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Home                          Essay Evaluation Form

A Range: Outstanding!  Original ideas developed and delivered exceptionally well. Contains most of the following:

Thesis

  1. creative, thoughtful, interesting
  2. clearly stated and introduced

Argument

  1. Contextualized, answers "so what?"
  2. Counter-arguments integrated and relevant

Body Paragraphs

  1. Organized, in flowing order
  2. Good topic sentences
  3. Paragraph cohesion

Quotes

  1. Closely examined and analyzed
  2. Integrated, contextualized
  3. Properly cited and blocked

Style

  1. Clear, direct, concise
  2. Varied sentence structure
  3. Strong transitions between sentences  & throughout paper

B Range: Displays sound understanding of the text and engages in good interpretive work; may have 1 - 3 of the following problems:

Thesis:

  1. Too safe
  2. Intro doesn't set up the paper's central issues

Argument:

  1. Skims surface, not much detail
  2. Opens up many unanswered questions
  3. Counter-arguments brief - maybe oversimplified

Body Paragraphs: 

  1. Meandering from thesis, drifting organization
  2. Generalizing away from the text

Quotes:

  1. Merely used to establish known material
  2. Left hanging
  3. Not enough evidence provided

Style

  1. Sentences unvaried
  2. Poor transitions, choppy
  3. Grammatical errors

     

C Range:  Displays uneven performance (misreading, lack of focus), or competent exposition without a real attempt at interpretation.  May have 3 or more of the "B" range problems and/or one or more of the following

Thesis

  1. Vague, hard to determine or not debatable
  2. Not Supported adequately

Argument

  1. Inadequate support for claims
  2. Counter  arguments  are straw men or abstract
  3. Contains internal contradictions

Body Paragraphs

  1. Plot summary, little actual analysis

Quotes

  1. Few quotations used
  2. Misread

Style

  1. Vague language, poor word choice
  2. Unclear phrases
  3. Frequent and/or basic grammatical errors

  4.  

D Range: Displays serious misunderstanding of the text or the topic.  may contain 3 or more of the "C" range problems

 

F Range: Failed assignment.  Usually no paper has been submitted or plagiarism is involved.

 

 

 

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