–35%), and your ability to apply infor-mation or ideas from the texts to different contexts (15%) You may be asked about the main idea or theme of a text, a character’s feelings or motivations, or the significance of a symbol You may be asked to identify a specific fact or detail or to predict the effect of an action described or implied in the text You might be asked about the effect of a rhetorical technique or to identify the tone of a passage

Tips and Strategies for the Language Arts,

Reading Exam

YOU HAVE reviewed a lot of material to prepare for the GED

Lan-guage Arts, Reading Test Now here are some specific tips and strate-gies for handling the questions you will see on the exam

38

 G e t t i n g R e a d y f o r t h e E x a m

The Language Arts, Reading GED covers a lot of ground

It tests your comprehension not just of functional texts

but also of the many genres and time periods of

litera-ture Between now and test time, one of the best things

you can do is to read as much as possible, especially in

the genres with which you are least familiar The more

comfortable you are with literature, the easier it will be

to understand what you read, and the more comfortable

you will be at test time

As you read various texts, remember that you don’t

necessarily have to like what you read Hopefully, you will

find the experience enjoyable and rewarding But if you

don’t like every poem you read, that’s okay Different

writers have different styles, and sometimes, the writer’s

style and subject matter may simply not appeal to you

What matters is that you are able to appreciate the text

and understand what the author is trying to say

Whether you like the writer’s style, whether the subject

matter thrills you or bores you, keep reading and

devel-oping your reading comprehension skills You may find

some authors and texts that have a profound impact on

you You might also develop a love for a genre that will

last throughout the rest of your life

 F i n d i n g t h e M a i n I d e a

Remember that the main idea is the thought that

con-trols the text What is the author trying to say? What

point does he or she want to get across? The main idea

may be explicitly stated in a topic sentence (for a

para-graph) or a thesis statement (for a complete text) It can

also be implied In literature, the main idea is called the

theme The theme is the “sum” of all of the elements of

literature, including plot, character, symbolism, tone,

language, and style

Here are some specific tips for finding the main idea:

1 Remember that themes and main ideas are

gen-eral and should cast a “net” over the whole

pas-sage or text

2 Consider the author’s purpose What do you

think the writer is trying to accomplish with this

text? Why do you think he or she wrote it?

3 Try to fill in the blanks:

■ This story (poem, play, essay, etc.) is about (insert topic)

■ The writer seems to be saying (general thematic statement) about this topic

If you can support your statement with specific evidence from the text, and if that statement is general enough to encompass the whole passage, you have probably successfully identified the main idea or one of the themes of the text (Lit-erary texts, especially long ones such as novels, can have more than one theme.)

4 Try giving the text a new title that conveys the

main idea or theme What would you call the passage?

 F i n d i n g S p e c i f i c F a c t s a n d

D e t a i l s

Specific facts and details are often used to support the main idea of a text Here are some tips for questions about specific facts and details:

1 Remember the difference between main ideas

and their support Note the specific examples, facts, and details the writer uses to develop his or her ideas

2 Look for key words in the question to tell you

exactly what information to look for in the passage

3 Think about the structure of the passage and

where that information is likely to be located (For a review of common writing structures and organizational patterns, see Chapter 32.)

 D i s t i n g u i s h i n g b e t w e e n F a c t

a n d O p i n i o n

An important reading comprehension skill is also a crit-ical thinking skill: the ability to distinguish between fact and opinion It is often important to know whether a writer is stating a fact or expressing an opinion Here are three quick tips for distinguishing between the two:

1 When you are unsure whether something is a

fact or opinion, ask yourself, Is this statement

debatable? Can others take a different position?

–– T I P S A N D S T R AT E G I E S F O R T H E G E D L A N G U A G E A R T S , R E A D I N G E X A M ––

2 Look for signal words and other clues that the

author is expressing a fact or an opinion Signal

words include phrases like I believe and words

like should and ought.

3 Remember that good writers will usually provide

facts to support their opinions

 M a k i n g I n f e r e n c e s

The ability to draw logical conclusions from a text is

essential to reading comprehension and to doing well on

the GED Remember that your conclusions must be based

on evidence from the text If a writer wants you to infer

something, he or she will give you clues so you can make

that inference If you have a hunch about what the writer

is trying to say, search for evidence in the text to support

your ideas

Here are some more specific tips for making effective

inferences:

1 Pay careful attention to word choice, details,

actions, and structure If the writer wants you to

infer something, he or she will leave you clues to

guide you to the right conclusion

2 Test your inference Double back to find specific

evidence that will support your conclusion

Inferring Cause and Effect

1 Look for basic clues like transitions that signal

cause and effect: since, because, therefore, as a

result, etc (See Chapter 32 for more ideas.)

