english midterm 2022

Xavier has been asked to write an argumentative essay supporting free college tuition. He does not believe that free college tuition is the right approach to the problem of student debt. How should he approach this task?

Xavier must use his research and rhetorical skills to try to convince his reader that free college tuition is good, despite his personal beliefs. This will test his skills as a writer.

Does this sentence demonstrate standard use of an apostrophe to show possession? DeRay's cousin cooked the best casserole last Easter, but that's only one of the tasty things we had to eat. Conner's sweet potato pie was just delicious. I think every member of the Conners family should enter the FFA's baking contest.

Yes, all uses of the apostrophes are correct.

Carolina is discussing President Barack Obama's election and the impact it had on her interest in political science for application for an internship in D.C. She uses the phrase, "Sí se puede." Is this okay?

Yes, although she might want to include the English version as well, "Yes, we can," for anyone who doesn't remember or doesn't know enough Spanish to understand.

Does this sentence demonstrate standard use of an apostrophe to show possession? I could see that the teacher was getting frustrated with hearing all of her students' demands.

Yes, because the teacher has multiple students, so the word "students" is plural and therefore should have an S followed by an apostrophe, as included here.

Which of the following statements best summarize the use of paranthesis in this sentence? His favorite sport (and the one he was least skilled at) has always been lacrosse.

Yes, the parentheses are correct because this is a brief aside that can go inside parentheses.

Do you really need to create a daily and long-term schedule as a college student?

Yes. It is easy to lose track of time, especially with multiple classes in your schedule, not to mention work, family, and other activities.

Una has written this passage. What is the best suggestion for how she should spend her time proofreading this draft? Weary to my core, and shuffling upstairs from my parents' basement. I tried not to think. Almost forty, and living with my parents while my husband tried to find a job in this post-crash economy. More than that was awful, though. My old, frayed pajamas; my inability to afford new ones; and the fact the pancakes I was smelling were ones my mom had made me. And I'm thirty-nine years old, I thought. An age when I'm supposed to be providing for myself.

You could improve by fixing your sentence fragments.

Why is time management important in college?

You need to manage multiple deadlines, different priorities, and a variety of academic and non-academic activities.

Barbara has used seventeen exclamation points throughout her English essay. Which statement will help her improve the punctuation on her essay?

You should be careful with exclamation marks and make sure you need them for emphasis.

As you use the internet and leave a path on the web by displaying traces of your past, which of the following is the best description of this digital record?

Your digital footprint

Critical thinkers are willing to examine their own beliefs and practice humility. They also

ask pertinent questions, evaluate statements and arguments, and distinguish between fact and opinion.

Fill in the blank with the following sentence. Transition words, such as "however" and "therefore," can appear at the beginning or middle of sentences, and ________ could be needed before or after those words, depending on their location.

commas

Composing your discussion board response using a word processing program before you post it on the discussion board will allow you to do which of the following?

edit and save your work

A symphony conductor relies most heavily on which mode to communicate with musicians?

gestural

Which of the following benefits are associated with group study?

making friends and solidifying your knowledge of the course content

Sue wants to write a letter of complaint to the English department about one of her professors. She wants to make sure her side of the story supports her complaint about the teacher. Which style of writing would be the most effective for this task?

persuasive

Critical thinking is best defined as

reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.

Reflective writing considers which of the following time frame(s)? -

the past, the present, and the future

A procrastinator is most likely to say which of the following statements

"I'm going to pull an all-nighter to get my assignment done on time."

Which statement below is punctuated correctly?

"Well," he said, "I can give it a try."

What is the difference between "your" and "you're"?

"Your" is possessive, and "you're" is short for "you are."

In his orientation to college class, Raul learns that in order to be most successful in college, he should plan to study two hours outside of class for every __ in class.

1 hour

Which of the following sounds like a promising topic for a compare and contrast essay?

A comparison of marijuana laws in California versus New York

Why is it correct to use a hyphen or a dash in the space in the following sentence? We have put a lot of work into ensuring our facility is accessible to all of our wheelchair__bound patrons.

A hyphen is correct because wheelchair and bound act as a single unit.

Which punctuation mark should be used after "rubies" and "copper" in the following sentence? This lump was later separated into 82 separate fragments, including: gems, such as diamonds and rubies ore, such as iron and copper and adhesives, such as glue and putty.

A semicolon should be used after "rubies" and "copper."

What assignment reflects your understanding of a source, differentiates between major and minor ideas in the source, demonstrates your ability to identify key phrases to quote, and captures the tone/style/distinguishing features of a source?

A summary assignment

Henry wants to begin his presentation with a single, striking image on the opening slide and no other information or text. What advice would you give him?

A traditional audience or professor might be unsettled and might want a title and name, but Henry might capture his audience's attention with this approach.

