Midterm Exam -- English 241 – Dr. McCrimmon – Fall 2015 Part One: Close Reading (60 pts.) Note: Don’t be thrown by the length of these instructions. I’m just trying to give you some good strategies for close reading. You might use some of these for your major essay, in fact. I would prefer that you do your work on this “take-home” exam independently. You should not have to use outside, secondary sources on this exam, although dictionaries such as the OED online (available as a database through our library) may help you to clarify certain word usages. My expectation is that you will generally be able to draw from the experience you have had thus far as a reader and writer in the course. You are being asked to perform a “close reading” of each passage below. First, take notes on each passage by carefully applying the following five analytical moves:  suspend judgment (understand before you judge);  define significant parts and how they’re related;  look for patterns of repetition and contrast and anomaly;  make the implicit explicit (convert to direct statement meanings that are suggested indirectly);  keep reformulating questions and explanations. (Rosenwasser and Stephen, Writing Analytically, p. 41) Then consider another set of questions as you continue to study and write about each passage closely:  The question of evidence, or "How do we know what we know?"  The question of viewpoint in all its multiplicity, or "Who's speaking?"  The search for connection and patterns, or "What causes what?"  Supposition, or "How might things have been different?"  Why any of it matters, or "Who cares?" (Debbie Meier, “Habits of Mind”) Return to the Reader’s Toolkit on the wiki for any other techniques (besides the two above) that seem appropriate to the task of close reading. After you have thoroughly annotated these passages to your satisfaction, convert your notes into a response that addresses both form (style, structure, genre, voice, attitude toward audience and subject, etc.) and content (what's actually being said; how the substance of the passage relates and fits into the text as a whole; also how the content of the passage and text fits into the larger historical and cultural context). Don’t confuse the moves above with a recipe or a simple set of questions to answer. There is no perfect answer; your response will be assessed based on the extent to which you are able to sustain an interesting analysis of these passages in your own voice. The more analytical work you do on each passage, the better each answer will be. There are no prescribed length expectations or limitations on Part One or Part Two, but it’s generally a good idea not to hold anything back. If you have much to say, go ahead and say it. Each of the six close readings is worth 10 points, and the Part Two essay question is worth 40 points. 1. John Smith, “Description of ...

1. Midterm Exam -- English 241 – Dr. McCrimmon – Fall 2015
Part One: Close Reading (60 pts.)
Note: Don’t be thrown by the length of these instructions. I’m
just trying to give you some good
strategies for close reading. You might use some of these for
your major essay, in fact. I would prefer
that you do your work on this “take-home” exam independently.
You should not have to use outside,
secondary sources on this exam, although dictionaries such as
the OED online (available as a database
through our library) may help you to clarify certain word
usages. My expectation is that you will
generally be able to draw from the experience you have had thus
far as a reader and writer in the
course.
You are being asked to perform a “close reading” of each
passage below. First, take notes on each
passage by carefully applying the following five analytical
moves:
ts and how they’re related;

2. meanings that are suggested indirectly);
(Rosenwasser and Stephen, Writing Analytically, p. 41)
Then consider another set of questions as you continue to study
and write about each passage closely:
know?"
its multiplicity, or "Who's
speaking?"
what?"
(Debbie Meier, “Habits of Mind”)
Return to the Reader’s Toolkit on the wiki for any other
techniques (besides the two above) that seem
appropriate to the task of close reading.
After you have thoroughly annotated these passages to your
satisfaction, convert your notes into a
response that addresses both form (style, structure, genre, voice,
attitude toward audience and subject,
etc.) and content (what's actually being said; how the substance
of the passage relates and fits into the
text as a whole; also how the content of the passage and text fits
into the larger historical and cultural
context). Don’t confuse the moves above with a recipe or a

