Analytical Writing Placement Exam

The purpose of reviewing these essays with a rubric is to better understand how writing looks from the outside–how writers meet standards and criteria for effective college-level essays–or how they do not. To review these essays, you should use the rubric listed linked below, which is the same rubric your final paper will be assessed by.

For context, the following packet of eight essays consists of a Subject A exam prompt and eight essays responding to it. The Subject A exam, now known as the Analytical Writing Placement Exam (AWPE), is a placement exam given to students entering the University of California to determine the level of their writing skills. Students have two hours to read the passage and compose a response. Graders spend hours norming before officially scoring essays to ensure fairness and consistency. Essays are scored on a scale from 1-6, where a score of 4 or above meets the first level of UC writing requirements, and a score of 3 or below requires a writing course to meet that requirement. So, these essays were written under rather stressful conditions and have not undergone the kind of time or reflection that your own essays will have undergone.

Additionally, one sample ENG 102 essay is included for you to review. This essay was written in a course similar to yours, with a large pre-nursing student population as well as a shortened (6 week) course schedule. So, this essay was written in a much better situation than the first eight essays and has been heavily revised and proofread. This essay is located at the end of the packet of eight essays and is titled, “Knowing What to Say, Not Saying What You Know: Navigating Communication Roles and Emotional Challenges of the Palliative Care Nurse.”

What to do with your material:

• Begin with the eight subject exam essays first. Read the prompt of the exam, which is the essay by Wendell Berry. Think about what the topic question is asking and what an essay would need to do to respond to the prompt and question successfully. Keep this in mind as you read the eight responses.
• Then, read all eight essays first to get a sense of the range of responses.
• Then, reread the eight essays and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Approach each one as if you are a tutor or writing coach—write comments on the essay, and in the response form, jot down the essay’s overall strengths and weaknesses, using language from the rubric.
• Finally, read the sample ENG 102 paper. Approach it also as if you are a tutor or writing coach—write comments on the essay, and in the response form provided, jot down the essay’s overall strengths and weaknesses, using language from the rubric.

The packet of essays and the rubric are both included in this module. Additionally, a response form is also included in the module so that you may copy and paste your assessment of the essays’ strengths and weaknesses, using language from the rubric. This is the only document you will need to submit for a grade.

 

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