•      Essay Scoring Guide   

     

    A         BRILLIANT/EXCELLENT

  • Powerful captivating ICD that connects to the thesis                                 

  • Powerful clear thesis statement                                                  

  • Excellent creative title                                                                           

  • Format includes excellent concrete detail                                         

  •  Format includes insightful commentary                                       

  •  Finds connections
  •  Organization is clear and logical
  • Some mechanical errors may be present, more than ā€œAā€ papers
  • Good vocabulary
  • Above average sentence variety
  • Correct use of transitions
  • Repeats little or not at all
  • Insightful conclusion paragraph but less than an ā€œAā€ paper

     

    B         GOOD

    •   Good ICD that adequately connects to the thesis                         

    •   Good thesis statement but less so than an ā€œAā€                                        

    •  Creative and correctly structured title                                                      

    •    Format includes good concrete detail                                                

    •    Format includes insightful commentary but less so than an ā€œAā€                 

    •    Organization is clear but not as skillfully done as the ā€œAā€ papers       

    •   Some mechanical errors may be present, more than ā€œAā€ paper

    •    Good vocabulary

    •   Above average sentence variety

    •    Correct use of transitions

    •     Repeats little or not at all

    •    Insightful conclusion paragraph but less than an ā€œAā€ paper

     
    C       ADEQUATE
    • Interesting ICD but is not connected very well to thesis                             
    • Thesis statement is weak/vague                                                 
    • Title lacks creativity and/or structure                                                       
    • Follows format (ratio; word counts; sentence layout, if required)    
    • Acceptable concrete detail                                                                 
    • Obvious, superficial, simplistic, generic, or irrelevant commentary             
    • Organization is present but less skillfully than ā€œBā€ papers
    •    Some mechanical errors may be present, more than ā€œBā€ papers
    • Average, simple vocabulary
    • Limited sentence variety
    • Limited use of transitions
    •  Repeats are a proble
    • Conclusion paragraph is mostly summary

    D         DEMONSTRATES PROBLEMS

    • Weak ICD                                                                                            
    • Unclear unorganized thesis                                                                                                     
    • No title or very weak title                                                            
    • Does not follow the format                                                                      
    • Weak concrete detail; factual errors                                                        
    • Weak commentary                                                          
    • Mainly plot summary                                                      
    • Organization is unclear or not logical                                                      
    • Too many mechanical errors                              
    • Does not address the prompt
    • Simple vocabulary or inappropriate word choice
    • Little or no sentence variety
    •  No transitions
    •  Repeats are a bigger problem than with the ā€œCā€ paper
    • Repetitive conclusion lacking insight    
    • Uses you, your, yours, would should, could, may, might, ought to, need to
    • Uses I, me, my in a literature paper

     F   FAILS TO MEET STANDARDS AND/OR  ANSWER PROMPT