-MIDTERM EXAM (Bring a BLUE or GREEN BOOK)  bring a blue or green book  open book/open (paper) note  no laptops or word processors allowed  no e-books allowed  no cell phones allowed  no electronic dictionaries/translators allowed

For the midterm, you will need:  Blue/ Green book  LIT  Pens (NOT pencil) You can also use:  Notes  Dictionary  Thesaurus  Other Books

The midterm is open book/open note. You MUST have a blue / green book. The midterm will not be accepted if it does not appear in a bluebook. There are no make-ups for the midterm. Don’t be absent.

 The midterm will consist of a short story  Your job is to analyze how the writer uses one literary tool from the checklists in LIT to make his or her overall meaning or message clear  You will need to use quotes in your essay response.

 You have to write a 4-5 paragraph essay.  You will have the entire class. If you finish early, you can leave early

I will use the rubric from essay #1 to grade the midterm. There is one exception: you will not be graded on MLA format.

 You will be graded on: 1.Essay structure 2.Paragraph structure 3.Sentence structure 4.Use of relevant quotes 5.Properly punctuating quotes 6.Your ability to read and comprehend a short story

To study: 1. make sure you understand the mistakes you made in Essay #1 2. make sure you understand essay structure as taught during class 3. Make sure you can articulate an author’s meaning or message 4. Make sure you understand the literary tools assigned in checklists in LIT so far 4. Make sure you have access to the literary tools listed in the checklists of LIT

In Class Essay Exam Directions: Analyze the story _________________________ and explain how the author communicates the story’s overall meaning in a 4-5 paragraph response in a bluebook or greenbook. You will be graded on the quality of your:  story analysis  essay structure  paragraph structure  sentence structure  academic tone  fitting quotes and proper parenthetical citation Do not worry about MLA paper formatting rules such as headings or headers. You may double- space your response if you wish. As this is a long in class essay, it is important to pre-plan your essay to ensure you have enough to fill each paragraph. Watch your time! Only spend a maximum of 20 minutes planning your essay. Also, you’ll want to give yourself at least 20 minutes to proof-read. Be sure you have an intro, body, and conclusion. Use quotes from the actual text. Don’t forget a thesis and make sure that thesis makes a clear, definitive argument.

 Use the formula for a thesis you used on Essay #1.  Use prewriting strategies to organize your thoughts. Only spend about 20 minutes planning your essay.  You will not have time to recopy the essay. Don’t plan to.

 Write your essay.  Use the in-class essay structure to check to make sure you have all the proper elements.  Review your essay #1 to find your weaknesses. Make sure you pay particular attention to these weaknesses.

 You may, though it is not required, double space your essay.  You may, though it is not required, leave spaces between your paragraphs.  If you leave something out, you can use these spaces to add it. Otherwise use arrows or asterisks (*) to clearly indicate what you are adding.

 If you make a mistake, cross it out and move on. There is no need to redact your document completely. You are not the CIA.  example  Watch your time. No one has any obligation to warn you that your time is up.  If you only have 5 minutes left and you are not finished, outline the points you left out. Then write a concluding paragraph.

 Try to leave yourself at least 20 minutes to proofread your essay.  Proofread twice: once for structure, once for grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

 In class essays can be challenging.  Don’t forget what you’ve learned in class.  Don’t forget pre-writing strategies.  Don’t forget to organize before you start writing.

Take your time at the beginning  Read the instructions carefully  Jot down some brief notes; don’t worry about sentence structure.  Expand your notes to a full prewriting exercise-  use freewriting, listing, questioning, clustering, scratch outline  If this is a closed book/closed note essay, use the inside cover of your bluebook (or greenbook).

 Review your pre-writing.  Label where each idea will go.  Will it be in your intro, body, conclusion?  Will some be your topic sentences?  Will some be in the middle of your body paragraphs?  Which body paragraph will say what?  Remember to present your response in an organized fashion. Use the essay structure model you learned in this class.

 Structure your time. For every hour you will have, plan for 15 minutes to prewrite/organize, 30 minutes to write, 15 minutes to proofread.  No one is responsible for telling you how much time is left. Buy a watch.

 If you see you are running out of time, present the rest of your essay as bullet points.  Hopefully, you will give yourself enough time to proofread.  Proofread twice: once to check for general errors and once to check for those errors you know you are likely to make.

 Don’t start over. Use an asterisk (*) and/or arrows to add any information you left out.  Leave room (1-3 lines) between each paragraph in case you need to add something later.  If you are using a bluebook, write on one side of the paper only so you have room for insertions.

 If you change your mind halfway through, don’t forget to change your thesis.

The author said, “stuff” (Smith 90).