Diablo Valley College - English Department

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Standards and examples

Grading standards and examples of syllabi, essay assignments, and student writing

There's no mystery to how instructors at DVC evaluate your work. Each course has been rigorously examined and clear standards have been set. These standards are reviewed regularly and match those used throughout the U.C. and C.S.U. systems

Reading standards for English 96, 116,and 122:

Document in Adobe Acrobat .PDF format

Writing standards for English 98, 118, and 122:

Standards in Adobe Acrobat .PDF format

Click on the specific resource of each course to see files.

English 98

Essay examples, with instructor comments

Example 1: "The Fastest Machine Ever"
Example 2: "The Junket"
Example 3: "A Day as a Kaiser Volunteer"

English 118

Syllabi examples

Example 1: Judy Myers, Syllabus and schedule
Example 2: Barbara Sawyer, Schedule
Example 3: Patrick Leong, Syllabus
Example 4: John Thomas, Syllabus 1
Example 5: John Thomas, Syllabus 2

Essay assignment examples

Example 1: "Does Media Violence Cause Societal Violence?"--Toni Fannin
Example 2: "Discovering a Common Theme"--Marcia Goodman
Example 3: "Responding to The Laramie Project"--Marcia Goodman
Example 4: "Analytical and Critical Thinking Essay"--Marcia Goodman
Example 5: "Family and Home," from the Puente Project--Patrick Leong
Example 6: "Childhood Event"--Judy Myers

Student writing examples

Example 1: "The Value of Language," an "A" paper
Example 2: "Patience is the Key," a low "A" paper
Example 3: "Virtue Does Not Make an Honest Man," an "A" paper

English 122

Syllabi examples

Example 1: Marica Goodman, Syllabus and Schedule
Example 2: Tom Hurley, Syllabus and Schedule
Example 3: Nancy Zink, Syllabus and Schedule

Essay assignment examples

Example 1: "American Dream"--Tom Hurley
Example 2: "American Rights," a research paper--Tom Hurley
Example 4: "Close Reading: Understanding a Single Author"--Toni Fannin
Example 5: "Individuality"--Keri Dulaney-Greger
Example 6: "Literacy"--Keri Dulaney-Greger
Example 7: "Response to American Mania"--Lisa Orta
Example 8: "Response to Judity Ortiz Cofer"--Ellen Kruse
Example 9: "Responding to James Frey"--Marcia Goodman
Example 10: "Responding to The Laramie Project"--Lisa Orta
Example 11: "Describing the Familiar"--Lisa Orta
Example 12: "Seeing the Familiar"--Ellen Kruse
Example 13: "Synthesis Essay"--Marcia Goodman

Exercises

Exercise 1: Building a Thesis (1)--Keith Mikolavich
Exercise 2: Building a Thesis (2)--Keith Mikolavich
Exercise 3: Testing a Thesis (3)--Keith Mikolavich
Exercise 4: Quotes--Toni Fannin
Exercise 5: Reading--Toni Fannin
Exercise 6: Voice--Toni Fannin