Exam Format
A) The exam will include four short essay prompts; you will write in response to two of the four.  An additional stipulation:  The two you choose cannot both discuss the same text.
B) All four prompts on the exam will be chosen from the seven prompts listed below.
C) The exam is open book and open notes.  Bring all your course texts and any notes that you like.

Essay Prompts
1.  What makes Ben Franklin an "Enlightenment" writer?
2.  Is it fair to call Errol Morris's "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred Leuchter, Jr.," a documentary?  Why or why not?  Why do viewers disagree about whether the film is a documentary?
3.  According to author and English professor Andrew Levy, why is Robert Carter III not a better-known figure in American history?
4.  In what ways is Wilma Dykeman's The French Broad a formula book?  In what ways does Dykeman go beyond the formula--if, indeed, she does?
5.  Compare Levy's essay, "The Anti-Jefferson," and Jonathon Franzen's "My Father's Brain."  Things to consider:  What is a personal essay?  What is an academic article?  What does Ken Macrorie mean by "the I-search paper"?
6.  Compare your own final essay, the one posted on the web, to one or more of the professional nonfiction pieces we read for class this past semester.  Some questions to consider:  What can you say about the forms or nonfiction "genres" you're working with--genres such as the academic article or the personal essay?  How does your writing differ from the professional writing, and what might account for that difference?
7.  Choose a piece we read from the "Best American Essays 2002."  Then make one of the two following cases: either 1) the piece does belong in the anthology; or 2) it does not belong.  Focus on the terms "best" and "essay."  In other words, if you're arguing for a piece's inclusion, state why the piece qualifies as an essay, and what's good about it.  And vice versa.

Grading Criteria
I will grade the essays according to the following criteria:
1)  Information:  How thoroughly do you cover the basic ideas and issues raised in class?
2)   Connections:  How well do you connect your discussion to broader issues, and to other texts?
3)   Intelligence and originality:  Do you go beyond the basics and make additional observations?
4)   Use of quotes and citations:  Do you select good -- i.e. specific and appropriate -- quotes from the relevant texts?  (Also,
do you cite the author and page number?)
5)   Writing quality:  How good is your general fluency, grammar, punctuation?