English 091 Midterm

Preparing for the midterm:

  • Read Chapter 27: “The Essay Examination” in Introduction to College Reading and Writing
  • Review Chapter 46: “Argument” in Rules for Writers, Chapter 13: “Arguing,” and Chapter 12: “Analyzing Causes and Effects” in Introduction to College Reading and Writing
  • Print, read, highlight, and annotate all of the midterm articles on the English 091 Website. State the thesis and main points of each article and then identify issues that might be appropriate for argument or cause/effect essays. Predict what kinds of prompts might be on the exam. Students’ ability to read and understand what they have read and to construct a brief essay in response to their reading will be tested.
  • Students may bring the following items to the exam:
  • the articles (annotated, but no paragraphs for essay)
  • the midterm homework worksheet (see handouts on class website)
  • the Citation Style Sheet (see handouts on class website)
  • a prewritten 4” x 6” index card of prewriting, notes, etc
  • a dictionary, thesaurus, and/or electronic dictionary/speller.
  • the Works Cited citations
  • Students may not use their texts, and they may not ask advice of the instructor during the test.

Exam directions:

  • Students will write their essays on their own paper and then staple them to the back of the exam sheets with the evaluation side facing up.They should skip lines, use blue or black ink, and write on only one side of the paper.
  • The midterm prompts will ask students to choose either an argument or cause/effect prompt. Students will be asked to write a 4-6 paragraph essay which includes:
  • a brief 2-3 sentence introduction with thesis statement
  • 2-4 body paragraphs that convey the main points of the essay with well-transitioned topic sentences and concluding sentences
  • concrete and specific evidence for each main point
  • a brief 2-3 sentence concluding paragraph
  • At least one reference (summary, paraphrase, or quotation) to the articles on the course website
  • MLA in-text parenthetical citations (a Works Cited page is encouraged but not required for the midterm)
  • Students may have three main points followed by two detail sentences in their body paragraphs, but are not required to do so
  • Students will have no more than 50 minutes to do the writing. Students need to write their student ID and section number at the top of the exam.Students should not write their names or the teacher’s name on either the test or their writing sample.

Grading of exams:

  • Exams will receive one of the following designations: HighPass (9 or 10), Pass (8), LowPass (7), or No Credit (5 or less).
  • “No Credit” will be based on weak organization, faulty or incomplete sentence structure, vague supporting details, grammatical errors so numerous that they pass from merely annoying into distracting, failure to use the midterm articles, and/or serious failures of logic and focus. Any exam that does not refer to the articles at least once, with quotations or paraphrases, will be given a “no credit.”
  • Essays will not be graded by students’ own instructors; however, rewrites will be graded by students’ own instructors. Any essay that receives a “no credit” may be rewritten within one week for a “low pass” grade.