INTRODUCTION The CPE (CUNY Proficiency Exam) tests your ability to analyze printed text and data and write clearly and logically. CUNY requires all students pursuing associate or bachelor’s degrees to take the CPE upon completion of 45 credits and to pass the CPE before graduating. You must take the CPE , which is offered in March and October, after completing your 45th class credit. Once you become eligible to take the exam, you will be contacted by your college with information about registering to take the test. You have three chances to take the exam, and an absence counts as one chance. Students cannot graduate without passing the CPE. When you come to the exam, you should bring an English-language paper dictionary (no electronic dictionaries will be allowed), a picture ID, a pen and pencil, and your copy of the long reading selection for Task 1. The CPE will take three hours to complete, and you will receive your results in the mail at the end of the semester in which you take the test.
TASK 1
OVERVIEW When you register for the CPE, you will receive an eight to 10 page reading selection. Over the following two to three weeks, you should thoroughly read this text and become familiar with it. On the day of the exam, you will receive a shorter reading selection, which will be about a page to a page-and-a-half long. You will then have two hours to write an essay that incorporates information from the two readings and from your own ideas, knowledge, and experiences. DIRECTIONS "With these reading selections by (author 1) and (author 2) in mind, write an essay in which you discuss (the major theme). In your essay, summarize what (author 1) says about (a specific topic). Draw a relationship between (author 1)'s thinking and what you have just read in (the short essay) by (author 2) about (a specific topic). In light of the reading selections, discuss your own knowledge or observations about (a specific topic). Also discuss the degree to which your perspective or experience reflects the ideas of either or both writers." DIRECTIONS: Part 1 "With these reading selections by (author 1) and (author 2) in mind, write an essay in which you discuss (the major theme)." This simply gives you the overall theme. DIRECTIONS: Part 2 "In your essay, summarize what (author 1) says about (a specific topic)." This means that, somewhere in your essay, you must give a summary on a specific topic from the long reading. You will not have to summarize the entire long reading – only a part. A good summary will show the grader that you understand the long reading and are able to pinpoint the author’s most important points on the given topic. DIRECTIONS: Part 3 "Draw a relationship between (author 1) ‘s thinking and what you have just read in (the short essay) by (author 2) about (a specific topic)." This means that somewhere in your essay you will need to draw a relationship between the two texts. In other words, you will need to compare and contrast the two essays. Comparing and contrasting will require you to discuss how the authors’ viewpoints are similar and also how they are different. In doing so, you will need to paraphrase the authors’ ideas (put them in your own words) or you will need to use quotes to show that you are using the authors’ words. DIRECTIONS: Part 4 "In light of the reading selections, discuss your own knowledge or observations about (a specific topic) . Also discuss the degree to which your perspective or experience reflects the ideas of either or both writers." This means that somewhere in your essay, you need to express your own "knowledge and observations" about a specific topic related to the readings. Because the essays will be related to the kind of courses you have taken in the social sciences, sciences, or humanities, it is likely that you will have some knowledge or personal experiences – either your own or those of people you know – that you can include. Most of the essays will also relate to subjects you have studied in school or read about on your own. Besides expressing your own knowledge and observations, you will also need to discuss how they relate to one or both of the readings. Again, when discussing the ideas of the authors, do not use their exact words without quoting them and giving credit. GRADING There is no minimum or maximum amount that you need to write for Task 1. However, to receive a good score, you must be thorough and address all parts of the instructions. The graders will be looking at how well you:
Task 1: Study Tips You should become very familiar with the long reading during the two weeks leading up to the CPE. The more familiar you are with it, the easier your job will be when you take the exam. The long reading selection can be quite challenging and most students have to read it more than once to fully comprehend it. 1. READ THE TEXT. First, you should read through the text to get an idea of what it’s about and how it’s organized. Don’t worry if you can’t understand everything on this first run-through. As you read, circle or underline any words you don’t know. When you’re finished reading the text, look up these words in a dictionary. You may want to write their definitions in your booklet – especially if the words are used repeatedly throughout the text. Because you will bring your booklet with you to the exam, you are encouraged to write as many notes in it as you want. Feel free to write anything in your booklet, including definitions, synonyms, outlines, personal opinions, etc. 1. READ THE TEXT AGAIN. This time, as you read, write keywords next to each paragraph, describing what it is about. This will help you focus on the main point of each paragraph. The long reading selection will have several topics, each related to the the author’s main thesis. 3. IDENTIFY THE TOPICS When you’re finished with this second reading, you should have a very clear understanding of how the text is organized. Identify the topics and note where they are located in the text. When you take the CPE, you will be writing a summary on one of these topics. 4. THINK ABOUT YOUR OWN KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES. Next, consider your own knowledge and experiences regarding each topic, including books and articles you’ve read, material you’ve studied in school, and things that you or people you know have experienced. It might be profitable to write your knowledge and experience next to each relevant topic in the text. 5. TALK TO FELLOW STUDENTS. Feel free to discuss the long reading selection with others who will be taking the CPE with you. You can discuss the reading with anyone except CUNY faculty, staff, and tutors. However, be very careful about using CPE materials from the Internet. You must give credit for all sources you use in writing your essay. CPE responses are analyzed closely, and students found guilty of plagiarism are punished severely.