3. simple set of questions to answer. There is
no perfect answer; your response will be assessed based on the
extent to which you are able to sustain
an interesting analysis of these passages in your own voice.
The more analytical work you do on each
passage, the better each answer will be.
There are no prescribed length expectations or limitations on
Part One or Part Two, but it’s generally a
good idea not to hold anything back. If you have much to say,
go ahead and say it. Each of the six
close readings is worth 10 points, and the Part Two essay
question is worth 40 points.
1. John Smith, “Description of New England” (Collection 1)
Who can desire more content, that hath small means; or but only
his merit to advance his fortune, than
to tread, and plant that ground he hath purchased by the hazard
of his life? If he have but the taste of
virtue, and magnanimity, what to such a mind can be more
pleasant, than planting and building a
foundation for his Posterity, got from the rude earth, by God’s
blessing & his own industry, without
prejudice to any? If he have any grain of faith or zeal in
Religion, what can he do less hurtful to any; or
more agreeable to God, than to seek to convert those poor
Salvages to know Christ, and humanity,
whose labors with discretion will triple requite thy charge and
pains? What so truly suits with honor and

4. honesty, as the discovering things unknown? Erecting Towns,
peopling Countries, informing the
ignorant, reforming things unjust, teaching virtue; & gain to our
Native mother-country a kingdom to
attend her; find employment for those that are idle, because they
know not what to do: so far from
wronging any, as to cause Posterity to remember thee; and
remembering thee, ever honor that
remembrance with praise?
2. Anne Bradstreet, “To Her Father with Some Verses”
(Collection 2)
Most truly honoured, and as truly dear,
If worth in me or ought I do appear,
Who can of right better demand the same
Than may your worthy self from whom it came?
The principal might yield a greater sum,
Yet handled ill, amounts but to this crumb;
My stock's so small I know not how to pay,
My bond remains in force unto this day;
Yet for part payment take this simple mite,
Where nothing's to be had, kings loose their right.
Such is my debt I may not say forgive,
But as I can, I'll pay it while I live;
Such is my bond, none can discharge but I,
Yet paying is not paid until I die.
3. Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, Part II (Collection 3)
My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve; but a Quaker
friend having kindly informed me that I
was generally thought proud; that my pride show'd itself
frequently in conversation; that I was not
content with being in the right when discussing any point, but

5. was overbearing, and rather insolent, of
which he convinc'd me by mentioning several instances; I
determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I
could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Humility
to my list) giving an extensive meaning
to the word. I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the
reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal
with regard to the appearance of it. I made it a rule to forbear
all direct contradiction to the sentiments
of others, and all positive assertion of my own. I even forbid
myself, agreeably to the old laws of our
Junto, the use of every word or expression in the language that
imported a fix'd opinion, such as
certainly, undoubtedly, etc., and I adopted, instead of them, I
conceive, I apprehend, or I imagine a
thing to be so or so; or it so appears to me at present. When
another asserted something that I thought
an error, I deny'd myself the pleasure of contradicting him
abruptly, and of showing immediately some
absurdity in his proposition; and in answering I began by
observing that in certain cases or
circumstances his opinion would be right, but in the present
case there appear'd or seem'd to me some
difference, etc. I soon found the advantage of this change in my
manner; the conversations I engag'd in
went on more pleasantly. The modest way in which I propos'd
my opinions procur'd them a readier
reception and less contradiction; I had less mortification when I
was found to be in the wrong, and I
more easily prevail'd with others to give up their mistakes and
join with me when I happened to be in

6. the right. And this mode, which I at first put on with some
violence to natural inclination, became at
length so easy, and so habitual to me, that perhaps for these
fifty years past no one has ever heard a
dogmatical expression escape me.
4. Thomas Paine, “Common Sense” (Collection 4)
I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished
under her former connection with
Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her
future happiness, and will always have the
same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of
argument. We may as well assert that
because a child has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have
meat, or that the first twenty years of our
lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. But even this
is admitting more than is true; for I
answer roundly that America would have flourished as much,
and probably much more, had no
European power taken any notice of her. The commerce by
which she hath enriched herself are the
necessaries of life, and will always have a market while eating
is the custom of Europe.
5. Judith Sargent Murray, “On the Equality of the Sexes”
(Collection 5)
"But our judgment is not so strong--we do not distinguish so
well." Yet it may be questioned, from
what doth this superiority, in this discriminating faculty of the
soul, proceed? May we not trace its
source in the difference of education, and continued
advantages? Will it be said that the judgment of a

