Course Assessment—For the Student of 1310/13
Each semester, we assess your progress in order to determine if our composition classes are adequately meeting your needs. In order to determine if our courses are as effective as possible, we need each student complete the following exercises. Send your responses to Kathryn Raign.
Sentences for Revision
Please correct the errors in sentences 1-10, and submit your responses.
- We have lived here since two years.
- We discussed about the weather.
- The committee have created a new proposal.
- My brothers car has broken down again.
- Either Mary of Tom are to blame for the problem.
- Three candidates were picked for the job, however, only one has accepted the offer.
- I took care of there dogs while they were gone.
- I never study but I always get good grades.
- You and me should spend more time together.
- Until I lived in Alaska I didn’t know what cold weather really was.
Essay Response
Read the essay below and answer these questions:
- Did the author effectively address her audience? Why or why not?
- Is the essay effectively organized? Why or why not?
- How could the writer improve this essay?
Essay:
"Hey shortie, how’s the weather down there?" "You’re not short; you’re just vertically challenged!" As someone who is only five feet tall, jokes like this are a daily part of my life. I am called names, harassed, and often simply overlooked. From the time I began kindergarten I was labeled as "short" by the other children. The larger children thought it was a good time to pick me up and carry me around as though I were a doll. Needless to say, I didn’t agree. On my eleventh birthday, I took some friends to Six Flags for the day. They had a great time. I wasn’t tall enough to ride any of the cool rides, so I just sat on a bench while they lined up for the rattler and the Cliff Hanger. When I was sixteen, I was turned down for a job at the Gap because I was too small to wear the clothes and reach the upper shelves. I never asked to be short. In fact, like millions of other people in the world, I think Mother Nature gave me the short end of the stick when she was passing out the tall genes.
The sad thing is, not a lot has changed. Last week a woman at the Driver’s Registration Office asked me, "How old are you sweetie, fifteen?" I wanted to shout back at her, "No, you moron. I’m nineteen." Many people assume that I am younger than I am because I am short; therefore, I am treated like I am younger. It is very upsetting to have someone cooing at you like you are an eight-year-old, especially when the person doing the cooing is the same age as you.
Short people suffer from more than age discrimination. We spend hours shopping for age appropriate clothing. Yes, there are specialty shops for people who are petite; unfortunately, most are for older women, and the clothes styles are dull and out of date. As a college student, I really don’t want to dress in flowered pants suits, or Capri pants covered in little doggies. When I buy clothes at the shops I prefer, Gap and Abercrombie, I have to spend almost as much on alterations as I do on the clothes themselves.
Many people in our society believe that being taller is better than being shorter; therefore, shorter people are often treated with a lack of respect. The taller population seems to believe that if you are the size of a child, you have the mentality and abilities of a child. I recently volunteered to help clean a local park. When I started to pick up large pieces of trash with a friend of mine, the person in charge came over and suggested I concentrate on the "smaller waste, like gum wrappers," because she didn’t want me to get hurt. However, this sort of daily humiliation is trivial compared to the larger issue short people face.
Many short people are denied jobs, even when they are qualified. Apparently all managers believe that short people are not strong enough or capable enough. This problem is especially prevalent among men, who are often judged by their height. Also, short people are paid less money than taller people. Taller people make 1,500 dollars more per inch than short people (Sanders). It is discouraging to enter the job market knowing that a physical characteristic that you can’t change has the ability to hinder your chances for success before you ever get started.
"Eat your green beans so you can grow up big and strong." Why does our culture put so much emphasis on height? In our society, short people are discriminated against. However, unlike sex, age, race, religious, and weight discrimination, height discrimination is being ignored. Our society needs to become aware of the issue of height discrimination. Short people everywhere need to fight for the rights they deserve.
Work Cited:
Sanders, Doug. "Going for the Tall Money." Augusta Chronicle 1 Apr. 2002. 13 Apr 2003 http://www.augustachronicle.com.
Course Assessment—For the Student of 1320/23
Each semester, we assess your progress in order to determine if our composition classes are adequately meeting your needs. In order to determine if our courses are as effective as possible, we need each student complete the following exercises. Send your responses to Kathryn Raign.
Passage Analysis
Read the following passage, and answer the four questions that follow it.
Maman-Nainaine said that when the figs were ripe Babette might go to visit her cousins down on Bayou-Boeuf, where the sugar cane grows. Not that the ripening of figs had the least thing to do with it, but that is the way Maman-Nainaine was.
It seemed to Babette a very long time to wait; for the leaves upon the trees were tender yet, and the figs were like little hard, green marbles.
