Rubric for Essay #1

Introduction: 20 pts.

·        16-20 pts.: Clear effort to engage the reader’s attention; adequate information/background; strong thesis statement that focuses main idea of paper to come

·        11-15: Some effort to engage the reader has been made; background information is good; thesis is clear

·        6-10: The introduction is adequate, but not outstanding; the reader may or may not be engaged; background is given and the thesis is clear and direct

·        1-5: The introduction is ineffective and inadequate, with NO discernible thesis statement

MLA Format; Grammar; Spelling; Mechanics; Tense and Person: 25 pts.

·        16-25 pts.: Essay presentation has followed MLA format: header, heading, title, 12 pt. plain font, double spaced; consecutively numbered pages; there are no misspellings or grammatical errors; the essay is consistent in tense, with no more than one or two minor flaws

·        11-15 : Essay presentation is in MLA format, with  no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors; it is consistent in tense (for the most part) and there are no errors in agreement or word usage

·        6-10: MLA format has been used, but presentation has three or more spelling errors and/or serious grammatical errors; there are tense shifts or agreement errors either in subject/verb or pronoun/antecedent; vague pronoun reference may be a problem; incorrect or wrong word may have been used; there may be a serious flaw in sentence formation(s) [e.g., fragment; comma splice; run-on].

·        1-5: MLA format has not been followed; work has five or more spelling errors and/or serious grammatical errors; there are tense shifts or agreement errors either in subject/verb or pronoun/antecedent; vague pronoun reference may be a problem; incorrect or wrong word may have been used; there may have been several, repeated sentence flaw(s).

Examples, Content & Knowledge: 30 pts.

·        26-30 pts: Student demonstrates full knowledge of the each example, excellent and abundant  detail, and elaborates fully.  All points and examples are directly, explicitly related to the thesis statement.

·        21-25 - Student is at ease with content, but fails to fully elaborate.  For the most part, details, elaborations, and illustrations of examples are good and related clearly to the thesis statement.

·        11-20 - Student is uncomfortable with content and is able to write only minimal information, with little detail, which is not always directly, clearly related to the thesis statement.  Reader is forced to draw inferences which may or may not be correct or accurate.

·        0-10 – Student does not understand or grasp the essay concept; does not have adequate detail or information for examples used. The few examples that are present are not directly related to the thesis statement.

Organization & Coherence:  25 pts.

·        16-25 pts. - Information is in a logical, interesting order and sequence, providing coherence throughout paper. There are no illogical sentences; there are clear transitions with examples in a logical, coherent order.

·        11-15 - Student presents information in logical sequence with information in a coherent order.

·        6-10 - Reader has difficulty following work because the some irrelevant information has superseded significant information

·        0-5 - Sequence of information is hopelessly and carelessly mixed creating chaos and confusion in writing.