What kind of academic resources are most useful for academic support?

Advising, Tutoring and Writing Centers, and Library Reference Desks

Alyssah needs to miss class in order to take her grandmother to a doctor's appointment. What advice would you give her?

Alyssah should let her professor know that she will be absent, ask a peer to take notes for her, review those notes, and then visit the professor during office hours for extra help.

Liz has been asked to write a cause and effect essay on the high cost of textbooks in college. Her instructor has indicated that this essay must consider the causal chain of the high cost of textbooks, taking the high cost of textbooks as the cause. Which of the following approaches would make sense?

An essay in which Liz discusses how high textbook costs lead to students delaying or avoiding purchasing textbooks, which in turn leads to students being underprepared or unprepared for class, which in turn leads to lower student success.

Zayne is writing an organic essay with the following thesis: Through its exploration of relationships, Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God suggests that for a woman to achieve feminist self-realization, she must leave heterosexual relationships behind and focus on her own independent identity. Zayne is planning his essay and he is trying to formulate what he should discuss in the last body paragraph (right before the conclusion). Which of the following would be best?

An exploration of how the main character achieves feminist self-realization

Alexandra is writing an essay about the American anti-slavery movement. The prompt asks the following: Compare and contrast the arguments made against slavery. Which of these represents an effective organic thesis?

Anti-slavery activists pursued their common cause through different arguments: some argued that slavery was an abomination against God while others worried that slavery was damaging white America; few argued for the equality and humanity of enslaved Americans.

Armando has included the following lines in his personal narrative: "The pedestrians were hit. Help was sought. But the ambulance was slow to arrive." Which of the following is the best summary of Amando's writing?

Armando's use of the passive voice slows down the action. His writing style creates tension in this moment of the narrative which creates a dramatic effect.

Which sentence demonstrates the correct use apostrophes in every contraction?

Aunt JoAnn can't go to your yard sale. It's just too hot, and that's too risky for her.

Aliyah is giving a PowerPoint presentation on the literacy rates of the average grade-schooler in different states. What will help her to have success while using Powerpoint?

Avoiding text-heavy slides by including details in the notes section of the program.

Bianca's father is concerned that she is creating a video in her English Composition class instead of focusing solely on traditional writing. How can Bianca best explain to her father why her instructor is asking her to compose a video in addition to essays?

Bianca is being asked to demonstrate her multiliteracy skills through the creation of a multimodal composition (the video)

Brigeth is creating a website. What advice would you give her to make sure her multimodal composition is effective?

Brigeth should be sure she does not overwhelm the reader with too much text.

In an illustration essay, the thesis statement should do which of the following?

Convey the main point and suggest why further clarification or development of a deeper understanding of the topic is necessary or important.

Annie wants the readers of her essay to feel like they're actually in the scenes that she describes in her writing. Which rhetorical mode should she employ to achieve that?

Description

Dhruvi has written a narrative essay about his difficult family's experience with immigration to this country. He wants to include the following sentence as his closing: "Immigration in the United States needs to change in order to be welcoming and generous to people seeking freedom from tyranny or adversity in their home countries." Which of the following statements best summarizes Dhruvi's conclusion to this narrative essay?

Dhruvi is explicit in his closing about how he thinks the world should change.

Your friend Eduardo comes to you for advice about scheduling. His responsibilities as a parent and his work schedule change on a weekly basis. What do you tell him to do?

Eduardo should make a flexible schedule and adjust it frequently.

John is a very confident speaker. He finds it easy to speak off the top of his head, and he's not at all worried about his presentation. Is there any advice you would give to John?

Even if John doesn't feel the need to prepare notes or a script of what he will say during his presentation, he should be careful not to overlook this aspect of the task, even if speaking is a strength for him.

Some of your classes will require documents to be in PDF or Word file formats before they are submitted for a grade. If you are working in Google Docs, what tab would you use to export your Google Doc into a PDF file?

File

Andre was given an undefined-topic writing assignment in his political science class and isn't sure where to begin. What's the best advice to help him get started?

Focus on the verbs in the prompt to understand what is being asked, review class notes on the topic, try free-writing from the prompt, then ask for clarification if you still need ideas.

What is the best and most efficient way a student get started with either a defined- or undefined-topic assignment?

Focus on verbs, contextualize the assignment, free write, and ask for clarification

Which of these sentences needs a semicolon (;) in the blank space?

Greg does not handle criticism well _____ he tends to get upset.

Choose the sentence that uses parentheses correctly as punctuation.

He was much better on the swim team than he thought (but he finally decided to quit).

Carlos needs to send his professor an email about an assignment. Which of the following pieces of information should Carlos include in the closing signature for his email?

