COMM 1000: Final Exam – Winter 2023

Agree? Disagree? Write a letter! (20%)

Due date: Part one and Part Two: Thursday December 14, 2023 (11:59 pm ET)
Please note that the drop box will close at the specified date and time.

Purpose: Demonstrate your reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.

Skills and Knowledge: Through this assignment, demonstrate the following skills that are essential to your success in college-level courses,
in the workplace, and in your communities:
o Apply a set of strategies to create short pieces of organized, coherent, clear, and concise writing with an understanding of one’s
audience and purpose
o Apply critical reading strategies to improve comprehension of text
o Apply basic understanding of critical thinking skills to engage with a topic

Task: Write a letter of roughly 500-700 words to the editor of a publication that responds to an issue mentioned in one of the following
texts:

 Life as an International Student in Canada meant crushing poverty by Gideon Christian CBC News February 19, 2023
 Why I put dirty socks in my kids’ lunch bags by Rachel Cameron Today’s Parent November 9, 2021

PART ONE: Directions - Choose one of the articles listed above the complete the following:

1. Use Active Reading strategies to determine the main point of the article and identify supporting details.

2. Answer the following TEN questions about the article you selected:
a) What is it about this article that you wanted to respond to?
b) What did it make you think about? What did it article make you feel?
c) Do you agree with the author or disagree?
d) What is one reason / example why you agree or disagree with the author?
 COMM 1000: Final Exam – Winter 2023
Agree? Disagree? Write a letter! (20%)
e) What is a second reason / example?
f) What is a third reason / example?
g) What is another angle the author should have considered? What is missing from the article?
h) What strikes you about this article as unfair or unbalanced or biased?
i) What are two ways this issue might affect your community?
j) What is the in-text citation you will use to paraphrase information from this article?

PART TWO (20%) (Thursday, December 14, 2023) Directions: After reviewing your answers in Part ONE, identify the main response you’d
like to focus your attention on in this letter.

1. Draft your first paragraph of the letter. Identify the article that you are responding to and explain the reason for writing your letter
(your main point). Paraphrase the point that you will be addressing and state your thesis.

2. Draft your next two paragraphs to provide evidence for your main point. Tell the reader why you feel the way you do. Use
examples and make connections between the issue and your community. Explain the consequences of the decisions or explain a
perspective the author did not consider. Your points should be connected to your thesis.

3. Throughout your letter, reference the article and the author’s perspective (paraphrase and summarize rather than quote) to
demonstrate your understanding of the text.

4. Include in-text citations when referencing the article and a full reference at the bottom of your letter. The reference must be of your
article ONLY.
DO NOT USE any other articles or sources for this assignment.

5. Draft your concluding paragraph to wrap up your ideas. Restate your main idea, and tell the reader what the next steps might be in
this issue. Consider including one of the following closing strategies:
 Should the reader do something? Consider something?
 What might the consequences be if we continue to think this way?
 COMM 1000: Final Exam – Winter 2023
Agree? Disagree? Write a letter! (20%)
6. Revise and edit your letter (500-700 words) Check the structure of your paragraphs and your sentences. Read each sentence out
loud to help identify any grammatical errors. Do you have both simple and compound sentences? Do you have any run-on
sentences or fragments that need correcting? Check your spelling - correct everything underlined in RED in MS Word.

7. Write a final, reflection paragraph after your letter (150 words). Think about the steps you have just taken to produce this
publishable letter. Explain 2 takeaways, learnings, that you might use again in the future and why.

8. Carefully review the rubric on the next page to ensure you have provided all the necessary information for this assignment.

9. Submit your letter and reflection paragraph as one MS Word document or PDF file via D2L / Assignments / Final Assessment (20%)

Letter to the Editor Template

Use this template to help organize and outline the letter before writing the rough and final drafts.

Editor
Address

Date
Introduction
Greet your audience (Dear Editor’s Name):

Explain why you are writing this letter (To respond to something? To question something? To agree with something?):

Paraphrase/ reflect back the point from the article that you are responding to:
 COMM 1000: Final Exam – Winter 2023
Agree? Disagree? Write a letter! (20%)

State your thesis/main message of your response:

Body 1
State your first supporting point:

Provide logical reasoning to back up your first supporting point:

Provide an appropriate example (or example) to back up your first supporting point:

Tie your point, reasoning, example(s) back to your thesis/ main message:

Body 2
State your second supporting point:

Provide logical reasoning to back up your second supporting point:

Provide an appropriate example (or examples) to back up your second supporting point:

Tie your point, reasoning, example(s) back to your thesis/ main message:

Conclusion
Recap your thesis/ main message and supporting points:
 COMM 1000: Final Exam – Winter 2023
Agree? Disagree? Write a letter! (20%)

Tie your thesis/ main message and supporting points back to the reason you wrote your letter in the first place:

Leave the reader with a supportive and encouraging call-to-action or food-for-thought:

COMM1000 Final Assessment Rubric (20%)

Weight Assignment Checklist Meets All Meets Most Meets Some Meets Very Few Meets No
Expectations Expectations Expectations Expectations Expectations

The introduction is well-organized and includes

the following:
4/20
 opening salutation.
 Purpose of the letter
 Paraphrase section that will be
addressed 3 2 1 0
 Clear thesis statement 4

The body paragraphs are well-organized and 0

include the following:
7/20 7 5.25 3.5 1.75

 A clear point per paragraph

 Logical reasoning for your supporting
point
 Provide an example for your point
 COMM 1000: Final Exam – Winter 2023
Agree? Disagree? Write a letter! (20%)
 Show connection of your point to your
thesis
 Details and evidence from the article are
summarized and/or paraphrased with
intext citations
The conclusion is well-organized and includes the
following:
3/20
 Restates the thesis
3 0
 Connection to why you wrote the letter
2.25 1.5 0.75
 Leave the reader with something to think
about or a call for action

Overall, the piece is cohesive, logical, and shows

a clear understanding of the assignment,
1/20 audience, and purpose.
0
1 0.75 0.5 0.25

Grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure are

correct. The audience can understand the writer’s
message easily. 3 0
2.25 1.5 0.75
3/20

All external information from the assigned article

is referenced in APA format right below the letter. 2 0
2/20 1.5 1.0 0.5

Total: 20