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American Literature: Semester Final Exam
The final exam for this course is designed to measure the development of your skills in the three areas of English as recognized by the local, state and national curriculum standards. The three areas are: Reading, Writing and Listening/Speaking/Viewing.
Your spring semester final exam will also explore the meaning of this semester's essential question which is: "What is the American dream?"
This final exam consists of two essay questions. Your essay question(s)/prompts will be related to this essential question. Each of the works we encountered this semester through reading, writing and listening/speaking/viewing is related to this essential question.
Here’s how the exam will be structured and how you should prepare for this exam:
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Standards Area: Reading (50% of Exam)
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What’s being assessed here?
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How should you prepare for this part of the exam?
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Student’s ability to independently and critically analyze/interpret literary “texts”. ("Texts" will include literary works from the semester as well as literary works selected for this exam specifically.)
Student’s ability to interpret the essential question in the context of selected literary works.
Student's ability to create an essay which communicates an effective and insightful answer to the selected essay question/prompt while demonstrating a clear and coherent progression of ideas which reflect an in-depth and sophisticated understanding of literary works.
Student's ability to introduce, place in context and parenthetically cite the required number of supporting passages from selected literary works and further reveal precisely how and why passages provide support.
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STEP ONE: Read the following literary work and use any or all of the reader's response strategies we learned this semester to help you gain a critical and in-depth understanding of: "Winter Dreams" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (page 742 in lit. book)
STEP TWO: Review your semester portfolio which contains your reading responses, essay tests, viewing journals, kiosk presentations, reflection papers and research papers. In the context of one of your exam essays, you will be asked to refer to one or more of the primary literary works we encountered during this semester.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
You should bring to the exam your copy of TBA as well as any reader's response strategies (reading journal, double-entry etc. ...) that you personally completed as part of your preparation for the exam. If you do not bring these items to the exam, you will be at a distinct and significant disadvantage.
You may also highlight or make notes on your personal hard copy of "Winter Dreams" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (if you choose to print one).
All of these tools will be discarded in the recycle bin following the exam. You may not keep them.
Your semester portfolio is not allowed at the exam.
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How will this section of the exam be scored?
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Junior Essay Scoring Rubric
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A
Essay “demonstrates clear and consistent mastery, although it may have a few minor errors” (SAT Writing Section: Scoring Guide), of the following:
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B
Essay “demonstrates a reasonably consistent mastery, although it may have occasional errors or lapses in quality” (SAT Writing Section: Scoring Guide), of the following:
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C
Essay “demonstrates adequate mastery, although it will have lapses in quality” (SAT Writing Section: Scoring Guide), of the following:
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D
Essay demonstrates consistent flaws in one or more of the following:
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F
Essay fails to show mastery of any of the following:
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- Well developed thesis that clearly answers question/prompt
- Reveals strong use of organization
- An in-depth and sophisticated understanding of the literary work(s) as a whole
- Introduces, fully places in context and cites the appropriate number of passages for support (using MLA citation guidelines).
- Demonstrates outstanding critical thinking by revealing precisely how and why passages used as evidence provide support
- “Demonstrates a good grasp of standard writing conventions (e.g., spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, usage, paragraphing) and uses conventions effectively to enhance readability” (6+ 1 Trait ® Writing: Scoring Continuum).
Note: Essays not written on the essay assignment will receive a score of zero.
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Works Cited
“SAT Writing Section: Scoring Guide.” CollegeBoard.com. 2007. CollegeBoard.com Inc. 20 June 2007 http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/about/sat/essay_scoring.html.
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Standards Area: Writing (50% of Exam)
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What’s being assessed here?
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How should you prepare for this part of the exam?
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Student’s ability to complete the full writing process and create an essay which reflects strong idea development, clear organization, precise word choice, appropriate voice/tone and a thorough understanding of conventions.
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Review your portfolio and look for errors you commonly make in the writing process. Be sure you know how to fix these errors. Click here for help.
Review your portfolio and look for your strengths. Try to find out which brainstorming process, which revision process and which editing process worked best for you. You will have time to write and then revise your essay.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Your semester portfolio is not allowed at the exam.
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How will this section of the exam be scored?
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Junior Essay Scoring Rubric
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A
Essay “demonstrates clear and consistent mastery, although it may have a few minor errors” (SAT Writing Section: Scoring Guide), of the following:
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B
Essay “demonstrates a reasonably consistent mastery, although it may have occasional errors or lapses in quality” (SAT Writing Section: Scoring Guide), of the following:
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C
Essay “demonstrates adequate mastery, although it will have lapses in quality” (SAT Writing Section: Scoring Guide), of the following:
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D
Essay demonstrates consistent flaws in one or more of the following:
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F
Essay fails to show mastery of any of the following:
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- Well developed thesis that clearly answers question/prompt
- Reveals strong use of organization
- An in-depth and sophisticated understanding of the literary work(s) as a whole
- Introduces, fully places in context and cites the appropriate number of passages for support (using MLA citation guidelines).
- Demonstrates outstanding critical thinking by revealing precisely how and why passages used as evidence provide support
- “Demonstrates a good grasp of standard writing conventions (e.g., spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, usage, paragraphing) and uses conventions effectively to enhance readability” (6+ 1 Trait ® Writing: Scoring Continuum).
Note: Essays not written on the essay assignment will receive a score of zero.
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Works Cited
“SAT Writing Section: Scoring Guide.” CollegeBoard.com. 2007. CollegeBoard.com Inc. 20 June 2007 http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/about/sat/essay_scoring.html.
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