7. male of two years old, is more sage than that of a female's of
the same age? I believe the reverse is
generally observed to be true. But from that period what
partiality! how is the one exalted and the other
depressed, by the contrary modes of education which are
adopted! the one is taught to aspire, and the
other is early confined and limited. As their years increase, the
sister must be wholly domesticated,
while the brother is led by the hand through all the flowery
paths of science. Grant that their minds are
by nature equal, yet who shall wonder at the apparent
superiority, if indeed custom becomes second
nature; nay if it taketh place of nature, and that it doth, the
experience of each day will evince.
6. Angelina Grimke, “Appeal to Christian Women of the South”
(Collection 6)
Respected Friends,
It is because I feel a deep and tender interest in your present
and eternal welfare that I am willing thus
publicly to address you. Some of you have loved me as a
relative, and some have felt bound to me in
Christian sympathy, and Gospel fellowship; and even when
compelled by a strong sense of duty, to
break those outward bonds of union which bound us together as
members of the same community,
and members of the same religious denomination, you were
generous enough to give me credit, for
sincerity as a Christian, though you believed I had been most
strangely deceived. I thanked you then for
your kindness, and I ask you now, for the sake of former
confidence, and former friendship, to read the
following pages in the spirit of calm investigation and fervent
prayer. It is because you have known me,
that I write thus unto you. But there are other Christian women

8. scattered over the Southern States, a
very large number of whom have never seen me, and never
heard my name, and who feel no interest
whatever in me. But I feel an interest in you, as branches of the
same vine from whose root I daily draw
the principle of spiritual vitality.
7.
Essay (40 pts.):
BEST PRACTICES IN ARGUMENTATION
Choose the writer we’ve read so far who, in your opinion, has
been the most successful at
persuasion/argument, given the original audience, purpose, and
topic (e.g. rhetorical situation). Make
sure you discuss and interpret these rhetorical factors at length
before going on to defend your choice.
Remember that persuasion/argument, as I've been defining it
(after Aristotle's Rhetoric), is the attempt
to use language in a strategic way in order to forge the most
effective relationship between writer (or
speaker), reader (or listener) and topic. Persuasion/argument,
as you know from the Questions for
Annotations and Blog Entries, can also be examined as the
strategic use and balancing of four basic
types of rhetorical appeals:

9. religion or patriotism)
Feel free to use the brief definitions of these four appeals as
you develop your response, citing
examples from the text, if possible. In closing, you could
discuss what lessons you’ve learned about
persuasion in general from this writer’s model use of rhetoric.
What “best practices” does this writer
display that might be useful to you as a productive worker and
student, as a citizen of a democracy, or
as a member of a family?
Note: As an alternative, you could choose the writer who you
feel was least successful at persuasion
and do the entire question for that person and text.
There must be 250 words:
Managing Chemical Exposure
You are exposed to millions of different compounds every year,

10. some of which are dangerous, while others are completely
innocuous. Examples of dangerous compounds would be
pesticides such as DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane),
which has been banned in the United States, while ammonia, a
less dangerous compound, is used as a household cleaner.
Because some chemicals are much more dangerous than others,
it is important to be able to figure out how to manage your
exposure in an informed, intelligent way. In this Discussion,
you will consider how chemical exposure is managed.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has created an excellent
list of some common chemicals that people should learn more
about when making decisions about their exposure risk.
Get started on this Discussion by accessing the list:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(2013).Occupational health guidelines for chemical hazards.
Retrieved fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/
Next, choose one of the compounds on the list. Be sure to
review the compounds your classmates have chosen and
carefully choose one that has not already been written about.
Click on the revised guideline if there is one. If not, click on
the original guideline.
This will open up a factsheet for your chosen chemical. Use this
factsheet to create your first Discussion posting for this unit.
This first posting will be a quick reference, or mini-version of
the factsheet and should contain:
· The name of the compound you chose.
· Any synonyms it goes by.
· What it looks like and/or smells like.
· A summary of its health effects on humans.
· Who might be exposed to this compound and how.
Then, during the course of the unit, respond to several of your
classmates' posts:
· Are there similarities between their chosen compound and
your own?
· Are you or someone you know at risk of exposure to any of
these compounds?

11. · Who, in particular, might you warn about the dangers of these
chemicals?
· Who might not have good access to this kind of information
about exposure, and what could you do to help them make good
choices about exposure?
· What ideas do you have to help people in the United States
learn about the CDC-National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) publications and resources that are
available?