Essay Grading Rubric

A - Attributes

Explores and illuminates the assignment as thoroughly as possible.
Razor-sharp, incisive thesis piques the reader’s interest.
Writer shows clear command of the assignment, thesis, texts, and arguments.
Writer engages the thesis throughout the essay and provides more than adequate support for the argument at hand.
Writer engages thoughtfully and sophisticatedly with secondary material used.
Introduction comes quickly and elegantly to the point, establishing the necessary context for the thesis.
Conclusion adds further significance and relevance to the thesis and the essay’s major points.
Writer assumes that the reader understands the material well, and treats the reader with the utmost respect.
Writer illuminates both the reader and the readings, making the reading both enjoyable and revelatory.
The essay is written in comfortable, clear, and precise diction.

Writer has managed the assignment well with a narrow, argumentative thesis that considered the assignment’s length and limitations.
Writer has chosen interesting and appropriate passages or ideas to support the thesis.
The thesis is referred to occasionally in the body of the essay.
Introduction does not wander, and the conclusion does more than restate the thesis and main arguments.
The writer handles most of the material well, but may misstep occasionally with the argument’s development or understanding of the texts.
The writer engages with secondary material at a basic level.
The writer is engaged with the assignment and the material.
The writer assumes the reader knows the material.
The writer has edited the essay well.

Essay requires moderate global revision, often a more specific thesis and arguments.
Revise to connect the arguments with better insights, more thoughtful analysis, and meaningful transitions.
Revise the introduction and/or conclusion to highlight the essay’s relevance.
Revise the essay for your own and your readers’ enjoyment.

Broad thesis barely manages to corral an assignment of this length.
Support sometimes escapes the boundaries created by the thesis.
Writer sometimes mistakes summary or paraphrasing of the material for analysis or insight.
Writer summarizes secondary material and/or leans upon secondary material as incontrovertible authority without integrating it into his/her argument.
Writer’s own ideas and insights are not easily apparent in the essay.
The introduction does not provide full support for the thesis.
The conclusion merely summarizes the essay’s main arguments.
Inadequate preparation, mechanics, and style sometimes force the reader to review portions of the essay.
Writer has treated the essay as just another deadline.
The writer -- relying on summary, paraphrasing, and other less engaging forms of argumentative support -- has treated the reader with fairly low regard.
The writer may have edited the paper, but has overlooked problems.

Essay requires substantial global revision.
Revise for a more specific and argumentative thesis.
Revise for a clearer argumentative outline.
Choose material (support, texts, ideas) appropriate to the new thesis and arguments: use texts to substantiate your own ideas and insights, rather than bowing to the obvious arguments.
Revise to connect the essay’s whole argument with unusual insights, thoughtful analysis, and meaningful transitions between ideas and paragraphs.
Revise introduction to lead naturally into the thesis.
Revise conclusion to provide a new idea or piece of evidence.

Essay minimally addresses the assignment.
Body of essay and thesis do not align.
The writer has largely substituted quotations, paraphrasing, summary, and obvious factual statements for argumentation, analysis, and insight.
The writer has lost control of the essay.
Inadequate preparation, style, and/or mechanics force the reader to re-read many portions of the essay.
The writer may have edited, but has overlooked basic problems.

Conference recommended with the instructor.
Global revision, perhaps an entirely new start, is required.
Begin with a different idea, thesis, and plan.
Choose material (quotations, research, ideas) for your specific argument, for a narrower scope.
Revise to better integrate the material with the argument.
Revise to integrate the thesis, its arguments, the supporting material, and the conclusion.
Revise to show respect for the reader, moving the essay along and pursuing more analysis and insights.
Integrate a new idea or evidence into the conclusion.
Revise and edit toward a well-read, intelligent, and demanding reader.

Essay evades the assignment entirely or attempts the assignment dishonestly.
Inadequate preparation, style, or faulty mechanics prevent the reader from following the essay’s argument, if any argument exists.

With thanks to Dr. Douglas Sugano, Whitworth University

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