Assignment Sheet for English 377 * Fall 1999
Prof. Karen D. Austin: kaustin@shepherd.edu

Assignment Sheet for Midterm Essay Exam

Due in class on Wednesday, October 13th.

Brief Description: Write a 500 to 1,000 word essay (2-4 pages) that analyzes the theoretical underpinnings of the Writing Center's Mission Statement by applying the class readings. You need to find your own focus/scope/question, but the broad question (one that you need to narrow through your own, unique approach) might be stated as follows: "Does the SC Writing Center operate under current theories in composition, as documented in Capossela's book?"

Detailed Description. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the following:

• Your understanding of the assigned readings
• Your ability to connect the practice of tutoring with major theories from the field of composition (Remember the course title: "Peer Tutoring & Composition Theory." Composition in this case is not the act of composing an academic essay; it's the field of research dedicated to understanding how people practice and improve their writing skills.)
• Your general writing ability (See the Grading Criteria)

You are writing this essay at home so that you can use more than 75 minutes if you need it. Consequently, you should take time to review the readings, draft a response, revise, polish and proofread. Instead of writing in the one-page, single spaced format required for the analysis and praxis papers, follow the format described on my English 101 webpage--with one exception: your paper will probably be longer. You can refer to items from your logs/observations, but make sure that you represent enough of the readings from our textbook to demonstrate that you can respond to them in a substantial way.