FINAL DRAFT DUE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2013
The American Author Research Paper Rubric/ Instructions
A successful research paper includes:
Research about a lit canon selected American author (see list) and address one of the two questions as your thesis:
1. Why should (or shouldn’t) [your author]’s books be included in a school’s curriculum?
2. How did [your author] influence or change American Literature?
Clear ideas and a clear Thesis Statement
Organized paragraphs that support and remind reader of the thesis
Strong voice which is consistent and obviously yours (NO PLAIGARISM!!!)
Supportive and powerful words.
Fluency that is varied and smooth.
Error free conventions.
Internal Citations used correctly and frequently throughout the paper for both direct quotes and/or summarized information from research and actual work from the author being studied
Annotated Bibliography is attached and follows the correct format- at least 3 different types of sources!!!
FINAL DRAFT DUE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2013
1250 words
Once you finish your final copy, rate your own paper below.
Name: Title:
Period: Genre: research study
Author’s Assessment
6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1Ideas
Organization
Voice
Diction
Fluency
Conventions
Facilitator’s Findings
6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1Ideas
Organization
Voice
Diction
Fluency
Conventions
Grading Criteria
Ideas
6- Focus is clear throughout paper. All paragraphs have connection to thesis without being overt. The author is well-defined. There is significant info about the author’s writing purpose from your ideas. Additionally, the paragraphs have support for thesis without being repetitive in thought- they have refreshing ideas with every new topic sentence and paragraph.
3.5- Focus is present at times, but drifts from topic. It may also be too repetitive in thoughts within paragraphs.
1- Poor attention to topic. May be full of tangents or worse, has no new ideas at all.
Organization
6- There is a clear introduction. Organization is concise without being rigid. The reader can easily follow the thought process of the writer. The order of paragraphs is logical as well as the flow within each body paragraph. Development of ideas is obvious and in sequence. The parenthetical citations work and don’t distract the reader. All information that is researched is cited either with direct quotes or paraphrased citations behind each new idea.
3.5- Organization is present at times, but jumps from topics without transitions or logical sequence. It may require a reader to re-read to understand the author’s message. Paragraph development is weak but with some sequence. It may not define the author’s purpose or organize it in a logical way- although those aspects may be mentioned.
1- Organization is random and totally lacks order. It may be impossible for a reader to follow the writer’s message and the paragraphs are not developed. Almost nothing is defined and the paper has little or no information about author purpose.
Voice
6- Author flare is evident. It would be easy to know who wrote it even without a name on top. It uses individual style to enhance the paper and makes the essay enjoyable to read- even though it’s a research paper. NO PLAGAIRISM!!!
3.5- Some author voice is present, but it’s fleeting. The paper may be dry and banal to read with only a phrase or two of author personality.
1- A placid piece of writing. It may seem as if it was written by an encyclopedia author.
Diction
6- Words fit the piece according to the research paper. They are accurate, precise, and used to enhance the writer’s message. They are not repetitive. They should be high school or above as vocabulary level without an intellect needing to use a dictionary to read it.
3.5- The words somewhat fit the piece as a research paper, but they are repetitive and plain. They probably don’t enhance the piece and may seem “typical” to a research paper. They may not be used correctly and the author may sound elementary or awkward in phrases where the word doesn’t work.
1- Words don’t match the piece and/or come across as inappropriate for a piece.
Fluency
6- The paper flows off the tongue easily. Could be read aloud without a hitch and yet isn’t like an encyclopedia or rhyming. The transitions help the new ideas along and the sentences are never awkward. There is a good balance of sentence structure with compound, simple, and complex sentences. Fragments can be used for style with a good command of the language only.
3.5- The paper has moments of an easy rhythm, but they are inconsistent. There are several awkward phrases that slow the reading eye and a speaker would have to re-phrase if reading it out loud. The variety of sentence structure is weak, but occasionally present.
1- Awkward phrases consume the paper. Writer may not know he/she is using a fragment or not. Little to no variety of sentence structure is present.
Conventions
6- The paper has perfect or nearly perfect use of punctuation, grammar, and spelling (basic mechanics). The citations are inserted according to MLA format for both paraphrased and quoted material.
3.5- The mechanics in the paper distract the reader and the writer’s message may be lost occasionally due to the mistakes in the fundamentals. The citations are incorrectly punctuated and messy to follow.
1- The conventions make it almost impossible to read. Little or no citations are present.
American Authors List
Pre-1900 Post-1900
Anne Bradstreet F. Scott Fitzgerald
J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur Flannery O’Connor
Jonathan Edwards Ernest Hemingway
Benjamin FranklinMaya Angelou
Philip Freneau Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr.
Thomas Jefferson E.E. Cummings
Thomas Paine Gertrude Stein
Edward Taylor William Faulkner
Washington Irving John Steinbeck
Harriet JacobsCole Porter
Abraham Lincoln Ellen Glasgow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow John Dos Passos
Harriet Beecher Stowe Willa Cather
Walt Whitman Zora Neale Hurston
John Greenleaf Whittier JD Salinger
Ambrose BierceT. S. Eliot
Kate Chopin Robert Frost
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)Laura Ingalls Wilder
Stephen Crane Tennessee Williams
Theodore Dreiser William Carlos Williams
W.E.B. Du Bois Oliver Wendell Holmes
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman Edna Ferber
Frederick Douglass John F. Kennedy
Charlotte Perkins Gilman Kurt Vonnegut
W.D. Howells Barbara Kingsolver
Henry James Ralph Ellison
Sarah Orne Jewett Langston Hughes
Jack London Arthur Miller
Edith Wharton Ray Bradbury
Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala Sa) Carl Sandburg
Nathaniel Hawthorne Sylvia Plath
Booker T. Washington Walker Percy
Edgar Allen Poe Wallace Stegner
James Fenimore Cooper James Michner
Frederick Douglass Hersely O’Neil
Herman Melville Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau Emily Dickinson
Phillis Wheatley Margaret Fuller
FINAL DRAFT DUE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2013