1. This memo is addressed to first-time (freshman)students who entered
John Jay College in Sep. '99 or thereafter as either associate degree or
baccalaureate candidates. Its purpose is to alert you to one of the more
important exams you'll face in your undergraduate career, namely, the CUNY
Proficiency Exam (P.E.. Here are the sobering regulations:
(a) Freshmen/Sophomores in Baccalaureate Programs: Pass the P.E. in
order to win promotion to the Junior year
(b) Students in Assoc. Degree Programs: Pass the P.E. in order to
graduate
For baccalaureate students, the P.E. must be taken after 45 credits are earned and before exceeding 60 credits. You will get three chances to pass. Note, also, that if you are up to it you may take the P.E. as often as you wish without penalty at any time before you earn 45 credits without affecting your 'three chances' as an upper sophomore should you fail.
2. So this is serious business that will require your attention from the
moment you enter college. And the Proficiency Exam is related to no particular
course or discipline of the curriculum. It is a written exam set and corrected
by outside examiners to test how you wrestle with chunks of related information
in selected extracts from books or articles on whatever topics the examiners
choose. It is a test of your ability to write well, think clearly, analyze
cogently, and compare (note similarities) and contrast (note differences) points
of view during a three-hour sitting. At least you will be given one
extract to study at home for a brief period and you are advised to mark-up or
highlight in advance the important points of that text, which you must bring
along to the exam. At the exam itself you will be given an additional related
extract from a different source which you will not have seen previously. The
writing assignment (essay exam) will require you to use the content of both
extracts in providing the answers requested. Your essay will constitute Task
1 of the Proficiency Exam.
The exam also includes a second, separate assignment (Task II) which will require you to interpret data from a graph or chart. This task will present you with a brief reading of two or three paragraphs on some topic (a recent topic introduced ideas about contemporary attitudes to work). You will need to summarize the main points of the reading but also integrate supporting (or contrary) data from the graph or chart for an effective answer.
Note that you must pass both Tasks I and II in order to qualify for promotion.
3. It is incumbent on the student, therefore, to acquire by dint of study and application the necessary skills (narrative and analytical) in most of the courses that will be open to you in your freshman and sophomore (first two) years, especially in such writing-intensive disciplines as English literature, history and philosophy. Thus, the best training you can receive from your professors are exams that require you to write continuous prose in the form of essays; not the familiar true/false, fill-in or multiple-choice answers. You should, therefore, welcome those essays as best contributing to your passing the Proficiency Exam, as they ordinarily require you to (a) summarize information you will have heard in a lecture or read in a textbook, (b) elicit meaning from a statement of issues, and (c) make connections or draw comparisons between ideas, events, personalities and so on. So expect to see greater and greater emphasis placed on writing by your professors.
4. Now every college student can write, but what the P.E. requires is
that you write well . That is, you must express yourself clearly, show an
effective grasp of the rules of grammar (verb tenses, mood, case, etc.),
punctuation and syntax (proper sentence structure) as you tackle the specific
questions related to the articles. As indicated above, these will not
necessarily relate to any of the courses you'll be taking at the time you take
the exam. They could be extracts from a book or magazine on some serious
subject ranging from science to sociology. For example, the pilot
(experimental) exams given to student volunteers in Spring 1999 covered such
topics as highway transportation, an historical overview of "housewives'
work," how history should be taught, scientific theories on the extinction
of dinosaurs, America as ethnic "melting pot," tenement living in
early nineteenth-century New York, memories of native-American life stories,
and race and statistics..............a wide range indeed.
As indicated in the current Scoring Guide for examiners, all the following
competencies will be expected of the student in handling the extracts assigned:
(a) show understanding of the text by summarizing main points;
i.e., deciphering the authors' intentions and explaining concepts
(b) write a clear and organized analysis of the main arguments of
the texts, and either support or argue against them by reference to your own
learning or experience
(c) include in the essay quotations or references from the texts
in support of your analysis
(d) write with clarity and precision, with due attention to
grammar, spelling and punctuation
Each of the foregoing will represent some part of the grading of your essay.
5. Apart from the experience that you will gain for handling the
Proficiency Exam in your regular course work, you would be well advised to keep
as your constant companion a suitable text of English grammar. Your investment
in, for example, the Harbrace College Book by Hodges & Whitten would
repay itself a hundred-fold in your acquiring the capability and confidence of
good writing. Constant reference to a pocket dictionary as you read will work
wonders for your vocabulary and proficiency in spelling. And, not least,
frequent, if not daily, perusal of a quality newspaper such as the New York
Times will not only keep you abreast of current events but, through its
specialized articles, will make you familiar with some of the contemporary
themes that may crop up in the Exam.
When you do write, do so in an orderly fashion in paragraphs of appropriate
length, each built around a single theme as they work to offer a considered and
well rounded response to a question. Avoid a slew of separate three- or
four-line paragraphs: these do not look good and suggest a lack of focus and
understanding. When it comes to working with a take-home extract, mark
(highlight) phrases or sentences as suggested by items (a) and (c) above--you
might actually alight on themes that will be selected by the examiners for
their questions.
6. Based on the results of the Pilot Exams that have taken place over the past year or so, we know what the examiners desire in your essays. They place great emphasis on comprehension (i.e., demonstration of a good understanding of the text) and effective organization. Paragraphs should "move smoothly from point to point in logical sequence." The writing should be clear and sophisticated, be formal in nature, and offer some depth of analysis and comparison. And there should be appropriate quotations from the texts, citing page references. On the negative side, they do not look kindly on loose or informal writing (slang or jargon), imprecise wording, careless errors that impede comprehension, vagueness and superficiality. Lack of a development of ideas and work which does not appear as a "unified and connected piece of writing" are also a cause for alarm. And not to deal with all parts of the assignment would be a fatal error indeed.
7. In summary, therefore, strive for the following:
(a) show good understanding
(b) be organized and logical and summarize accurately
(c) make effective connections between the reading extracts
(d) use relevant quotations
(e) show depth of analysis
(f) use your own experience to further the argument
(g) employ correct conventions of written English
(h) write a smoothly flowing narrative that is clear and easy to read
(i) Above all, complete the assignment fully
If you falter on the first go-around, learn from your mistakes and be sure to work even harder to ensure your success on your second attempt. ................................ Good luck, whoever you are! .......................................................................................................obee