Essays Marking Guide
| A | B | C | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argument (64%) | ||||
|
Organization
(20%) |
Essay proceeds logically from start to finish and is coherent through- out. | Essay includes some minor logical inconsistencies, but they hardly ‘ from the overall coherence of the argument. | Significant logical inconsistencies in parts of the paper make the overall credibility of the argument some- what dubious. | The essay is il- logical, incoherent, and as a result completely unconvincing. |
|
Thesis Quality
(16%) |
Thesis, whether implicit or explicit, is absolutely clear and highly original. | Thesis, whether implicit or explicit, is clear and deliberate. | Thesis is identifiable in some form, with effort. | Essay does not contain — either implicitly or explicitly — a thesis. |
|
Objectivity
(12%) |
Essay demonstrates a masterful grasp of all sides of the issue. | Essay effectively recognizes a variety of points of view. | Essay is clearly, albeit unintentionally, partial. It either fails to deal with contrary points of view out of ignorance or deals with them unfairly. | Essay is deliberately not impartial. The author has used the pa- per as a pulpit in- stead of as a framework for rigorous critical analysis. |
|
Analysis
(16%) |
Analytical abilities on display are clearly superior and reflect an originality of thinking. | Analytical abilities on display demonstrate an ability to separate ideas into their component parts. | Analytical abilities on display are inconsistent. Some ideas are clear and fully understood; others are not. | Paper reproduces arguments from other sources with no evidence of understanding. |
| Evidence (24%) | ||||
|
Breadth
(12%) |
Essay draws from an impressive variety of sources and perspectives. | Essay draws from an accept able variety of sources and perspectives. | Sources either come largely from a single perspective or are quantifiably insufficient to meet the de- mands of the assignment. | Sources are excessively limited in quantity and represent an excessively limited point of view. |
|
Synthesis
(12%) |
Presentation of the evidence demonstrates a masterful understanding of its themes, both specific and general. | Presentation of the evidence demonstrates a clear understanding of its themes, both specific and general. | Presentation of the evidence demonstrates a flawed understanding of either its specific or general themes. | Presentation of the evidence demonstrates a serious misunderstanding of both its specific and general themes. |
| Writing (8%) | ||||
| Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are virtually flaw- less. Language and word choice are appropriate throughout. |
Limited flaws in grammar, punctuation, and/or spelling do not detract from the overall message of the essay.
Some minor problems with language and word choice are noted but not overly problematic. |
Significant flaws in some of grammar, punctuation, spelling, language and/or word choice. | Paper is incoherent because of flaws in grammar, punctuation, spelling, language, and/or word choice. | |
| Format (4%) | ||||
| Essay follows scholarly conventions including proper citation methods virtually flawlessly. | Only minor flaws in terms of scholarly conventions including citation methods. | Significant flaws in terms of scholarly conventions (likely including citation methods). | Paper displays a blatant disregard for scholarly conventions. | |
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