Midterm Scheduled: October 16

The midterm exam is a timed essay that requires writers to make an argument using evidence from two assigned texts. This will serve as the midterm for both sections of this Learning Community, both ENG 111 and HIS 20.

During the one-hour-and-fifty-minute exam period, each student writes an essay based in part on “Immigration Nation,” an episode of NPR’s Code Switch podcast, and in part on a very brief (one-page) piece of writing that will be handed out in class on the day of the exam. Students are expected to summarize the main points of each piece of writing and to take a stand on an issue raised by the texts. The exam requires the use of quotations from both readings and the use of in-text citations.

The midterm exam is modeled on the departmental final exam and is intended, in part, to prepare students for the exam at the end of the semester. Ample review and practice time are provided in class.

GRADING

The midterm exam will marked both by Professor Rodas and by Professor Culkin and the exam grade will count as the midterm for both HIS 20 and ENG 111. In addition to a letter grade, the exam will be marked with a rubric that will help students understand the strengths of their essay and how their work might be improved. This rubric is based on the grading standards used by the English department for the ENG 111 final exam. Although you may not revise this essay for a higher grade, the rubric will help writers focus on building particular skills for the final exam.

Grades will be uploaded to Blackboard as soon as class sets are done, probably at some point during the weekend of October 20-21.

After the exam, I will email students with “A” level papers for permission to use their essays as models for reviewing with the class. (Don’t forget to check your email after the exam; you might be in for a happy surprise!)

Writers are encouraged to develop and reuse pieces of the exam as part of their final projects.