Task 1: Writing Tips On the day of the exam, you will receive the directions and the short reading selection. Read these carefully before beginning Task 1. Remember to identify the three major parts of the directions -- what you will have to summarize, compare and contrast, and relate your personal opinions on -- and remember to stay on topic throughout your essay. Once you’ve carefully read your directions and the short reading selection, take some time to plan your response, remembering that you will have a total of two hours to complete the assignment. You may want to plan your essay in outline form before you begin writing. If you prefer to take a straightforward approach in writing your response, you can organize your essay into several major sections:
Of course, there is no required structure and you can organize your essay in whatever way seems most appropriate for the material you want to present. Make sure that you finish writing in time to edit your work. Check your response against the directions one last time to ensure you did everything that was required. Remember, it’s not the quantity of writing that counts – it is the quality. Making sure that you fulfilled the assignment and that your response makes sense is more important than writing a very long essay.
TASK 2
OVERVIEW On the day of the exam, you will be given a short reading selection and two figures. These figures could include bar charts, pie graphs, tables, maps, line graphs or any other visual representation of data. DIRECTIONS "Your task is to identify the claims made in the reading selection and to determine how relevant data in the graphs support, partially support, and/or contradict claims in the text. In your response, you should describe two or more claims [at least four] from the reading and explain how specific numerical data in the graphs support, partially support, and/or contradict the claims. At least one claim must be discussed using relevant numerical data from the first graph, and at least one other claim must be discussed using relevant numerical data from the second graph.” For the purpose of this exam, a claim is a statement that can either be supported or contradicted with quantifiable evidence. In other words, it’s something that can be measured with numbers. There should be between eight and 12 claims in the reading. As you read the text, try to find as many claims as you can. Then you will need to find at least one claim that is supported or contradicted by Figure 1 and at least one claim that is supported or contradicted by Figure 2. GRADING The highest score you can get on Task 2 is a six, and anything below a four will hurt your CPE grade. You will receive two points for using Figure 1 to correctly support or contradict a claim from the reading and two more points for using Figure 2 to correctly support or contradict a claim from the reading. This gives you a total of four points, which is the minimum score you need to do well on Task 2. To boost your score to a five or six, you can use the figures to prove or contradict additional claims. You will receive one point for each additional correct use of a figure, up to a maximum of six points. Further correct claims do not add anything to your score. Wrong answers do not count against you. Each connection you draw between a figure and a claim will be correct only if you:
Let’s look a little closer at the first condition: identifying and stating the claim accurately. If you misstate the claim, your answer will not be considered correct. One way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to use quotes to restate the claim exactly as it appears in the text. The second condition – explaining the relationship between the claim and the relevant data in the figure with accuracy, clarity, and completeness – means that you must fully describe the relationship between the claim and the figure. Just saying that the figure does or does not support the claim is not enough. You must explain why. On Task 2 you will not be graded on your grammar, spelling, or writing style. You may write your answers either in paragraph form or with bullet points. As long as you fulfill the requirements in accuracy, clarity, and completeness, you cannot be penalized for your writing style.
Task 2: Writing Tips There’s no reason to feel bad about taking a very structured approach when writing your Task 2 response. Let’s say that you are going to use four claims – two with Figure 1 and two with Figure 2. The easiest response to read, from the graders’ perspective, would be one where every claim has a separate paragraph. For example:
Organizing your answer this way will ensure that none of the relationships you are drawing between the claims and the figures are overlooked by the grader. Sometimes students' answers are hidden in their Task 2 responses. You can avoid this by clearly stating the claim and its relationship to the figure in the first sentence of each paragraph. For example, you can say, "The reading makes the claim that '_____.' This is supported/contradicted by Figure __ because ______." Then spend the rest of the paragraph explaining why the figure supports or contradicts the claim. By formulating your answers in this way, you:
As on Task 1, the quality of your response is much more important than the quantity. Especially on Task 2, you should not think too much about the length of your answer, as long as you provide specific, accurate information. Remember, you are not graded on your writing style, so there is no need to write an introduction and conclusion. Plus, on Task 2 your personal experiences and opinions are not necessary. They will not add to your grade and will only take up more of your allotted time. Lastly, remember that this is not a math test. If you find yourself crunching a lot of numbers on the exam, you are probably going in the wrong direction. The figures should give you all the numbers you need. You are not expected to come up with your own calculations. |