2 Make sure you can establish a direct link between

cause and effect Remember that many effects

have more than one cause and that there is often

a chain of causes that lead to a specific event

3 Again, make sure you have evidence to support

your inferences about cause and effect

 R e a d i n g F i c t i o n

When you read a work of fiction, remember the eight

elements of fiction that work together to create meaning:

plot, character, setting, point of view, tone, language and

style, symbolism, and theme Here are some specific tips

for handling questions about fiction on the GED:

1 Pay attention to details, especially details about

characters and setting

2 Use your mind’s eye to visualize people, places,

and actions

3 Think about motivations Why do the characters

say what they say, feel what they feel, do what they do? Many of the questions on the GED will

be about the reasons for characters’ thoughts and actions

4 Remember that stories aim to help us better

understand our world and ourselves Think about what message the story might be sending that would meet this goal

 R e a d i n g D r a m a

Drama is literature that is meant to be performed But you can still be greatly entertained and moved by simply reading a play Here are some tips for understanding dramatic excerpts on the GED exam:

1 Remember to read any stage directions carefully.

These notes from the playwright provide impor-tant clues to the characters’ emotions as they speak and to the relationships between charac-ters Stage directions about setting are also important clues to the play’s theme

2 As in fiction, think about motivations Why do

the characters say what they say and do what they do? What has happened between the char-acters or to the charchar-acters to make them feel, say, and do these things?

3 Use the stage directions and other clues to

“stage” the play in your head Create a “theater of the mind” and imagine the action taking place

on stage Try to hear the characters saying their lines and see them moving about on the stage

 R e a d i n g P o e t r y

Every GED exam will include at least one poem Remember that while there are many different types of poems, most poems aim to tell a story, capture a moment, embody an emotion, or make an argument In

a poem, word choice is limited by the poem’s length and often by structure and rhyme scheme, so poets are

especially deliberate in their choice of words Because

poems are usually short, every word counts Pay

atten-tion to every detail

Here are some more specific tips for dealing with

poems on the GED:

1 Read the poems aloud in your head so you can

“hear” how they sound Read each poem at least

twice: first to get a general sense of the poem and

its sound, and second to get a better

understand-ing of its meanunderstand-ing

2 Poems don’t have a narrator, but there is still a

specific voice speaking to the reader, telling the

story, painting the picture, or capturing the

emo-tion Use tone and word choice to determine as

much as you can about the speaker of the poem.

Who is this person? How does he or she feel

about the subject of the poem? Does he or she

seem to be talking to someone in particular or to

a general audience?

3 Examine the overall structure of the poem Is

there a rhyme scheme or meter? Does the

struc-ture fit a particular pattern or design? Think

about how the structure might reflect the subject

or meaning of the poem

4 Look at the line breaks and stanzas, if any Where

are the line breaks? Do any of the end words

seem significant? Are the lines separated into

stanzas? If so, what holds the lines in the stanzas

together? Are any words separated to stand out

for readers?

5 Try to determine the purpose of the poem Is the

speaker telling a story? Explaining an idea or

emotion? Making an argument? Capturing a

moment? Celebrating or mourning a person,

place, or thing? Determining the type of poem is

central to determining the poem’s theme

6 Pay attention to repetition If a word or line is

repeated, especially if it is repeated at the end of a

line or stanza, it is significant and may be symbolic

7 Look carefully at word choice Because poems

are so compact, each word must be chosen with

special care, and some words may be chosen

because they have multiple meanings

8 Remember that poems are about real people and

real emotions Think about how the poem makes

you feel Think about the emotions conjured up

by the words and rhythm of the poem

 R e a d i n g E s s a y s

You can expect nonfiction texts, like essays, to be more straightforward than stories and poems But the main idea may not always be stated in a topic sentence or the-sis statement Here are some tips for handling essays:

1 Determine the author’s purpose Is the author

describing a person? Making an argument? Telling a story? Exploring an idea?

2 Use questions to determine the main idea of the

essay How does the author seem to feel about the person he or she is describing? Why? What sort of relationship did they have? What position has the author taken on the issue he or she is dis-cussing? Why? Look for a thesis statement that expresses the main idea

3 Look for topic sentences in the paragraphs you

have been given What are the controlling ideas

of each paragraph? What larger idea might these ideas be supporting?

4 Use clues in word choice and tone to determine

how the author feels about the subject

 R e a d i n g C o m m e n t a r y

Commentary on the arts aims to help readers better understand and appreciate a work of art Here are some specific tips for reading commentary:

1 When reading commentary, always be on the

lookout for support Whenever the author makes

a claim, ask why? Look for the specific reasons

the author has come to that conclusion

2 A thoughtful commentary will look for both the

good and the bad in its subject It is rare that a review is entirely positive or that someone finds

a work of art utterly worthless, without one redeeming quality Look for both the positive and the negative in the review

–– T I P S A N D S T R AT E G I E S F O R T H E G E D L A N G U A G E A R T S , R E A D I N G E X A M ––

 B u s i n e s s D o c u m e n t s

All GED exams include at least one business document

This may be a memorandum, report, e-mail, or other

business text Here are some tips for dealing with

ques-tions about business documents:

1 Remember that business documents are written

for specific audiences and for specific purposes

Determine the specific audience and the reason

for the communication

2 Business documents are often written so specific

actions will be taken Are there any specific instructions or steps to follow? Look for lists and other clues regarding things to do or understand

3 If a business document is making an argument,

look for support What facts or ideas are used to support the main idea?