English Regents Exam

Welcome! As you all know, the CSI High School Junior class will be taking the English Regents Exam in January of 2008. The exam is two days long, given three hours each day to complete. It consists of two sessions both of which have two parts. The exam requires you to listen to passages, read passages, answer multiple-choice questions and write essays. To pass this exam is a requirement for a high school diploma in the New York State and it will also be the first time the English Regents Exam will be taken at CSI High School, but no pressure. An exam like this can be frightening, but don't fret! This page will guide you through each component of the exam. A large part of doing well on the exam is to understand the compositions. Through this website you can learn about what you should anticipate on the exam. Students- focus, be confident and remember to get plenty of sleep and eat breakfast on the day of! And parents- don't worry, by the end of this page, your child will have already boosted their Regents Exam grade! Enjoy!

Session 1 Part A: Listening and Writing for Information and Understanding

In this part of the English Regents Exam, students are first asked to take notes while listening to a passage. The passage may be a speech, lecture, anecdote, persuasive argument, historical texts, or even a personal reflection. Each passage is about fifteen minutes of listening. A bit long? Overwhelming, heh? Well, fifteen minutes of listening means an equal fifteen minutes of note taking! Take advantage of that, woo! And it’s also the reason you had plenty of sleep the night before, right? The passage might be boring, but don't daydream, it’s one of the worst times of your high school career to do that. Focus! After the passage, your next task is to answer a few multiple-choice questions about the passage. The multiple-choice are questions based on the main ideas, key vocabulary, and on interpretation. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! Although a tad more of a tricky task, next you must write a response. They may ask you to write an essay, a letter, or a report. The response should be well organized and have in-depth analysis. If you running short on time and know you won’t finish in time, start concluding! Unfinished essays= bad.

Session 1 Part B: Reading and Writing for Information and Understanding

In this part, you have to read an article and some sort of graphic presentation (like a chart), then answer multiple-choice questions and write an informative or persuasive essay that supports both documents. This part of the exam has its advantages, yet it also has its disadvantages. Disadvantage? It requires more brain juice. You must read the passage yourself, instead of having it read to you. They’re also asking for more in the essay. But hey! The bright side is that you can refer back to the passages when you answer your multiple-choice questions and write your essay! Score! Like Part A, be well organized and have details and in-depth analysis. However, in this essay, compare and contrast the documents you’ve just analyzed. What’s different in the documents? What’s the same? Keep in mind literary elements and techniques we’ve so thoroughly learned in class. They’ll be useful indeed.

Session 2 Part A: Reading and Writing for Literary Response

Alright! Day two! Halfway there, don't give up yet. You will read and respond to two passages in this part of the exam. The exam is gradually becoming harder, so it’s about time to step up your game. In this part, like in Session 1, answer multiple-choice questions. Then, compose an essay that discusses the ways that the two passages you read relate to each other. Use literary elements and techniques! Stick to ones that know well and have used before like setting, conflict, characterization, irony, point of view, symbolism etc. The passages that this part throws at you vary from fiction, nonfiction, memoir, or maybe journal. When writing your essay, develop a controlling idea and focus on specific literary elements and techniques. Be organized, no one likes an essay that has no coherent flow.

Session 2 Part B: Reading and Writing for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

You’ve made it to the final part of this dreadful exam! Here, you must also write an essay in this part of the exam. Ugh! I know, I agree. But just hang on! In this part’s essay, recall two works of literature you have read in the past, and know well, that also relate to the given quote. It may a novel, poem, speech or even a short story. The one’s we’ve read in school can be used too. You should know this form of essay well. It’s called “critical lens.” You know? Things like theme, characterization, point of view and conflict. The format of a critical lens essay is simple. First write your introduction that includes the quote, your interpretation of the quote, the two works of literature and the literary elements you’ve chosen to use, and whether you agree or disagree. Next, write your body paragraphs. You should have chosen at least two literary elements for each work of literature. Each work of literature deserves two paragraphs each, one for each literary element. Then finally conclude. Simply relate back to the quote and make a connection to the world.

Congratulations! You’ve completed the NYS English Regent’s Exam!

Sources

Book

Chaitkin, Carol, Let’s Review: English, Third Edition. Barron’s Review Course Series= Great Neck, New York, 2007.

Websites

Barron’s Eeducational Series, “NYS Regents Exam Preparation.” Barron’s Regents. < www.barronsregents.com >

Oswego City School District Regents Exam Prep Center, “Regents Exam Prep Center English.” Regents Prep. < www.regentsprep.org/english >