Study Guide for Language Arts Final Exam

For the final exam, you will be asked to complete a thorough analysis of your writing portfolio.

1. You will be asked to identify your best piece of writing and to analyze it for strengths and weaknesses on each of the Six Traits of Writing:
   • Voice
   • Ideas
   • Conventions
   • Organization
   • Word Choice
   • Sentence Fluency
2. You will be required to identify examples of poetic devices from your own writing.
3. You will need to be able to identify (and often correct) examples of the following:
   • Connotation
   • Comma usage
   • Active and passive voice
   • Parallel construction
   • Sentence construction (run-ons, fragments)
   • Misplaced modifiers
4. Prior to the final exam, you will be required to select one piece from your writing portfolio to do an additional draft. During the final exam, you will reflect on both REVISIONS and EDITS made to the final draft. (Remember that edits are minor, usually involving conventions like grammar, spelling, and formatting. Revisions are major, usually involving reorganization of entire paragraphs or the introduction of new ideas.)
5. You will also be asked to reflect on both your own creative and your own analytical writing processes.