But warm rains came along and plenty of strong sunshine; and though Maman-Nainaine was as patient as the statue of la Madone, and Babette as restless as a humming-bird, the first thing they both knew it was hot summer-time. Every day Babette danced out to where the fig-trees were in a long line against the fence. She walked slowly beneath them, carefully peering between the gnarled, spreading branches. But each time she came disconsolate away again. What she saw there finally was something that made her sing and dance the whole day long.
When Maman-Nainaine sat down in her stately way to breakfast, the following morning, her muslin cap standing like an aureole about her white, placid face, Babette approached. She bore a dainty porcelain platter, which she set down before her godmother. It contained a dozen purple figs, fringed around with their rich, green leaves.
"Ah," said Maman-Nainaine, arching her eyebrows, "how early the figs have ripened this year!"
"Oh," said Babette, "I think they have ripened very late."
"Babette," continued Maman-Nainaine, as she peeled the very plumpest figs with her pointed silver fruit-knife, "you will carry my love to them all down on Bayou-Boeuf. And tell your tante Frosine I shall look for her at Toussaint—when the chrysanthemums are in bloom."
1. The passage above is an example of
A. a poem
B. a short story
C. a play
D. an essay
2. The phrase "Babette as restless as a humming-bird" is an example of what type of figurative language?
A. personification
B. alliteration
C. simile
D. hyperbole
3. Upon which of the following, does the passage most rely?
A. symbolism
B. character Development
C . plot
D. dialogue
4. Which of the following best describes the setting of the passage?
A. a city in Paris
B. a farm in the American Midwest
C. swampland of the American south
D. a village in South America
Course Assessment—For the Instructor of 1310/1313
Each semester we ask you to assess your students’ progress in order to determine if our composition classes are adequately meeting their needs. In order to determine if our courses are as effective as possible, complete the attached questions:
Within Three Days of Completing the First Scheduled Peer Review Session
Rank each group’s peer review skills on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the highest score and 5 being the lowest score. Send your responses to Kathryn Raign.
Rate the groups based on these criteria:
- Ability to listen and respond.
- Quality of responses—do the students offer more than just general statements of evaluation, i.e. "Sounds okay to me," or "This could maybe be a little longer."
- Variety of responses—do the students discuss of variety of writing issues, or focus primarily on one or two problems such as comma or spelling errors.
Within Three Days of Completing the Final Peer Review Session
Rank each group’s peer review skills on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the highest score and 5 being the lowest score.
Rate the groups based on these criteria:
- Ability to listen and respond.
- Quality of responses—do the students offer more than just general statements of evaluation, i.e. "Sounds okay to me," or "This could maybe be a little longer."
- Variety of responses—do the students discuss of variety of writing issues, or focus primarily on one or two problems such as comma or spelling errors.
Within Three Days of Turning in Semester Grades
Randomly select five of your student’s persuasive essays, being sure that each paper is accompanied by rough drafts, invention exercises, etc.
Give each paper a score of 1-5, with 1 being the highest possible score. Score the paper based on these criteria:
- Use of invention exercises.
- Ability to improve writing through the process of revision.
- Ability to revise effectively.
- Ability to effectively address the chosen audience
- 5. Ability to choose appropriate structures of organization.
Course Assessment—For the Instructor of 1320/1323
Each semester we ask you to assess your students’ progress in order to determine if our composition classes are adequately meeting their needs. In order to determine if our courses are as effective as possible, we need you to log into the website below on these days listed and complete the attached questions:
Within Three Days of Completing the First Scheduled Peer Review Session
Rank each group’s peer review skills on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the highest score and 5 being the lowest score. Send your responses to Kathryn Raign.
Rate the groups based on these criteria:
- Ability to listen and respond.
- Quality of responses—do the students offer more than just general statements of evaluation, i.e. "Sounds okay to me," or "This could maybe be a little longer."
- Variety of responses—do the students discuss of variety of writing issues, or focus primarily on one or two problems such as comma or spelling errors.
Within Three Days of Completing the Final Peer Review Session
Rank each group’s peer review skills on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the highest score and 5 being the lowest score.
Rate the groups based on these criteria:
- Ability to listen and respond.
- Quality of responses—do the students offer more than just general st atements of evaluation, i.e. "Sounds okay to me," or "This could maybe be a little longer."
- Variety of responses—do the students discuss of variety of writing issues, or focus primarily on one or two problems such as comma or spelling errors.
Within Three Days of Turning in Semester Grades
Randomly select five of your student’s research papers, being sure that each paper is accompanied by rough drafts, annotated bibliographies, etc.
Give each paper a score of 1-5, with 1 being the highest possible score and 5 being the lowest score. Score the paper based on these criteria:
- Ability to develop a research question.
- Ability to locate and evaluate appropriate sources.
- Ability to integrate secondary material into the paper.
- Ability to use MLA style.
- Ability to support the research question.
