This exam will be objective. It seeks to assess your mastery of the theory that I will lay out early in the semester. There will be multiple choice, definition, and may be short essay questions.
Make-up exams will be a different exam, require your notifying me in advance that you will be unable to make the regularly scheduled exam and providing proper documentation for your absence.
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This exam will be two essay type questions testing your ability to apply the things you have learned to experiences around you and to relate the readings to your experience. The questions may ask you to compare (for example, compare Bosmajian's and Sowell's viewpoints on the power of language), to apply the perspective (describe the power of language in responses to the media's presentation of President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky), or to expand on an aspect of the course (discuss the methods by which language forms, perpetuates, and destroys social hierarchy). I will post some sample questions on the website to help you prepare for the examination. I also recommend study groups in which you invent questions for each other, listen to answers, then critique the answers to help each other improve your performance. The days when the class is yours will also be days to try out your understanding in a way that will help you prepare for the final. As the semester proceeds I may also activate a class reflector where you can email material to each other to test your understandings.
Make-up exams will be a different exam, require your notifying me in advance that you will be unable to make the regularly scheduled exam and providing proper documentation for your absence.
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In addition to the exams, graduate students should submit a paper (3000 to 4000 words) exploring an idea germinated through the lectures or the readings. You should have a claim and marshal some support for that claim, but full documentation is not as important as insight. I am primarily looking to see that you use the material as a stimulus to your own thinking. Due December 1. Papers will be evaluated based on: (1) the quality of insight, (2) the degree to which the paper shows your understanding of the material of the course, (3) the quality of the writing including the clarity with which you advance and elaborate a thesis, and (4) the following of proper form. MLA or APA form will be accepted. An "A" paper will be superior on all four criteria.
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