FYI: Upper Division Writing Exams
As stated in the overview, those of you who choose to transfer to a university or 4-year college will be required to take an upper-division writing exam, usually in the form of a timed writing (Links to an external site.) during your junior year. The upper-division writing exam was created to make sure that all college graduates in the California system have obtained an acceptable level of critical reading, thinking, and writing skills in English. At SDSU, not doing well on the exam means you may have to take up to three more writing courses, which can put off your graduation. Thi
The essay at the end of this module is informed by San Diego State's Writing Placement Assessment (WPA) (Links to an external site.) At the same time, it asks more of you because it is not timed and you have two weeks to complete it. However, spending time on this website will help you to do well on the essay, the exam at SDSU or wherever you transfer (though the prompt for the exam does vary from college to college, the state does require it at UC and state universities). To be clear, your rhetorical analysis is informed by the WPA, not exactly the same. You are welcome to move ahead and check it out and get started!
Whether you plan to transfer or not, the critical reading, reasoning, and writing skills required in this type of essay are invaluable to your academic career as well as your role as a citizen in our democracy.
In 2015, Forbes magazine ran a list of the 10 skills employers most want for college graduates (Links to an external site.) If you have time, check it out. I just reread it and I am thrilled to report that you are working on quite a few of them in this course!