Grade Assigned

A

B

C

C-

D

F

Characteristic Level

6

5

4

3

2

1

Criteria

1

Thesis Statement

Clear strong conviction with flair and great imagination.

Clear proficient communication. Conviction is strong.

Satisfactory communication; ideas conveyed clearly.

Unsatisfactory communication; the ideas are a little unclear.

Use of slang and simplistic sentences.  Ideas very awkward.

No thesis evident.

2

Support Development

Excellent supporting ideas are presented and very well developed.

Several related ideas are presented; acceptable development.

Offers some ideas to support  the thesis but

Limited in scope.

Support examples are weak and simplistic; paragraphs are undeveloped.

Ideas are not supported, not developed and writer has very poor communication skills.

No support or development.

3

Focus

Supporting examples are  tangible and directly related to the thesis.

Most supporting examples are engaging and directly related to thesis.

Relation of ideas to thesis mostly good but some deviations noticeable.

Some focus but the ideas do not connect well. Too many errors in basic sentence structure.

Ideas are awkward with some focus but not enough skills to gain reader agreement.

No focus; ideas are mostly random.

4

Content

Exceptional content based on great imagination and logical reasoning.  Quality detailed experiences are expressed.

Good content based on reason and proficient communication. Unique experiences and detailed description add quality.

Satisfactory content, but engages the reader very little. Lack of personal experience misses the agreement of audience.

The writer fails to reach the reader; content is weak; low communication  skills;  common everyday talk; monotonous

Content is non-existent.  Message or ideas are not clearly communicated.

Content is weak demonstrating a lack of sincere thought.

5

Style

Maturity of style.  Excellent points of argument; uses literary devices, such as analogy, metaphor and simile.

High quality writing style with relative analogies to world affairs. Some use of literary devices.

Adequate style but little use of literary devices. Writing is mechanical and predictable.

Style is not satisfactory, ideas in form of listed details; simplistic thought.

Non-existent style with no literary skills, only street talk and disjointed communication.

No organization or style apparent.

6

Grammatical Structure

Excellent grammatical usage; almost error free.

Proficient skills in grammar; any errors do not distract the reader from the message.

Adequate skills in grammar but some errors are present which may distract reader.

Too many grammar and punctuation errors that distract the reader.

Too many errors in grammar and punctuation to communicate clearly.

Complete failure in grammatical structure.

7

Sentences

Superior sentence structure; clear and interesting.

Sentences are varied and well constructed; well chosen transitions.

Satisfactory construction but lacks in variety; errors present.

Sentence structure is poor, unvaried; a little choppy and abrupt.

Simplistic structure with wordy or ambiguous reference.

Most sentences are wordy and lack focus.

8

Vocabulary

Precise and correct word choice; no slang or inappropriate words for the audience intended.

Fairly high vocabulary, used with intelligence to make the communication concise.

Vocabulary is of a lower level but adequate; communication a bit weak and boring.

Simplistic inappropriate word choice, use of slang and everyday common street language.

Simple words used, mostly general.  Inappropriate word choice is evident.

Simplistic.

9

Transitions

Superiorly organized sentences with frequent use of superb transitions.

Well organized sentences with sufficient use of well chosen transitions.

Sentences satisfactory; some transitions.

Transitions weak, almost non-existent;   ideas a bit confusing.

Little evidence of transitions used.

None.

10

Conclusion

Excellently summarized thesis with strong clincher to emphasize the theme.

Well restated thesis with good clincher.

Thesis is summarized satisfactorily but ending lacks a strong clincher.

Unsatisfactory summation of thesis; ending is weak and boring.

Poor – almost non-existent with no clincher and no substance.

No conclusion evident.

Essay

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Criteria

entry

entry

entry

entry

entry

entry

entry

entry

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

6

7

7

7

7

7

7

7

7

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

9

9

9

9

9

9

9

9

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

Total

Average

Grade