CPE Paper Assignment

CPE stands for CUNY Proficiency Exam. Every CUNY student must pass the two parts (called Task One and Task Two) of the CPE exam in order to graduate from a CUNY college. For this paper, you’ll be doing some writing that will be similar to what will be required in Task One of the CPE exam. This will involve reading two selections and writing an essay talking about these two writings, as well as bringing your own thoughts into the discussion. For the actual CPE you would not be given the second reading until the time of the test, and you would do all of your writing at the test site.
The specific requirements for the writing as described in the original CPE booklet are below. Following the directions here as to the specific focus your paper should take is extremely important in writing a passing essay for the CPE.

“With the reading selections by Howard Gardner and Lewis Thomas in mind, write an essay in which you discuss error and learning. In your essay summarize Howard Gardner's criticism of the schools. Draw a relationship between Gardner 's ideas and what you have just read about the value and utility of error. In light of the reading selections, describe your own experience or observations of learning, either in school or out. Discuss the degree to which your experience does or does not reflect the ideas of Gardner or Thomas or both. You may address these points in any order, but be careful to respond to all parts of the assignment and to connect your thoughts into a single, clearly-organized essay. Make specific references to the readings to support your ideas.”

Due date: December 5th Length: 2 and ½ to 3 pages doublespaced

Format: Your paper should follow MLA format, although your documentation style can be more informal. That is, while you should mention your authors by name when you are quoting or paraphrasing them, you do not need to use formal in-text citations or have a Works Cited list for your paper. You also do not need a title for this paper, although you can give it one if you wish.

Preparation: View the relevant parts of the Lehman CPE Tutorial at:

http://www.lehman.edu/provost/enrollmentmgmt/issp/cpe.html

You will need to login with your Lehman email user ID and password. Please view the entire Task One information, as well as the Writing Tips and Study Tips sections for Task One.
The CPE Reference Sheets will also be necessary to review before and while writing this paper.

Many of the writing elements for this paper are precisely the same ones that have been emphasized in the writing of the first three papers for English 120. Even so, the types of readings used for the paper and the relative lack of class time preparation for it may make it somewhat difficult to write. Be sure to allow enough time to do a careful job that follows the CPE guidelines. How comfortable you ultimately feel in writing this paper will help you to gage how much more preparation you’ll need for doing well when you take the “real” CPE.
The CPE Paper counts for 10% of your grade