Dr. Joe Carrithers ENGL 060 F – Summer 2015 Grading Rubric for Essay 2 Focus Support Organization Excellent Insightful and original thesis that identifies a specific idea in a reading and a specific reason for its being accurate or not; thesis is effectively expressed (10 points) Abundant and strong explanations that reveal a clear understanding of idea from reading and reason for its accuracy; thorough use of ideas from reading and sources (10 points) All ideas follow and relate to each other and to the thesis logically and effectively (10 points) Style Impressive word choice and appropriate varied sentence patterns (10 points) Mechanics Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation (10 points) Strong Significant central idea; single point from reading and reason for it being accurate or not are clearly expressed as central focus of essay; overall point is stated clearly (9 points) Substantial and appropriate discussion of a specific point from reading and reason for its accuracy; significant use of ideas from reading and sources (9 points) Most ideas follow and relate to each other and to the thesis logically and effectively; arrangement is purposeful (9 points) Appropriate word choice and sentence patterns; only minor errors in word choice and sentence patterns (9 points) Only minor errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation (9 points) Good Meaningful central idea about a specific idea from reading and a reason for why it is accurate or not are clearly expressed, but could be more directly stated (8 points) Average Central idea suggests a choice of point from reading and/or reason for its accuracy rather than stating subject or reason directly; sets up an artificial structure for the rest of the essay (7 points) Below Average Unclear central idea; does not clearly identify a specific idea from reading or does not specify one reason for its accuracy as the primary focus (6 points) Poor Unfocused; no clear central point (0 points) Good development of ideas about particular idea from a reading and a single reason for its accuracy; overall use of reading and sources is strong (8 points) Some of the writer’s ideas are not as fully developed as others; point from reading is not fully described or discussion of reason for its significance is not clearly developed; essay uses a minimum amount of information from reading and sources (7 points) Ideas are loosely connected to each other; organizational plan follows a formulaic model (e.g., five-paragraph format); information is disproportionately distributed (7 points) Frequent problems with word choice or unclear sentence patterns (7 points) Some supporting details but essay tends to describe idea from reading and its accuracy very generally; insufficient use of information from reading and sources to support the overall argument (6 points) Some evidence of an organizational plan, but details are not always clearly linked to each other or to the thesis (6 points) Few or no supporting explanations; uses too little information about the point from the reading and reason for its accuracy, and/or little to no information from the reading or sources (0 points) Lack of organization; no discernible arrangement of material (0 points) Numerous errors in word choice and sentence structure (6 points) Many flaws in word choice and sentence structure, leading of lack of clarity of ideas (0 points) Frequent grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors (7 points) Numerous and distracting grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors (6 points) Frequency of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors makes reading difficult (0 points) Organizational plan with only minor issues with the connections between ideas and from ideas to the thesis (8 points) Some problems with word choice and sentence patterns, but word choice and sentence patterns are generally sound (8 points) Some grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors, but none serious enough to detract from understanding of ideas (8 points)