ELA 30-1 - Diploma Exam Preparation
Part A – Writing
two assignments
Monday, June 14 9:00am – noon
RVLC, Airdrie
Part B – Reading
8 readings with 70 multiple choice questions
Wednesday, June 23 9:00am – noon
RVLC, Airdrie
Part A – Written Response (50%)
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Personal Response to Texts
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40%
one hour
Critical/Analytical Response to Literary Texts
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60%
two hours
Personal Response to Texts ASSIGNMENT
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What do these texts suggest to you about . . . ?
(texts may be visual, poetry and/or prose selections)
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Select a prose form that is appropriate to the ideas
you wish to express and that will enable you to
effectively communicate to the reader.
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Discuss ideas and/or impressions that are meaningful
to you
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You may respond from a personal, critical, and/or
creative perspective. Keep in mind that regardless of
the form you choose, you must communicate clearly
to the reader.
prose forms
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short essay
rant
journal entry
newspaper article
editorial
interior monologue
short story
personal observation
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letter
eulogy
interview
rebuttal
screen play
speech
anecdote
commentary
et cetera
Critical/Analytical Response to Literary Texts
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Discuss the idea developed by the author
about . . .
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What idea does the author develop about . . . ?
instructions
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You must focus your discussion on a text other than
the texts provided in this examination booklet.
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When considering the work that you know well, select
a text meaningful to you and relevant to this
assignment. Choose from short stories, novels, plays,
screenplays, poetry, films, or other texts that you
have studied in your ELA 30-1 class.
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Carefully consider your controlling idea or how you
will create a strong, unifying effect in your response.
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As you develop your ideas, support them with
appropriate, relevant, and meaningful examples from
the text.
CONNECTIONS – Part “A”
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Each text studied this term was studied in a particular
thematic unit. You will make connections across these
units, reviewing the texts to determine what each has
in common with a text from another unit.
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The connection you make does NOT have to fall under
one of the themes studied – respect and injustice,
convention and circumstance, or idealism and truth.
The potential for connections between any two texts is
limitless. You may want to use the Word document
"essay questions" for connection ideas.
PREPARE – Part “A”
1. Choose three texts that were studied this semester
about which you would feel confident to write.
2. For EACH text, list and describe (in detail) the
following:
- title, author, genre
- important characters
- symbols, motifs
- theme
- brief quotations (3-5?) that are important to the
piece as a whole – theme, character, symbolism
texts studied
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Hamlet
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Kite Runner
The Shawshank Redemption
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“The Iron Road”
“Grinning and Happy”
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“Shining Houses”
“The Painted Door”
“On the Rainy River”
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“Dulce Et Decorum Est”
“Guilt”
“Field of Vision”
“Where There’s a Wall”
“The Uninvited”
Refugee Mother & Child”
“Students”
“The Lady of Shalott”
Part A – bring:
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dictionary
thesaurus
pen / pencil for planning – even if you are
writing on the computer
highlighter(s) for marking key ideas /
phrases on the exam
Be aware that your books and pencil cases
will be checked for extraneous information,
which I know that none of you will be
carrying, anyway. 
Part A – check when finished:
Once your assignments have been printed off, and
stapled into your exam booklet, be sure of the
following:
 it is YOUR work
 it is complete – all assignments have been printed
 it is in the proper order
 your 6-digit registration number is on each page
 each page is numbered
 each assignment is stapled into its appropriate
page in the exam booklet
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You are NOT allowed to take anything out of the
exam room other than what you brought in. This
includes any copy of the assignments you
completed on the exam.
Part A – et cetera
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Bring picture ID.
Aim to arrive at RVLC by 8:30 am
for EACH diploma exam you write.
Go to bed early tonight and get a
good night’s rest!!
Part B – Reading (50%)
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10 reading selections (readings booklet)
70 questions (questions booklet)
three hours
This examination contains questions that
refer to
more than one reading selection. Read the
texts and answer the questions in the order
that they appear in the Readings Booklet and
Questions Booklet.
PREPARE – Part “B”
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Write a previous exam under exam conditions –
two hours, no breaks, no dictionary or thesaurus.
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If possible, use an exam from “The KEY” which
provides an annotated answer key.
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DO NOT OVER-THINK / OVERANALYZE YOUR RESPONSES!!
REVIEW
Part A
 essay writing – theory unit
 diploma preparation tutorials
Part B
 theory unit
UNIT FIVE
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samples of student writing
Part “A” diploma exams from 1990 to 2010
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Lessons 1-3
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literary terms list
multiple choice strategies
reading comprehension
Part “B” diploma exams with key
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