Writing Packet 1

Essay Grading Scale

Content:

A

/

B

/

C

/

D

/

F

Excellent / Good / Adequate / Poor / Unacceptable
Much that is exemplary / Nothing missing; little stands out / Something’s missing / Much is missing / Not there!
Strong sense of unity: Clear thesis;
Logical organization;
Strong transitions / Unity through thesis and logical organization; Good transitions / Weak thesis; Weak organization; Weak transitions / No thesis or thesis not clear; Little organization; Little sense of transition / No thesis;
No unity
Plenty of SPREAD* that provides thorough development / Adequate paragraph development with SPREAD* / Weak paragraph development / Poor paragraph development / No appropriate paragraph development
Mature Style: Variety in development; in sentence length and construction. Effective use of figurative language or imagery
Clever; Memorable; Powerful;
Strong voice; Appropriate tone / * SPREAD is an acronym that represents the way to make sure your paragraphs are effective: Sensory details, Proper Nouns, Reasons, Examples, Action/Vivid Verbs, and Description.

Grammar, Mechanics:

A

/

B

/

C

/

D

/

F

Few, if any errors. / Some minor errors. Only one major error. / Many minor errors adding up or several major errors. / Consistent minor errors throughout paper; several major. / Steady stream of both minor and major errors.

2-3 Point Errors: 1 Point Errors:

(In Sentence Structure)

Essay Guidelines

I.  Introduction

  1. Lead-in sentences: general statements that lead into the main idea of the essay.
  1. Thesis: One sentence that sets forth the main idea of the essay.
  1. Essay Map: One or more sentences that set forth three or more points supporting the thesis.

II.  Body Paragraph One – first point of the essay map.

  1. Topic Sentence
  1. Supporting Statements
  1. Transition Sentence

III.  Body Paragraph Two – second point of the essay map.

  1. Topic Sentence
  1. Supporting Statements
  1. Transition Sentence

IV.  Body Paragraph Three – third point of the essay map.

  1. Topic Sentence
  1. Supporting Statements
  1. Transition Sentence

V.  Conclusion

  1. Wrap it all up
  1. Possible ways to end:
  2. What was learned or the importance of the essay’s subject.
  3. A call to action.
  4. A statement of the essay’s broader implications.
  5. A story that sums up the main point.
  6. Restatement of the thesis and essay’s major points (for long essays only).

Comma Rules

Study Sheet

  1. Use a comma to separate two independent clauses (complete sentences) joined by a coordinating conjunction (“FANBOY” for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

Ex. Ben wanted one girlfriend, but Alex wanted two.

  1. Do not join two sentences with a comma only; such an error is called a comma splice.

Ex. I like pizza, pizza does not like me. COMMA SPLICE

I like pizza, but pizza does not like me. CORRECT

  1. Do not use a comma with a conjunction with unequal parts. (Has to be complete sentences.)

Ex. Megan wanted three cats, and three dogs. INCORRECT

Megan wanted three cats and three dogs. CORRECT

  1. Set off a conjunctive adverb when it interrupts a sentence.

Ex. She soon discovered, however, that she wanted four cookies instead of one.

(Be careful that your “however” is not an introductory statement for your next sentence, creating a comma splice.)

  1. Put a comma after an introductory statement.

Ex. After we finished our laundry, we discovered five socks were missing.

  1. Set off non-essential interrupters.

Ex. The six black spiders, which hung from our tree, had caught four flies in their webs.

  1. Use commas to separate items in a series.

Ex. I want seven dogs, seven cats, seven horses, and seven pigs.

  1. Use a comma to separate adjectives that equally describe the same noun.

Ex. I kissed the sweet, handsome man eight times.

  1. Put a comma after a direct address.

Ex. Students, do not forget rule nine.

  1. Use commas to set off items in addresses and dates.

Ex. On September 10th, 2007, I bought a dog.

  1. Use commas to set off a degree or title following a name.

Ex. Kirk Price, Ph. D., won eleven awards this year.

