Final Exam
Throughout the semester, we have studied and practiced techniques for presenting and supporting arguments. In the next two hours, your assignment is to compose an essay in which you present an academic argument to me. In this argument, you should identify the grade you believe you have earned this semester and offer support for why I should (or should not) enter this grade on your transcript and, if necessary, identify (and provide supporting arguments for) what grade I should enter.
The Details:
This is not a vocabulary test; I am not interested in reading definitions of terms we have discussed since January. I will grade this essay based on the efficacy with which you implement the concepts named by those terms. I will also grade on the strength of your argument, including your use of claims and evidence, rhetorical appeals, structure, the written word (i.e. grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation, capitalization, etc.), and any other element of argumentation we have discussed in this class.
The goal of this essay is for you to show me that you have, in fact, absorbed the subject matter of this class and that you are capable of employing it to your benefit. I will take these arguments into consideration when I enter final grades. What does that mean? In the case of an excellently reasoned and written argument (say, one that argues for a student who has earned a C to be awarded a B), I may just agree to raise a grade.
Please note that I can and will not grade an essay that is illegible.
Bring to the Final:
· Blank, lined paper. Write on one side only and skip lines.
· A dark blue or black pen (I will not grade essays written in pencil).
· A dictionary.
· No more than one page of notes (if you wish).
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