The UExcel examination in College Writing measures knowledge and understanding of the material typically taught in an introductory, one-semester course in college writing. The examination measures the ability to organize knowledge, ideas, and information; to adopt rhetorical strategies such as narration, illustration, explanation, and description in appropriate ways; to adopt and maintain a tone and point of view appropriate for a specified audience and rhetorical situation; to develop and maintain a controlling idea and a coherent organization; and to write within the rhetorical, syntactic, and mechanical conventions of Standard Written American English. (Extended response examination.)