ENG111, Final Exam page 1
ENG 111 FINAL EXAM
For the ENG 111 final exam, students will engage in the writing process by revisiting their lowest-scoring previously submitted major assignments. Revisions can only be made on a major assignment that was submitted for final grading. For example, if a student did not submit a final draft of Project/Paper 1 for grading, the student may not choose to revise Project/Paper 1.
Note: Meaningful, grade-changing revision is a rigorous, time-consuming process. This revision opportunity is NOT just an exercise in sentence-level changes and/or editing. Rather, it is an opportunity to carefully re-envision and thoughtfully recast the original essay by way of meaningful, large-scale revision techniques.
Checklist of Steps:
Final Exam Component
Revision Plan (45 pts)
Due by 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, November 12
Students can create their own plans using the example provided below or something similar.
Revision (10 pts)
Due by 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, December 3
Because the revision plan will inform this component, students will revise their essay based on their revision plan. This part will be submitted for review, but the original essay will not be regraded.
Reflection (45 pts)
Due by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, December 8
The reflection must be in essay format and must meet the following criteria:
Be 2 ½ to 4 pages long.
Include an introduction with a thesis, multiple body paragraphs that explain the thesis, and a conclusion.
Describe what influenced your plan and process (ex. instructor feedback, peer review, new knowledge) and how you feel your revision impacts the meaning or overall intended effect of your project/paper.
Describe your experience with the revision process and how you now feel about your work and your confidence as a writer.
Use the language of revision from the required reading.
Include properly formatted citations and Works Cited for any information used from the required reading.
Follow MLA formatting guidelines.
The final exam is still worth 15% of the student’s overall grade. Steps 1 and 3 are worth 45 points each. Step 2 is worth 10 points. Evidence of revision must be present to award the 10 points.
REQUIRED READING
Revision allows students to both understand and practice large-scale revision techniques, the types that are often essential to any successful writing process. To learn more about three specific types of revision and prepare for revision, students should read critically the 6-page handout titled Required Reading.
REVISION PLAN:
To ensure that revision efforts include critical thought in completing more than surface-level edits, all students must pre-plan their revision and earn approval before the revision will be accepted.
The Revision Plan must be typed and include sections naming no less than THREE proposed areas of global and/or local revision. When determining each area in need of revision, students should take instructor feedback on their original submissions into account; however, they must also demonstrate an understanding that meaningful revision requires more than treating instructor comments as a checklist.
Each of the three proposed areas of global and/or local revision must provide the following 3 components:
Critical Thought/Context: This component must offer a description of the content area in need of either global or local revision. Your description must demonstrate a clear understanding of your previous submission’s shortcomings AND the ways in which those shortcomings influenced your development of the original essay.
Revision Category: This component must name AND justify the specific kind of revision required in the content area and demonstrate your understanding of the three “kinds of revision” described on page 112 of the required reading.
Action Plan: This component must describe your intended process to successfully revise the content area; it must include a multi-step plan of action that attends to more than surface-level needs and includes your purpose.
Revision plans or requests that do not demonstrate critical thought and substantive detail as described above will not be approved. A sample is included on the following pages.
REVISION:
This revision is for students to implement the steps of their revision plan. This part will be submitted for review once instructor approves revision plan, but the original essay will not be regraded.
REFLECTION:
Studies show that an essential part of learning includes ongoing and substantive reflection. Because of this, students must include with their revision (on a separate piece of paper) a typed reflection on the actual changes made AND the lessons learned from having completed this rigorous process.
Your reflection should indicate the specific ways in which you revised your paper and should explain if the revisions were global, local, or surface based on the “Required Reading.” Remember to edit your reflection. The reflection is not a casual document. It should still have a main idea, be organized in paragraphs, and utilize correct grammar and punctuation. You may write in first person.
SAMPLE
Sample Student
Professor Ingram
English 111-____
Due Date
Revision Plan and Approval Request
I have thought critically about my first essay submission and carefully considered the opportunities for large-scale revision. Please consider for approval the following revision plan.
FIRST PROPOSED REVISION AREA: Thesis Statement
Critical Thought: After reviewing the original essay prompt, I see that my thesis statement was not fully developed and did not meet the criteria required of a definitional thesis. Because of this, my essay lacked purpose and a unified structure.
Revision Category: Revising the thesis requires global revision because I must re-focus my entire purpose for developing this connotative definition.
Action Plan: I will begin by determining whether my original essay’s idea for connotative definition serves a significant purpose for a specific target audience (something that was not clear in my original essay). If it does, I will determine who that target audience is, and I will compose a one-sentence thesis that (a) makes my definitional purpose clear and (b) includes at least three distinct, meaningful, and parallel criteria intended to help develop that definition.
SECOND PROPOSED REVISION AREA: Topic Sentences
Critical Thought: After reviewing the original essay prompt, the feedback provided by Mrs. K, and the required reading assignment for this revision assignment, I realize that my topic sentences for Essay 1 were insufficient. Some were missing, and others did not do their “job” in either connecting clearly to the thesis or introducing my body paragraphs’ main points of development. Because of this, my body paragraphs were often underdeveloped, lacking focus and coherence.
Revision Category: Revising topic sentences will require global revision because I must focus on matching thesis criteria with the purpose statements introducing main points for individual paragraphs. Doing so influences the global coherence and development of my essay.
Action Plan: I will begin by ensuring that each main point presented in each of my topic sentences is not obvious and that each one will be of interest to my target audience in some way. If I find that any one of the points introduced in my topic sentences is overly obvious and/or has no clear significance, I will determine a new main point for development of my connotative definition. After creating topic sentences that introduce significant main points, I will then work on clarity and transitioning within each topic sentence. This will ensure that there is logic and coherence in moving between each paragraph’s main point; it will also ensure there is unity in connecting each main point to the definitional claim (i.e.: X is or is not Y) as presented in my thesis.
THIRD PROPOSED REVISION AREA: Body Paragraph Development
Critical Thought: After reviewing the required reading assignment and the feedback provided by my instructor, I understand that there are specific content and organizational issues within several of my body paragraphs. Many of my body paragraphs were underdeveloped. They relied too heavily on generalized claims and included too few supporting details. Both shortcomings had a negative influence on sentence-level organization within each paragraph. My supporting sentences tended to ramble, were sometimes redundant, and often lacked coherence.
Revision Category: Revising the content development within my body paragraphs will require local revision that focuses on the unity, coherence, and complete development of individual paragraphs.
Action Plan: I will begin by highlighting in yellow all the generalized and redundant content in my original draft. After highlighting those areas, I will delete all the redundancies and reorganize the remaining content. Then, I will work with one paragraph at a time, developing fully any generalized content and making sure to add supporting details/evidence. Finally, I will ensure that each body paragraph ends with a concluding sentence of synthesis. When I am finished, I will bring my revision to the ILC for feedback on development. This plan for local revision will improve the unity, coherence, and development of each paragraph within my essay’s body.