  1. Use commas to set off dialogue from the speaker.

Ex. John McCain stated, “I only need twelve more votes!”

  1. Put a comma after weak exclamations.

Ex. Yes, all thirteen rules are on the test.

  1. Set off parenthetical elements, “hanging phrases,” appearing at the end of a sentence.

(This rule is optional according to the M.L.A.)

Ex. I learned fourteen comma rules, which were easy. J

Semicolon rule:

1.  You may use a semicolon to separate to closely related sentences.

Ex. She loved to exercise; that is why she bought a home gym.

Basic Editing Checklist

If you truly consider each question, you will be much more likely to succeed on your essay.

Unified:

  1. Do I have a thesis that is clearly stated in the introductory paragraph of my essay?
  1. Do all my supporting paragraphs truly support and back up my thesis?

Supported:

  1. Are there three separate supporting points for the thesis?
  1. Do I have specific evidence for each of the three supporting points?
  1. Is there plenty of specific evidence for each supporting point?

Organized:

  1. Do I have an interesting introduction, a solid conclusion, and an accurate title?
  1. Do I have a clear method of organizing my paper?
  1. Do I use transitions and other connecting words?

Revised:

  1. Do I use parallelism to balance my words and ideas?
  1. Do I have a consistent point of view?
  1. Do I use specific words?
  1. Do I use active verbs?
  1. Do I use words effectively by avoiding slang, clichés, contractions, and second person (“you”)?
  1. Do I vary my sentences?
  1. Are all my sentences complete, avoiding fragments and run-ons?
  1. Is my punctuation correct (comma rules, etc.)?
  1. Do I avoid illogical verb tense shifts?

Tips

Grammar and Writing Help: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sentences.htm

This is a fantastic site for help with any English question, from comma and colon usage to essay structure. Just click on the name of your topic, and a complete explanation with examples and practice exercises will pop up.

MLA Citation Help: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

This site is the absolute best free site for MLA guidelines. At the bottom of the first page, you will see a list of topics that are actually direct links to information. For example, click on the link that says "In text citations: the basics" and another page will pop upwith detailed instructions and examples for documenting your sources within your essay.

-I may not grade or proofread all rough drafts, but you are welcome to schedule a writing conference in which we can go over your rough draft together outside of class. I will check to see if they are submitted on time, record the appropriate quiz grade, possibly attach an editing checklist,and then return them to you to be edited, revised, and submitted again as final drafts.

-If you miss the due date for the first draft, continue working on it and submit it with the final draft for a 30 point deduction.

-If you are scoring lower than you would like, consider whether you took the time to study the assigned chapters in the textbook and whether you carefully read and understood the instructor’s feedback on previous essays (feel free to schedule an appointment with the instructor to discuss any comments on graded assignments). Students come to this class with a wide variety of academic experiences meaning that some students will have to study a little more closely in order to fully comprehend concepts that are new to them. You may have to read more carefully, and not only the assigned reading.

-Use Tutor.com before submitting your final draft. They will do a line by line edit and help you to perfect your essay. Go to the Bb home page. On the left side of the screen, click on Online tutoring. Follow the prompts. Click on Writing Review and then ask for a punctuation and source check. It only takes a few minutes. The tutors are very effective and can save you loads of points.

-When expressing your opinion in an essay, just state it directly as fact; using statements like in my opinion or I think weakens your argument and should be avoided in college essays.

ENGL 1301 Essay Grading Rubric

25 points- Essay Structure:

Essay must include effective lead-in, thesis, body and conclusion.

Essay must be typed in MLA style with 1inch margins, indented paragraphs, MLA header, double spaced, proper essay spacing, MLA style end-of-line documentation and works cited page if necessary.

25 points- Content:

Essay must follow assigned mode and topic, must follow word count directions (neither under nor over), must tackle the subject matter in a mature depth, must display critical thinking and reasoning, and include appropriate detail. Essay must not contain false information or logical fallacies.

