BA 1

Your instructions:
Brief Assignment 1: Pre-Semester Diagnostic
Objective: To identify potential weaknesses in grammar and mechanics for further study this semester
Purpose: Often, students realize that they have trouble with grammar and mechanics, but find it hard to learn to avoid those errors because they aren’t even sure what they are. This assignment requires you to take the pre-semester diagnostic and then to write a brief reflection in the form of a short essay about your score. You will also answer some additional questions about your writing experience prior to enrolling in ENGL 1301.
Description: 1. Please begin by telling readers what your score was on the diagnostic. 2. Then, write a few sentences in which you tell us what problems you've had with grammar in the past and what questions about grammar you'd like answered. Also, please write a few sentences in which you tell readers whether or not the score was higher or lower than you expected. After reviewing your results, and based on your previous writing experiences, which particular grammar elements would you like to focus on this semester? 3. Conclude this first assignment by telling readers a little about the writing you did in high school. Roughly how many papers did you write? What kinds of papers were they? Research-based, argumentative, analytical? What do you think your strengths are as a writer? Your weaknesses?

Your assignment should be about 300 - 350 words in length in the form of a brief essay.

The diagnostic may be accessed here.

NOTE: You may only take the diagnostic once, and you may not exit out and resume the diagnostic at a later time.

Some things the graders are looking for: 
Grading the Assignment
Students need to take the diagnostic and then answer the questions posed by the assignment They must answer all questions in detail in order to receive full credit.

Rubric Criteria
Issue Identification and Focus
Writer should focus on diagnostic as well as previous writing experiences.

Context and Assumptions
Writer should provide discussion of his or her writing experiences prior to this course to contextualize whether the score was as expected or not.

Sources and Evidence
Writer should refer to specific questions and/or topics of the diagnostic (i.e. apostrophes, comma splices) and talk about specific past writing assignments or experiences.

Own Perspective
Writer should clearly state his or her own assessment of skills and experiences.

Conclusion
Writer should discuss items to work on in the coming semester

Communication
This is a reflection, so readers can generally expect use of first-person, but the tone overall should be professional, with attention paid to the organization of the assignment, grammar, mechanics, etc.