Examinations

• The Study Questions

• In this course, the assigned essays serve the purpose of traditional examinations

• The tasks to be accomplished in each of the three essays are specified elsewhere on this web-site

• Answers will be prepared outside of class and submitted at the start of class on the due date in both hard copy and an electronic version (prepared in Word format) to ljohnson@utep.edu

• While no minimum/maximum length for each essay is prescribed, the complexity of the essay tasks suggest that thorough responses will range from 2000-3500 words when well-written.

Grading Criteria

• Fully answering the question (25% )

• Accurate and effective use of the texts (25%)

• Structured, supported, coherent demonstration of claims made (25%)

• Observance of the common writing conventions (25%)

Answering the question

• Address the issues specified, not the issues you want to address

• Address those issues in all the works expressly or implicitly relevant to the question

• Address all the components of the question

• Finding substantial differences, not similarities, is central to the process when analyzing the distinctive idea-sets to be found in the readings.

Textual Evidence

• Each assertion must be supported by evidence from the text

• Quotes are not necessary; accurate paraphrasing is essential

• Emphasis is on idea-sets of the peoples who wrote the texts, not your idea-sets unless they are specifically requested

Demonstration

• “Structured” — No data dumps, but rather a series of specific assertions

• “Supported” — each assertion is followed by the evidence from the text

• “Coherent”

  • The evidence clearly supports the claim

  • The evidence is systematically presented

  • The argument does not shift in mid-stream