English 1B

Criteria for Grading Essays

1. Argument Features                                                                                                               10%

1. Does the introduction provide necessary background information and clearly identify a point of conflict (i.e. a question at issue)? 
2. Does the essay focus on a relevant, workable thesis?
3. Does the essay offer focused, relevant supporting paragraphs?
4. Does the essay conclude clearly and smoothly?
5. Does the essay arrange ideas clearly and logically to facilitate easy reading?

2. Consideration of the Issue's Complexity                                                                                  15%

1. Does the essay avoid unsupported assumptions and gross generalizations?

2. Does the essay demonstrate that the writer has carefully and honestly thought about the issue and the positions of the participants in the debate?

3. Does the essay delve beyond the obvious and easily understood and grapple with the complexities of the conflict?

3. Development and Use of Detail                                                                                              15%

Does the essay provide specific details, clear explanations, and helpful illustrations and examples that support the thesis?

4. Use of Evidence                                                                                                                      15%

Does the essay provide clear, specific, sufficient, verifiable, reputable evidence to support the claim and show that the writer's ideas and insights are "grounded" in reality?

5. Logic and Critical Thinking                                                                                                   20%

a.        Does the essay offer sufficient, representative evidence to support the conclusions?

b.       Does the essay offer reasonable, logical interpretations of evidence?

c.        Does the essay offer a thoughtful consideration of the issue?

d.       Does the essay use sound logic to make connections and offer insight?

e.        Does the essay clearly explain the grounds for the specific position taken?  In other words, has the writer explained why he or she believes as he or she does?

6. Source Use and Documentation                                                                                            15%

1. Does the essay effectively integrate words and ideas from appropriate sources to support, illustrate, and/or develop ideas?
2. Are sources accurately quoted, correctly cited in the text of the essay, and correctly documented on the works cited page? 
3.  Do the quotes logically relate the ideas in the paragraph?
4. Are quotes woven into the writer’s own words (in other words, are there no freestanding/dangling/dropped/hit-and-run quotes?)?
5. Are quotes punctuated correctly?
6. Are titles of articles, chapters, and essays in quotation marks?  Are titles of books, magazines, and newspapers italicized?

7. Clarity of Expression and Surface Features                                                                         10%

a.        Do the essay’s margins, font, page numbering, title, word count, and heading adhere to MLA conventions?

b.       Does the essay use correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling to facilitate easy reading?

c.       Are the sentences clearly and logically worded?

d.        Are there a minimum of sentence boundary errors (i.e. fragments, fused sentences, and comma splices)?

e.       Does the essay deal with the subject in the mature, intelligent, intellectually honest manner an academic audience expects?