His first and last name, his student identification, and his email address

Carolina has written the following sentence for a descriptive essay: "I sat in the kitchen, watching my grandmother cook." In order to help Carolina think about revising her sentence so that it does the work of showing versus telling, which question might be most helpful for Carolina to consider?

How does the kitchen smell?

Ilton loves taking pictures in his spare time. He doesn't want to become a professional photographer, but his passion for photography is a favorite hobby. He has been asking to create a photo essay. What advice would you give Ilton?

Ilton needs to find his focus and do research because as he begins, but he may find the wealth of images he already possesses can help him compose his multimodal composition.

Which is not an aspect of the rhetorical mode of illustration?

Including self-created illustrations to add more depth and variety to your writing.

Which general rule about commas can help you remember where to place them correctly in a sentence?

Insert a comma wherever you have elements that need to be separated.

Jen is feeling frustrated about her English essay. She has done well on her essays in the past, but this essay is feeling like a struggle. How could Jen use reflection to help her with this assignment?

Jen might think about how she has succeeded in the past and try to replicate that experience, including trying to write in the same place and at the same time of day.

Justin finds writing extremely stressful. What kind of advice would you give him to try to address his anxiety?

Justin might try typing anything just to get started or he might take a rest to allow his brain to reset.

Karime has been asked to write a personal essay for a college scholarship. The prompt says: "Discuss an experience in which you failed and what you learned from that experience." She isn't sure what kind of topic to choose. What advice would you give Karime?

Karime shouldn't be afraid to write about an experience where she really failed as long as she can make a compelling case that she learned and grew from the experience.

Carlos wants to use description to convey his father's love for his job as a carpenter. Which of the following sentences represents the best use of description to show the abstract idea of his father's love?

My father's saw is like his favorite child, familiar, worn, and almost responsive to his caress.

Which of the following is a run-on sentence?

Nevertheless, she's a good roommate who pays rent and cleans while she listens to all of my worries.

Colin tells Svetlana she needs to follow a strict order when she is engaged in the writing process. Is he correct?

No, because the writing process is recursive, not linear. You might need to circle back and review previous steps.

In the following sentence, choose whether the semicolon is used correctly or not. Whenever I choose; I can stop playing this game and do my homework.

No, it should be a comma because "Whenever I choose" is not a complete idea.

When you went to the bookstore to buy your supplies for the semester, you noticed that you were close to your maximum budget. Rather than spend the money on Microsoft Word, what other programs are available at a lower cost for your college papers?

OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Google Drive

Which of the options below is a run-on sentence?

Our favorite dessert is chocolate cake because it is delicious homemade and wonderful.

What is best way to revise this sentence? Shocked, my sister squeaked a little and then asked, "Do you really have to make all that noise?".

Remove the period, since the question mark is the only end punctuation needed.

Which sentence below correctly uses parentheses for a citation?

Research proves that the occurrences of cyclones have been increasing over the last fifty years (Jenkins and Malone 51.)

Reflective writing balances analysis, interpretation, and evaluation. Which of the following is not necessary for reflective writing?

Secondary research

Which statement below does not need quotation marks?

She "hoped for better, but didn't see another option."

Amber is notorious in her family for always procrastinating, but she wants to break the habit. Which piece of advice is most helpful in encouraging her to get her work done in a timely fashion?

She could find a quiet study place without lots of distractions.

Which sentence demonstrates the correct use of an apostrophe to show possession?

She pulled so hard on the dog's leash that he began choking.

Which of these sentences is a sentence fragment?

Since she never saw the show.

Overcoming procrastination might start with tricking our brains to use specific strategies. Which strategies might we employ to overcome procrastination? -

Study in the same, special place, like the library or even your closet, where there aren't a lot of distractions.

Choose the best description of how the serial comma is being used in this sentence? She surprised everyone by starting her Oscar speech with, "I'd like to thank my brothers, Tom Hanks, and God.

The comma after "Tom Hanks" is the serial comma, and it is being used correctly because it is before the conjunction in a series of items, and is helping to avoid any reader confusion.

Which sentence below us brackets most effectively?

The magazine quoted him as saying, "Your [sic] not ready for the truth."

Geisha walked into her English Composition class and noticed that the professor had arranged the chairs into a circle. Using her understanding of multimodal communication, Geisha might be justified in concluding what about the professor?

The professor is using the spatial mode to communicate a desire for equality in the classroom (everyone is the same in the circle).

If the purpose of a discussion board is for students to engage with other students in a discussion, which of the following is the best description for why courses include discussion board prompts?

The professor might post questions for the students to discuss and debate as they begin to try out ideas and learn new concepts.