25 points- Punctuation and Usage:

Essay must follow the standard rules for punctuation and usage, including, but not limited to, proper use of commas, semi-colons, colons, apostrophes, and periods. Essay must not contain spelling errors, capitalization or texting style mistakes (ex. r for are). Essay must not contain any fused run-ons, comma splice run-ons or sentence fragments. Essay must display proper use of pronouns and verbs.

25 points- College level Writing Style and Word Choice:

Essays must exhibit a mature style in word choice and sentence structure/sentence variety. Essays must not contain contractions, second person point of view (you), slang, colloquial, dialectal, or non-standard word choices. Essay must contain strong effective word choice, avoiding vague word choice such as “thing” or “stuff” and colloquial words like “kid” and “guy”.

Essay Structure: 25/25

Content: 25/25

Punctuation and Usage: 25/25

College level Writing Style and Word Choice: 25/25

** PLAGIARISM WARNING!!!!!!

Any information that is not common knowledge must be documented with end-of-line documentation/ citation linked to a works cited page. Even if you put the information in your own words, or know it by heart, if the information originated from someone else, it MUST be documented. Essays containing any amount of plagiarism will be assigned zeros. ***

The thing that trips people up sometimes is that students often have two false conceptions about plagiarism: They think, "If I put it in my own words, then I don't have to document." and "If I know the information by heart, I don't have to document." Both of these statements are reasonable but false. As tedious and difficult as it is, you must provide documentation for any information that is not common knowledge to the general public.

Yes, you may have to look up a fact that you already knew, just to document it. But if you think about it, providing acredible source to back up your argument adds strength to your argument. Providing documentation not only protects you legally and ethically, it also strengthens your premise by adding clout to your statement. (sorry guys, Wikepedia doesn't have much clout, but the sources found int eh databases do.)

It is not that hard these days to find a credible source and use it to document a fact or statistic you want to use. Data bases, E-books and some websites are good places to look. If you can't find the fact you want to use, that might be an indication that you have inadvertently provided false information in your analysis, and that is as deadly to your premise as plagiarism.

Using Navarro Library Databases

The following steps will guide you in using databases to find credible sources for research essays and projects. At first, it may seem like too many steps to be easy, but really, once you get used to it, finding credible sources is easier through databases than searching the entire internet and sifting through all the low quality sites.

·  Click on Library at the top of the course BlackBoard site.

·  Under Resources, click on Electronic Databases.

·  Scroll down, under Resources again, click on Article Finder (Databases).

·  Scroll down to Databases by Subject.

·  Scroll down again to Literature Criticism and Interpretation.

·  Pick one and click on it (ex. Literary Resource Center)

·  Put in First.last name and then your six digit birth date.

·  Click Proceed.

·  Fill in boxes to the best of your knowledge (does not have to be perfect to work).

·  In the find box, put the name of the author and the title of the text. (ex. William Faulkner A Rose for Emily)

·  Choose all dates.

·  By Content Type, check Literature Criticism (Uncheck anything else).

·  A list of article titles with open. Click on the title you wish to view.

·  Read the article to make sure it is what you want before you print.

·  Click on Citation Help and then MLA for an example of how to cite the source in your own writing. The button is usually on the top right of article, but you may find it at the end of the article as well.

WHS Library On-line Resources

Britannica On-Line (encyclopedia) http://school.eb.com

Username: 070912002 Password: learn

Gale Resources (magazines, journals, literary info.) http://access.gale.com/tlc/

Password: lonestar

Sirs (current events, countries, govt.) http://www.bigchalk.com

Customer #: TX4575 Password:75165 Click “My Products Page”

WorldBook On-Line (encyclopedia) http://www.worldbookonline.com

Username: hachie Password: green

Electric Library and Proquest (magazines, current events) http://www.bigchalk.com

Username: 32-10011 Password: bigchalk

Ebsco Host/Magill’s On-Literature http://search.ebscohost.com

User Id : Waxahachie Password: indians

J Price, Navarro College

D. Fields & T. Miller, WHS