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Sample Topic for the Writing Test:

Possessions can be extremely difficult to give up or lose. Some people believe that is an evolutionary adaptation to cling to assets which are necessary for survival. Others feel that it is due to a personal attachment that develops over the years as emotional memories become linked to inanimate objects.

Your purpose is to write an essay, in which you take a position on whether you believe that attachment to possessions is an evolutionary adaptation for survival or that the attachment stems from a more human element of emotions. Be sure to support your position with logical arguments and appropriate examples.

Let's look at a few different methods and steps to solving this problem.

Remember that on the essay portion of the TAAS, there isn't a "correct" answer. The response you choose to give to the topic provided does not have to be the first thing that comes to your mind. In fact, the side or response you pick doesn't even have to support the side of the topic that you actually believe in. It is better to have a good explanation for the position, rather than to actually believe in the position on the topic. However, typically you will find that the side you believe in is also the side that you have the most information that you can write about.
 * 1. What's the Goal?**

To go through some of the steps that you could walk through as you develop your response, let's choose to support the belief that the attachment develops over the years.

As you consider some good examples of possessions, your first thought might be the importance of your home or car, which are necessary for the basic functions of life, such as providing a roof over your head and a method of transportation. Yet, what would be your supporting answer about why your car is important and would be difficult to give up? Some possibilities might be: "it gets me where I need to go, it is brand new, it is expensive, I like it a lot, it would be difficult to replace, it's shiny."

These answer choices may fill up some space, but don't have much meaning. There are other possessions in your life that have much more meaning and priority in other ways that would be better to write about.

Think of possessions that have meaning beyond the mere basics of shelter or transportation. You want a examples that you could potentially write pages and pages about, filling each of them with depths of passionate detail. While you probably won't have time to write pages and pages, it's good to have a examples that have plenty of room to be expanded upon.

The best way to think of examples you would want to include might be to create a short list of possibilities.
 * 2. Make a Short List**

What are some that you would truly hate to give up? What are things that you would regret and miss for years to come? What are items that would fit the description of having an emotional attachment develop over the years? Perhaps a precious heirloom, a family antique, or a faded photograph would be suitable examples. After you've made your list, look back over it and see which possessions you could write the most information about. Those are the ones you would want to include as examples.

Notice that choosing possessions and writing about them is not the only thing that you have to do. You have to explain your position. You have to answer the "Why."
 * 3. Answer "Why"**

That is an all-important question. If you wrote a sentence as part of your response and one of the essay scorers looked over your shoulder and said, "but why?" would your next sentence answer their question.

For example, suppose you wrote, "The old chair that used to belong to my grandfather has a lot of meaning."

If someone asked, "But why?" would your next sentence answer it. Your next sentence should say, "It has meaning because it was the one chair that my grandfather would sit in every day and tell stories from."

Answering the "Why" question is crucial to your success at writing a great essay. It doesn't do any good to write a good essay if it doesn't answer that question.

Information from the following website: http://www.test-preparation.ca/high-school/essay.html