Read the following excerpt from an academic article entitled "Coping Strategies for Landslide and Flood Disasters: A Qualitative Study of Mt. Elgon Region, Uganda." The occurrence of landslides and floods in East Africa has increased over the past decades with enormous public-health implications and massive alterations in the lives of those affected. In Uganda, the Elgon region is reported to have the highest occurrence of landslides and floods, making this area vulnerable. This study aims to understand both coping strategies and the underlying causes of vulnerability to landslides and floods in the Mt. Elgon region. What is the rhetorical mode of this work, and why might it be an effective strategy in the context of this study?

The rhetorical mode in this excerpt is problem/solution. The authors will define the problem of vulnerability to landslides and floods and also explain the coping-strategy solutions.

Suneeta is using the alternating method to compare cats and dogs as pets. Her first body paragraph discusses the similarities and differences between cats and dogs in terms of cost of ownership. What might she discuss in her next paragraph?

The similarities and differences between cats and dogs in terms of length of life

What is the best explanation for why the term "small-scale farm" requires a hyphen?

The two adjectives "small" and "scale" create a compound.

Which of the following statements best summarize the students use of ellipses? li> Mark Twain in his later years said that "when [he] had mastered the language of this water... [he] had made a valuable acquisition. But [he] had lost something too.... All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river!"

The two examples of ellipses are correct in this sentence.

Identify which of the following sentences uses a colon correctly.

There are three methods of attracting earthworms from the ground: worm charming, worm grunting, and worm fiddling.

Identify where the comma or commas should appear in the sentence below: With real estate tax bills coming and no raises expected at the company Jack asked his parents his best friend and his brother for loans.

There should be commas after "company," "parents," and "friend."

Identify where the comma or commas should appear in the sentence below: The twins are coming with us and they plan to bring a lot of items for the picnic including a blanket and a basket.

There should be commas after "us" and "picnic."

Which of the options below would most effectively revise the following sentence fragment? This category consists of children who were born into successful families. Children of doctors, lawyers, and bankers.

This category consists of children who were born into successful families, such as children of doctors, lawyers, and bankers.

Which of the options revises the sentence fragments with the correct punctuation? This group is large. And makes up a great deal of the nation's population.

This group is large and makes up a great deal of the nation's population.

Andrew needs to contact their professor to ask a question to request an extension about an assignment. Which of the following is the best initial sentence for their email? Responses

This is Andrew Yin; I'm in English Composition, Wednesdays and Fridays, 8-10, and I'm writing to request an extension on the summary assignment.

Why is the following a run-on sentence? I thought I was a pretty savvy traveler, however, that was before I met some of my colleagues.

This is a run-on sentence because the first comma needs to be a semicolon.

Is the following a sentence fragment, a run-on sentence, or a complete sentence? Whereas Thomas was five years older, making him the oldest and the smartest.

This is a sentence fragment because it is a dependent clause and does not convey a complete idea.

Which of the following would be an appropriate claim for an academic reflection?

Through my argument project, I began to question my own inherent biases while learning the value of addressing opposing argument.

When are brackets used most effectively in sentences?

To clarify the meaning of a quote.

Colons (:) can be used correctly in which of the following ways?

To introduce material that explains or summarizes the part of the sentence before it.

Dax loves to participate in class and group projects, but he is struggling to understand the information and complete his assignments. He is nervous about seeking out tutoring. How would you respond to his concerns about using a tutor?

Tutors are available on campus and can help you with study habits as well as skills.

Taylor wants to write her compare and contrast essay on driving laws in different states using the block method. Which of the following is a correct approach when using this method?

Using one paragraph to discuss every aspect driving laws in Oregon, and using the following paragraph to discuss every aspect of the driving laws in North Carolina.

Claira decides to write an argumentative essay on the ethics of animal testing. What of the approaches below should she do her best to avoid in her essay?

Using the essay to focus on her opinion, thoughts, and feelings.

Which THREE modes of communication does a crossword puzzle in a print newspaper use?

Visual, linguistic, spatial

Which of the options below is a run-on sentence?

We lost the soccer game we had practiced all week.

Choose which sentence uses commas incorrectly with a coordinating conjunction.

We wanted to invite Paula, and Lucca to the party even though they had told us they were nervous about attending.

Jacob feels like writing just isn't his thing. His friend Anna is trying to get him to use reflection to think about his approach to his essays. Anna might ask Jacob which of the following questions?

What do you think your strengths are as a writer?

Your professor gives you this prompt: Discuss the legalization of recreational marijuana. Which of the following questions is an implied question suggested by this prompt?

Why was recreational marijuana legalized?

Colin is considering posting an image of himself in his Twitter post. Which of the following is the most important question for him to ask himself about the image?

Will he be comfortable with his family and future employers seeing the image in 5 years?

If you want to write an effective argumentative essay, how many claims should you incorporate into your essay?

Write as many claims as you feel are necessary to make your argument.

Which of the following is NOT an appropriate goal for an illustration essay?

to draw a picture of two sides of a particular controversial argument or topic.