Partially Meets Does Not Meet
Excellent - A Meets Expectations - B
Purpose & Fulfills all assignment
Audience guidelines
(15 points) Maintains focus on
answering the question of
whether rhetorical strategies
are used effectively
Skillfully crafts essay for
imaginary critic as audience
(15)
Content & Central idea is clearly stated
support in a compelling thesis that
addresses the essay question
(30 points)
Thesis is reinforced
throughout the essay
Analysis shows creative and
original thinking
Points are well supported
with multiple concrete
examples
Uses insightful commentary
that links the analysis and
support (30)
Use of Sources Summary of source essay
succinctly captures major
(10 points) points and avoids
unintentional plagiarism
Quotations, paraphrasing,
and summary are used
effectively throughout the
essay
Fulfills most assignment
guidelines
Focuses on answering the
question of whether rhetorical
strategies are used
effectively, but with minor
lapses
Shows awareness of
imaginary critic as audience
(12)
Central idea is clearly stated
in a thesis that addresses the
essay question
Thesis is reinforced in the
essay
The essay focuses on
analysis
Points are well-supported
with relevant examples
Commentary links analysis
and support (24)
Source essay is summarized
appropriately and avoids
unintentional plagiarism
Quotations, paraphrasing,
and summary are used with
minor errors
Sources are cited in the text
with minor errors; signal
Expectations - C
Fulfills a few assignment
guidelines
Covers the question of
whether rhetorical strategies
are used effectively, but
sometimes loses focus
Shows some awareness of
imaginary critic as audience,
but with lapses (11)
Central idea is stated in a
thesis, but the thesis is
overlong and challenging to
follow.
The essay does some
analysis, but with frequent
lapses
Analysis is supported, but
support is skimpy, too
general, and/or not always
relevant
Commentary is used
sometimes, and/or
commentary is sometimes not
relevant or effective (21)
Source essay is summarized,
but may be too vague or too
long to be effective; there
may be at most one instance
of unintentional plagiarism
Only quotations are used for
support in the body of the
essay
Expectations - D/F
Essay is too short
or fails to fulfill at
least one minimum
requirement
Does not focus on
rhetorical strategies
Does not show
awareness of other
points of view (0)
Thesis is absent or
does not address
the essay question
There is little or no
analysis
Points have little or
no concrete support
Commentary is
used very little or
not at all (0)
Summary has more
than one instance of
plagiarism, contains
inaccuracies, or is
missing
Sources are used
little or not at all in
the body of the
essay
 Sources are correctly cited in
the text, with signal phases
used smoothly and
appropriately
Works Cited page is free of
significant errors (10)
Organization The essay has an original
title that reflects the main
(20 points) idea
The essay has a clear and
effective organization scheme
Thesis, topic sentences, and
transitions are used smoothly
and effectively to reinforce a
central idea
Paragraphs are effectively
unified around a main idea
Introduction and conclusion
paragraphs say something
meaningful about the topic
(20)
Style, Format Tone, word choice, and
& Expression sentence structure are
effective and appropriate for
(5 points) an academic audience and for
the imaginary critic (5)
Grammar The essay is virtually free of
& technical errors in grammar, mechanics,
control punctuation, spelling, and format
(20)
(20 points)
phrases are used to identify
source material
Works Cited page is correct,
but may contain minor errors
(8)
The essay has a title that
reflects the topic
The essay is clearly
organized around a central
idea
Thesis, topic sentences, and
transitions are used
consistently
Paragraphs focus on a main
idea and relate to the thesis
Introduction and conclusion
paragraphs are relevant to
the topic (16)
Tone, word choice, and
sentence structure are
appropriate for an academic
audience (4)
The essay has few errors in
grammar, mechanics,
punctuation, spelling, or format
(16)
Sources are cited with major Sources are not
errors; signal phrases are consistently
used inconsistently identified in the
text, and/or signal
Works Cited page is missing
phrases are missing
information and/or contains
substantial errors (7) Works Cited page
is missing required
information (0)
The essay has a title that is The essay has no
not the assignment name title
The essay attempts an The essay does not
organization around a central maintain focus on a
idea, with some lapses central idea
Thesis, topic sentences, and Paragraphs dont
transitions are used, but seem connected
inconsistently with each other or
with the thesis
Paragraphs may sometimes
lose focus The essay is
missing an
Introduction and conclusion
introduction, a
paragraphs are present, but conclusion, or both
may be simplistic (14) (0)
Tone, word choice, and Tone and word
sentence structure are mostly choice are
appropriate for an academic consistently too
audience (3) informal for
academic writing;
and/or sentence
errors interfere with
effectiveness of
audience (2)
The essay averages more than Errors distract from
five total errors per page (14) content and/or interfere
with meaning (0)