Grading Criteria for English 377, Ten Percent Each:
1. Topic / Issue / Focus / Scope.
Few of the assignments ask you to answer a specific question (as
a 101 paper might) because part of your burden is to choose a
topic or issue that deserves attention. Also, you need to pick a
focus or scope that is neither not too broad (thus leading to
generalizations) nor too narrow (wanting for evidence and
elaboration). The critical thinking criteria below is wedded
strongly to this criteria as well.
2. Thesis.
Your thesis should be apparant to a trained reader. That is not
to say you must make it the last sentence of your first
paragraph, but this is where most college teachers look for the
thesis. You can have a non-traditional thesis (delayed, diffused,
or ironic). However you decide to convey your claim, the reader
should be able to summarize your claim in one sentence. Your
claim should be arguable in one paper, proven with reason and
with evidence--the latter primarily from the readings and your
logs; however, you may provide a little evidence with your own
experience / background beyond the class.
3. Critical Reading Skills.
Demonstrate that you read the assigned readings. You need not
waste time doing a straight summary. However, as you analyze,
apply, argue with, or agree with these readings, you will have to
refer to them in detail, and how you refer to the text will
demonstrate your reading skills, both basic comprehension
(surface meaning) and analysis (reading for values, assumptions
and application).
4. Evidence.
Readers can use personal evidence, popular evidence, hypothetical
situations, expert testimony, textual citations, historical
facts, or data / statistics to prove their claims. Your primary
evidence will come from the assigned readings and from your logs.
However, you can use another type of evidence if you feel it will
sway your reader. Be sure to introduce your evidence, quote it
correctly, and then analyze/interpret it to connect it securely
to your claim.
5.Reasoning / Critical Thinking Skills.
Give your reader an "Ah-ha" experience by sharing the
insights gleaned while you were reading / tutoring / and most
especially writing. Many writers make their critical thinking
skills especially apparent in their conclusion, but actually, a
seasoned writer demonstrates good reasoning and insight
throughout the paper. Pursue a question that is worth the time,
and muse, connect, analyze, contrast, question and most
importantly, unfold your thinking in a focused, organized way so
that your reader can join you on your journey to enlightment
(Ohm).
6.Organization between and within paragraphs.
Choose a key word or phrase from your thesis and make sure that
you reuse that word or phrase in each subsequent paragraph. This
will help work as the scaffolding for your ideas and evidence.
You can use topic sentences to directly connect each paragraph to
your thesis, but you can smooth these out so that they are not as
clunky as 101 writing. The criteria of Style is often very wedded
to organization because experienced writers use transitional
phrases and methods of subordinating and co-ordinating clauses to
demonstrate the relationships among the ideas in a paper. Don't
assume that proximity communicates relevance. In other words,
just because one idea follows another spatially, they may not
really connect logically unless you explain the connection. What
you may think is obvious may not be apparent to your reader.
7.In-text Documentation in MLA Style.
Cite the readings in the text of your document with the author's
name and the page number: (North 344). Cite direct quotes,
indirect quotes, paraphrases, and summaries. Write a citation for
each work in the works cited page. If you need a reminder on how
to follow MLA format, we have a handout in the Writing Center.
8.Sentence Style / Persuasive Voice.
Choose a voice and tone that is appropriate for the content, the
audience, your persona, and the situation. Analyze the way you
join clauses and phrases to insure that you draw the correct
relationships and that you convey the force and emphasis you
intend. Watch out for choppy passages, wordy passages, passive
voice, elevated diction, ineffective slang, and awkwardly joined
clauses/phrases. Even though evidence often provides the most
solid support for the claim, some arguments are made to a large
degree by a well-crafted and compelling style.
9.Sentence-level Correctness.
Check for correctness in sentence boundaries, subject-verb
agreement, parallelism, placement of modifiers, usage,
punctuation, mechanics, documentation style, and typing. These
picky rules are only one category of the grading criteria, but
poor correctness can convey an ethos/persona that will undermine
your content -- or even get in the way of communication itself.
10.Format and Delivery.
Use good, quality paper, dark ink, and an inobtrusive font style.
Stick to the format (1 page, single space for most of the
papers). You can fudge a little on the margins to keep the
argument on one page. Turn it in on time, free from wrinkles or
stains. Turning in late papers conveys an ethos of
disorganization, indifference, or slothfulness. This 10% is the
easiest to earn, so don't lose points here.