Rubric for Analysis Essays
**All essays, even those scored 8 or 9, may contain occasional flaws in analysis, prose style, or mechanics. Such features should enter into the holistic evaluation of an essay’s overall quality. In no case may an essay with many distracting errors in grammar and mechanics be scored higher than a 2.
9– Essays earning a score of 9 meet the criteria for essays that are scored an 8 and, in addition, are especially full or apt in their analysis or demonstrate impressive control of language.
8– EFFECTIVE
For those essays that are well-organized, demonstrate a command of the elements of composition and display evidence of stylistic maturity. These essays explain with some precision the effect of the literature on the reader, and they convincingly analyze the specific means by which that effect is achieved. These essays may refer to the work explicitly or implicitly. While the prose demonstrates an ability to control a wide range of the elements of effective writing it is not necessarily flawless.
If you work at this level, you have achieved critical thinking at the synthesis level of Bloom’s taxonomy. This means you put together elements you have broken the piece into and presented to your reader an understanding of the literature that indicates you have a clearly developed aesthetic or rhetorical sense regarding this piece.
7– Essays earning a score of 7 fit the description of essays that are scored a 6 but provide a more complete analysis or demonstrate a more mature prose style.
6– ADEQUATE
For essays that are somewhat less well-written: they may show occasional lapses in syntax, diction, or organization. These essays explain the effect of the literary passage and include details which support that explanation, though they may analyze with less clarity or precision the means by which that effect is achieved. These essays sometimes concentrate on only one of the author’s stylistic techniques. These essays may refer to the work explicitly or implicitly. The writing may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but generally the prose is clear.
If you work at this level, you have achieved critical thinking at the analysis level of Bloom’s taxonomy. This means you have broken the material down into its constituent literary parts and detected the relationships of the parts and of the way they are organized.
5– Essays earning a score of 5 analyze strategies and techniques used to create meaning, but do so unevenly, inconsistently, or insufficiently. The writing is adequately written, though it does not demonstrate stylistic maturity or confident control over the elements of composition. The writing may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but it usually conveys the writer’s ideas. These ideas are correct in essentials if not explored in depth.
If you work at this level you are still working at analysis level but perhaps have provided a somewhat superficial examination of the work. However, critical thinking is still apparent.
4 – INADEQUATE
Essays earning a score of 4 respond to the prompt inadequately. They may offer little discussion of the strategies and techniques the author employs, may misrepresent those techniques, or analyze them incorrectly. These essays display an understanding of the passage, but they treat it only in generalities, inadequately explaining its effects or analyzing the techniques by which those effects are achieved. They may simply cite stylistic techniques, or concentrate on an inappropriate aspect of the passage, or show a lack of the facility of language needed to analyze the details they mention.
3 – Essays earning a score of 3 meet the criteria for a score of 4 but are less perceptive about the techniques, strategies used, and the meaning of the passage. They may be less consistent in controlling the elements of writing.
If you work at this level, you have achieved comprehension of the material, but you have not moved into higher level thinking skills regarding this piece of literature.
2– LITTLE SUCCESS
Essays earning a score of 2 demonstrate little success in analyzing techniques, strategies, or meaning. These essays misunderstand the prompt, offer vague generalizations, substitute simpler tasks such as summarizing the passage, or simply list techniques, strategies, or ideas. The prose often demonstrates consistent weaknesses in writing such as consistent errors in diction, spelling, or syntax. These essays provide little explanation of the effects of the passage and no explicit analysis of the techniques by which that effect is achieved. They may use the passage merely as a springboard for an essay on a general topic.
If you work at this level, you do not comprehend the piece assigned and have not yet begun to work cognitively with this piece of literature.
1For essays that are poorly written and contain no analysis of the passage. These writings are undeveloped, especially simplistic in their analysis, or weak in their control of language.
0 – Essays earning a (0) are on-topic responses that receive no credit, such as those that merely repeat the prompt.
- Essays earning a dash (-) are blank responses or those that are completely off topic.