ENGLISH 1121: COLLEGE WRITING AND CRITICAL READING
WRITING DIAGNOSTIC ESSAY
Today, you’ll be writing an in-class essay. This essay will serve a couple of purposes:
First, it will allow me to determine where you are as a writer as we begin our semester
together. With this knowledge of people’s strengths and weaknesses in writing, I can
tailor our class to meet students’ needs.
Second, you will use this essay again as a required component of our Final Exam, at
the end of the semester.
Please set a timer for yourself, and spend up to 50 minutes to write this essay.
Because we are working on the honor system, it is up to you to pace yourself, and stop
writing when the 50 minutes are up.
To complete this Writing Diagnostic Essay, open up a blank Word document, and spend
50 minutes responding to the question, below. Be sure to hit “Save” frequently while
you’re working.
After the 50 minutes are over, go to the Dropbox tab at the top of our D2L site, and
upload your essay into the Dropbox provided for this assignment.
Begin your 50-minute timer now.
Because this composition is so important to our work in the class, as well as the
successful completion of your Final Exam, be sure to respond to the following prompt in
your best, most polished prose style:
Is there value in studying popular culture in a college course?