POSSIBLE EXIT WRITING TOPICS
1. Cultural anthropologists claim that for the first time in history the old are learning from the young. In a 5-paragraph essay, explain what you think they are learning. Use specific reasons and examples to support your claim.
2. Community service can be a valuable part of the college experience. If you were to devote one year of service to a volunteer project, what would it be, and what would you hope to accomplish? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer in a 5-paragraph essay.
3. Write a 5-paragraph essay in which you use specific examples to illustrate the ways in which a person, a book, or a film has had an impact on your life.
4. Do you trust someone in authority if he or she is a sloppy dresser, has dirty fingernails, or needs a haircut? In a 5-paragraph essay, explain why or why not. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
5. You are in charge of a project that will send a small unmanned capsule into deep space. The idea is to show anyone or anything that finds it what life in the U.S. is like right now. Write a 5-paragraph essay in which you explain what three items you would include, using specific reasons and examples to support your choices.
6. If you could have one new skill for a year, what would it be and why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your reasoning in a 5-paragraph essay.
7. Write a 5-paragraph essay in which you discuss why the number of people shopping online is growing. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
8. Write a 5-paragraph essay describing the ways you currently adapt and/or change your body (including clothing-style choices) to express your individuality or your tastes and opinions. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
9. Write a 5-paragraph essay in which you discuss how some negative experience (e.g., disability, illness, failure) has had a positive influence on your life. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
10. How often should a person be given another chance after he or she has been unfaithful, lied, or broken a promise? Write a 5-paragraph essay in which you explain why you chose the number you did. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer
How to Prepare for the Exit Exam Essay
In a meeting with several ENC 1101 instructors, I asked the following question: What is the one thing EAP students should know when they get to your class? Their answer was the students should understand the purpose of the assignment.Therefore, make sure you understand what the prompt is asking you to write about.
Content Preparation
Carefully read each topic and decide if the prompt is asking for a personal essay or a third person essay. A model essay for a personal essay is "The Learning Curve" on pages 115 - 117 in the text. In this essay, you should note the change from third person in the introductory sentences to first person in the thesis statement. Also, notice how the writer makes transitions in each of the topic sentences in the body paragraphs. If a topic is asking for a non-personal, third person essay, then study the "The Budget Crisis" essay on page 369. Non-personal essays should be written completely in the third person with no personal pronouns such as I, me, we, our, my, etc.
The exit exam essay must be a 5-paragraph essay as defined in class. This means you will need to include the following elements in your essay:
- Two or three introductory sentences (general introduction to the subject of the essay)
- Thesis statement (try to use an essay map with the items in parallel)
- Topic sentences in the three body paragraphs including mention of the subject of the essay(study the example essays named above)
- Supporting sentences with 8 - 10 independent clauses, which must include specific examples and details. If your essay is personal, you may narrate a story ("The Learning Curve"). If you are writing a third person essay, you should include at least 3 different examples, more is preferable ("The Budget Crisis").
- Two or three concluding sentences. You might answer the question: what should or might happen next? Discuss a hopeful or future oriented thought. If possible, do more than just repeating the thesis statement.
Grammar Preparation
Minimum grammar knowledge you should be able to demonstrate in your essay:
- Sentence structure (avoid fragments, comma splices, and run ons)
- Agreement (subject-verb AND pronoun-antecedent) Use of "this" and "these"
- Verb tense consistency
- Article usage with plural AND singular nouns
- Punctuation (commas, periods, semi colons) and capitalization (capitalize at the beginning of each sentence)
- Avoid use of second person "you" (consistency in person)
- Use sentence variation - When appropriate correctly use a variety of relationship words (pink sheet) to combine sentences
- Correct spelling and word usage
Language preparation
Develop a list of vocabulary words that you may use in your essay. If you repeat the same exact words throughout your essay, you will lose points with the evaluator.
Avoid repeating the exact words the writer of the topic used.