EXAM CARD INSTRUCTIONS
Dr. Halbert's Courses

During the course of the semester, there will be a mid-term and final exam, along with several smaller essay exams, that require the creation of an "exam card." These cards are to be prepared beforehand following the regulations listed below. The goal is to take a question distributed before the exam and prepare notes to answer the question. You may write an outline, bullet points, and quotes (with the page numbers listed), but you may not write out the whole essay. You also may not include quotes that are not related to your essay in the hope of making the quote identifications easier on the mid-term and final.

Requirements:

Failure to follow these directions will result in the card not being allowed during the exam. I will inspect the card before the exam starts. You may wish to show up early to get my approval. You may not use your book during the exam, so all the information you need to answer the question needs to be in your head or on the card.

Why use exam cards?

As a 200-level course, this class is expected to be challenging without being overly advanced or specialized. Essay exams like the ones in my course are routine in upper-level English courses and in other subjects, but generally advanced warning of the question is not given, nor are cards allowed. The exam card allows you to think through the question ahead of time and to prepare as much as you like to adequately deal with the question. The result is that you have thought through the issues the question is designed to investigate while giving you control over as much as possible in preparation.