How The Course Works

The Writing Proficiency Course will ask you to prepare a portfolio of essays which must receive a passing score from two of the Program’s exam readers in order for you to receive credit for the course.

This portfolio is made up of 4 essays, and you will—with constant input from your instructor—work through a series of pre-works and drafts for each essay. These 4 essays mirror the critical reading and writing process you need to do in order to be successful in the Writing Proficiency Exam.

Below is a brief description of each essay required for the WPP393 portfolio:

• Assignment #1 asks you to write a rhetorical analysis of one of the academic articles assigned for the session.
• Assignment #2 asks you to explain your responses to the ideas of the academic article.
• Assignment #3 allows you to explore the social, political, economic, cultural or ethical concerns raised by the academic article.
• Assignment #4 simulates the timed-writing component of the Writing Proficiency Exam and asks you to synthesize information about the topic and express your judgment about that topic.

Your portfolio essays are assessed using the same grading criteria as the Exam (WPP392) and according to the same process.

At the end of the 6th week during the academic year—and the end of the 4th week in the Summer—the portfolios are read by a committee of Writing Proficiency Program readers. If any essays in a portfolio do not pass the reading, writers are given another week to revise those essays before the portfolio is reread. This second reading decides the grade of all writers.

You may repeat WPP393 as many times as you need in order to fulfill the Writing Proficiency requirement.