Standard Essay Grading Rubric
|
Grade |
Content |
Organization |
Diction |
Style/Mechanics | MLA Style* |
|
A Demonstrates unusual Competence |
Excellent thesis, supported with evidence and reasons | Theme is unified; good transitions; logical development | Appropriate, fresh, precise, concise, expressive; concrete language for abstract ideas | No gross errors; no repetition; writing well above the average in all respects | Correct usage of parenthetical documentation and quotes from text; works cited page correctly formatted; correct title; citations spaced and entered correctly |
|
B Demonstrates competence |
Central idea better than average; minimal errors | Paragraphs clear but some vague transitions; ideas are good but may not be in tight sequence | Clear but some tone problems; slips into colloquial at times. | No spelling errors; few mechanical errors; mild repetition | Parenthetical documentation is present but with some errors; works cited page contains a few mistakes in format or constructing citations according to MLA Style |
|
C Coherent but commonplace; average for college writing |
Average content with a general presentation of ideas | Poor paragraphs mixed with good paragraph sequence; abrupt shifts in thought; wanders off topic at times | Vague, trite at times; inappropriate and/or uneven quality | Dead sentences; no apparent life to the writing; spelling or mechanical errors made more than once. | Poor parenthetical documentation; failure to adhere to MLA Style; serious errors in works cited format; adheres somewhat to MLA Style; citations present but poorly constructed |
|
D Suggests incompetence |
Thesis carelessly thought out; inconsistent pattern or poor development of ideas | Misleading introduction; carelessly developed paragraphs; some illogical development; weak conclusion | Unclear thoughts; informal tone; poor proofreading techniques; some slang | Serious errors; frequent spelling mistakes; gross errors: fragments/comma splices/fused sentences | Serious errors in parenthetical documentation; serious errors on works cited page; serious errors constructing citations |
|
F Demonstrates incompetence |
No apparent thesis or a thesis so unclear and inadequate that it cannot be supported | Argument not clearly apparent; inadequate and/or incoherent organization | Gross errors in diction and errors in to, too, its, it's, their, there, then, than; slang | Appears illiterate; some serious and gross errors and mistakes made more than once; numerous errors | No parenthetical documentation or disregard for MLA Style requirements; no works cited page or gross mistakes on works cited page; no citations or gross errors constructing citations |
* Use of MLA Style is not required on all
essay assignments.
