Essay Rubric (Revised 2/04/09)
Criteria / Outstanding / Good / Competent / Needs ImprovementThesis Statement / My thesis statement is a declarative sentence that uses an active verb. It takes a position. It does not contain any vague terms or terms that need to be “unpacked.” It does not contain any sweeping generalizations.
(10 points) / My paper is successful in three of the four areas.
(8 points) / My paper is successful in half of the areas.
(5 points) / My paper is successful in one of the four areas.
(3 points)
Evidence and Analysis / I choose appropriate evidence. My analysis ties my evidence to my thesis to help prove my point. My analysis makes direct reference to the evidence I’m quoting. I repeat key words or phrases to strengthen my argument.
(20 points) / My paper is successful in three of the four areas.
(15 points) / My paper is successful in half of the areas.
(10 points) / My paper is successful in one of the four areas.
(5 points)
Organization / I have an interest-grabbing introduction. Each body paragraph is unified by a solid topic sentence. My conclusion addresses the larger implications of what I’ve explored in the body of my paper. I transition smoothly within and between paragraphs using transitional words and phrases.
(20 points) / My paper is successful in three of the four areas.
(15 points) / My paper is successful in half of the areas.
(10 points) / My paper is successful in one of the four areas.
(5 points)
Voice / My tone is appropriate for my audience, assertive, original, and sophisticated.
(10 points) / My paper is successful in three of the four areas.
(8 points) / My paper is successful in half of the areas.
(5 points) / My paper is successful in one of the four areas.
(3 points)
Diction / I use mostly action verbs. I incorporate proper terminology and vocabulary where appropriate. I avoid vague pronouns such as “this” or “that” without a qualifying noun after it. I have agreement between singular and plural pronouns and between nouns and verbs (ex. student/he and students/they).
(10 points) / My paper is successful in three of the four areas.
(8 points) / My paper is successful in half of the areas.
(5 points) / My paper is successful in one of the four areas.
(3 points)
Sentence Fluency / I avoid fragments. I vary my sentence structure and length. I avoid run-on sentences. I avoid awkward words and phrasings.
(10 points) / My paper is successful in three of the four areas.
(8 points) / My paper is successful in half of the areas.
(5 points) / My paper is successful in one of the four areas.
(3 points)
Conventions / I use proper spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. I provide an original and appropriate title for my paper that is capitalized appropriately and not underlined or bolded.
(10 points) / My paper is successful in three of the four areas.
(8 points) / My paper is successful in half of the areas.
(5 points) / My paper is successful in one of the four areas.
(3 points)
Essay Mechanics / See Separate Sheet for criteria and points.
(10 points)
Essay Mechanics (1 point each)
Criteria / PerformanceThe essay is typed and double-spaced.
The essay begins with a proper, double-spaced heading listing your name, teacher’s name, course name, day month year on separate lines. This appears only on page one.
Uses 12-point Times New Roman font for all text.
Bolds the introductory tags before all evidence.
Underlines the terms that move towards analysis.
Handles the titles of all texts properly: underlining book, play, journal, and newspaper titles; and placing poem, short story, journal article, and newspaper article titles in quotation marks.
Handles all quotations properly, whether direct quotes or paraphrases.
Resets all page margins to 1-inch.
Includes a header in the top right corner of each page with last name and page number only.
There is a properly formatted Works Cited page, started on a new page paginated properly, which includes an entry for each text used.