College Writing
ENGx110
Extended Response
3.0 / Lower
The UExcel College Writing examination measures knowledge and understanding of the material typically taught in an introductory, one-semester, three-credit, lower-level undergraduate course in college writing. The examination measures the ability to organize knowledge, ideas, and information; to adopt rhetorical strategies such as narration, illustration, explanation, and description in appropriate ways; to adopt and maintain a tone and point of view appropriate for a specified audience and rhetorical situation; to develop and maintain a controlling idea and a coherent organization; and to write within the rhetorical, syntactic, and mechanical conventions of Standard Written American English. (Extended response examination)
Note: This exam requires a specialized kind of writing, which may be different than writing you do for other purposes. Please read the study materials carefully.
Prepare for the Exam
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The content guide outlines what you need to learn for each exam and includes a list of recommended textbooks, links to online learning resources, and sample exam questions:
View, download, or print the Content Guide
Note: There is no corresponding practice exam for the College Writing essay exam. To help you prepare, Excelsior has developed a variety of resources to strengthen your writing for this purpose. First of all:
Start by studying the textbook, the content guide (and outline), and the course guide (available for free download on this page!). There is no corresponding digital practice exam for the College Writing exam, as there are for many of the other UExcel exams. One reason is because writing is unique to the individual. Whatever your writing background, to help you further prepare for the exam, visit Excelsior’s very own Online Writing Lab (the OWL). Sections dedicated to Writing Process, Rhetorical Styles, and Argument & Critical Thinking may be particularly helpful to you as you study, depending on which areas of your writing you need to strengthen.
If you need to brush up on your grammar (and if you like interactivity), at the end of Rhetorical Styles there’s a What’s My Assignment? quiz, and there are three Try It Out quizzes in the Grammar Essentials section.
Essential to your success on this exam is to practice writing the sample prompts (found in the Course Guide, available for free download on this page). As you write, ask someone with a strong background in writing and especially in composition to give you feedback, using the rubric in the Course Guide. Then, practice writing the prompts again until you become comfortable with the type of writing called for in the exam.
Good luck!
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