Appeal Procedure: Students who want to petition for an appeal to their English Placement must first contact the English Coordinator in the Humanities Division for approval of the petition.    206-527-3709.

• This must be done within one month of the English placement test.
• There is only one petition for approval allowed per test.
• If the petition is approved, the student contacts the Testing Center    206-527-3674 or in person to schedule the Appeal Test (during Placement Test drop-in hours).
• The student pays at the Cashier and brings the receipt and valid picture ID to the Testing Center appointment.
• The placement results from the Appeal Test will be available for pick up in one week. The student needs to show valid picture ID when requesting the test results.

Appeal Test fee: $15.00

Here are some strategies that might be helpful in the writing of your essay:

1. Read the two essays carefully. Note their similarities as well as their differences. 
   
2. Select points for discussion. Identify which characteristics about these two things you want to compare and contrast. Determine your emphasis and go from there. 
   
3. Develop a good thesis statement. Your thesis statement will identify what you're comparing and contrasting, as well as what your emphasis of comparison is. For example, it's not enough to write, "Author A and Author B both talk about music." A better thesis would be something like, "Author A and Author B both talk about the effects of popular music on the youth of today, but Author A believes the effect is positive while Author B is concerned about the negative effects." Even a short essay benefits from a clear thesis statement. 
   
4. Structure your compare and contrast essay in a clear, organized way. You generally have two options. Both structures can produce a good compare and contrast essay. For the purposes of this example, let's imagine that you're comparing two movie critics' opinions about a movie.
   
   
   1. Subject-by-Subject Comparison (also called "chunking"):
      1. Introduction-thesis
      2. Critic #1
         1. Point a (the acting in the movie)
         2. Point b (the plot or story in the movie)
         3. Point c (the special effects in the movie)
      3. Critic #2
         1. Point a (the acting in the movie)
         2. Point b (the plot or story in the movie)
         3. Point c (the special effects in the movie)
      4. Conclusion
         
         
   2. Point-by-Point Comparison (also called "sequencing"):
      1. Introduction-thesis
      2. Point a (the acting in the movie)
         1. Critic #1
         2. Critic #2
      3. Point b (the plot or story of the movie)
         1. Critic #1
         2. Critic #2
      4. Point c (the special effects in the movie)
         1. Critic #1
         2. Critic #2
      5. Conclusion
    
   
5. Make sure you have clear transitions between your paragraphs and the different sections of your essay. Examples of transitions include words like 'then', 'next', 'on the other hand', 'similarly', and 'however'.  
   
6. Expressing your own opinion of the topics in your essay is not required. If you do want to express it, the place to do so would be in the conclusion, but remember - the major focus of your essay should be on the two writers and their views, not your own.  
   
7. Try to leave enough time to check your essay for accuracy and correctness before you turn it in. Please feel free to go back and make any changes that you think are needed.

• Public libraries --check the English section or ask for English review materials at the reference desk.
• Book stores or libraries - you may want to look at writing "Style Manuals" such as Modern American Usage by Follett, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.
• Old textbooks, if you have them, can be another resource.