Examination in Writing Proficiency (EWP) Essay Scoring Guide
EWP Essay Scoring Guide
Your essay will be scored by faculty selected from throughout the
university who are trained specifically for this responsibility.
The essay topic is designed to give you an opportunity to demonstrate
your ability to write clearly and effectively. Your essay will be
evaluated on the basis of organization, development, appropriate
word choice, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and logic. It should
be well organized and well developed, and demonstrate a clear understanding
of the assignment. The writing should exhibit your ability to use
language effectively to construct sentences of appropriate complexity
and variety. There should be enough specific information in your
essay to illustrate a described experience or support a proposed
argument. You should complete all tasks set by the assignment.
A "pass" essay may contain some writing errors but they
should not be serious or frequent enough to distract the reader
or to suggest there are major problems in writing.
A "fail" essay will reveal one or more of the following
weaknesses: (1) serious problems of organization or focus, (2) insufficient
specific information to illustrate experiences or support arguments,
(3) serious problems in sentence structure, or (4) errors in grammar,
spelling, punctuation or word choice that are serious enough to
distract or confuse the reader.
Sample Essay Topic
The essay topic is designed to give you an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to write
clearly and effectively. Be sure to provide supporting details and examples where appropriate.
Your essay will be evaluated on the basis of organization, development, appropriate word
choice, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and logic. Remember too brief an answer is not desirable.
You have 90 minutes to write on the essay topic. You have ample time to make notes and
outline your essay before you begin to write. You also have enough time to edit your essay
after you have written it.
Sample Topic 1
In many cities throughout the United States and abroad people
rely on public transportation, while in Southern California most
people travel by private automobile. Each time a gasoline shortage
occurs or is threatened, alternative forms of transportation are
discussed, e.g., car pools, busses, subways. Most Southland residents,
however, continue to prefer to drive everywhere in their own cars.
Writing Assignment: Please respond to all of the following.
 |
Why do you think Southern Californians have chosen to favor
use of individual automobiles instead of mass transportation?
Be specific supporting your opinion. |
|
What, if anything, do you think would make Southern Californians
change their minds? |
Sample Topic 2
Consider the following statement: "The folly of formal education
has always been its attempt to crowd everything into the
requirements for a degree."
Writing Assignment: Please respond to all of the following.
|
Based on your experience as a university student, do you agree
or disagree with this position? |
|
Give examples from your experience to support your position.
|
|
What changes in the requirements of your university education
would you like to make? |
|
