Exam Sample

WCE Guidelines and Suggestions

DO NOT write your name or student ID anywhere in your exam essay.

Choose one of the WCE statements. AGREE or DISAGREE with it.

Include the number of your selected topic prompt at the top of your essay.

Develop your position on the statement in an essay of appropriate length (500-750 words is probably a good target). Be sure that your essay has a thesis statement and clearly organized paragraphs. Make sure that your arguments are logical.

Use relevant, specific information to develop your argument, and give sufficient evidence to support your assertions. Helpful, relevant information might come from any or all of the following sources: high school or college courses you have taken, films watched, books read, personal or family/friend experiences, imagined scenarios for the particular topic of your essay, and similar. DO NOT USE other outside sources, online or otherwise.

Proofread your essay carefully, paying particular attention to completeness of sentence structure, agreement between subjects and verbs, and correct punctuation.

1. The increased ethnic and geographic diversity in Albion’s recent matriculating class will benefit the whole college. The U.S. population is less white and less economically privileged than the campus population generally is, and a more diverse campus will reduce white students’ ignorance about the world outside our campus.
2. Twenty years ago, regular reports of gun violence against school children, movie and mall goers, and African American men and women on the streets or in cars just did not happen. Violence against African American men has been part of America for a very long time, but most Americans believed that schools and public places were not potential death traps. Guns of all types are too available and politicians must vote against the NRA’s arguments.
3. First-year women students are sexual prey for some junior and senior guys at many colleges and universities. The recent reports of offensive sheet signs welcoming entering students at Ohio State and Old Dominion (“Dads, drop your daughters off here” or “You’ve had her for 18 years-- it’s our turn now”) remind us all that sexism is not just part of our culture, but too often is condoned.
4. Football in the world outside the United States is the name for what we call soccer. U.S. football is more dangerous and violent than soccer, and thus will always be more appealing to Americans.
5. A gunman recently wore a body camera while shooting two journalists during a live news broadcast, and he later uploaded the footage to social media. Traditional news outlets should not report on this story because it simply gives the gunman exactly what he wanted: media attention.
6. California is currently suffering from a terrible multi-year drought. Many water districts have implemented fines for failing to reduce water consumption, but some individuals continue to use more than their share of water, arguing that they can afford the fine. The government needs to do more to help manage this water crisis. Instead of fining people, the state should allot each resident a certain amount of water and simply shut off their water once they exceed that amount.
7. Donald Trump and others have proposed building a wall along the border of the southern United States and Mexico in order to solve America’s immigration problems. Trump is correct: although it would be difficult to construct and maintain, such a wall would ultimately be the best way to keep people from illegally entering the country.
8. North America’s highest peak, Mount McKinley in Alaska, was named in 1917 to honor the recently assassinated President William McKinley. President Obama recently announced his intention to restore the mountain to its original native Alaskan name, Denali. This has upset many lawmakers in McKinley’s home state of Ohio. McKinley himself never even set foot in Alaska, however. Changing the name back to Denali should be applauded because it recognizes the Native American communities who were here before European settlers.