• American Lit
    • Beginnings-1800
    • 1800-1870
    • 1850-1914
    • 1915-1945
    • 1946-Present
  • Social Justice
    • Coming of Age - Persepolis
    • Things Fall Apart
    • God, Culture, & Suffering - Silence
    • Ethics in a Complex World - A Thousand Splendid Suns
    • Public Health - Mountains Beyond Mountains
    • The Search for Authenticity - The Stranger
  • X-Ploration
  • Grammar Boot Camp
www.JamesRichmond.net
Rubric for the 10 Million $ Essay


 

Markers of Excellent Writing (85%-100%)

Ideas

Astute, Analytical, Rich & complex understanding of the social issue, Logical problem solving, Appropriate textual evidence and examples, Insightful, Convincingly developed valid thesis, Contains a well-worded thesis, Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Powerfully persuasive

 

Voice

Sophisticated language, Stylistic maturity, Very individual, Not too forced or unnatural in tone, Appropriate to the task, humor (if it used at all) is appropriate, tone is well-controlled

 

Organization

Well-supported reasoning, A structure that supports the purpose, Relevant and specific references to the prompt, Effective command of organization, Great transitions, Solid topic sentences, A great hook, An effective title

 

Word Choice

Precise vocabulary, Avoids vague words like “a lot” and “really,” Effective command of diction, Excellent verbs, Vocab says what it means and means what it says, No thesaurus abuse

 

Sentence Fluency

Eloquent writing, Concise, Effective command of sentence structure, Avoids passive voice, Each sentence makes sense, Subjects & verbs agree Pronouns and antecedents are clear and in agreement, No confusion of past/present/future tenses

 

Conventions

Very few spelling, punctuation, or capitalization errors, No inappropriate run-on sentences, Sound mechanics, No inappropriate sentence fragments, The writing is not perfect, but is quite impressive






Markers of More Problematic Writing (65%-84%)

 

Ideas

Less astute, Not appropriately analytical, Overly simple understanding of the social issue, Somewhat lacking textual evidence and examples, Less than insightful, Poorly developed valid thesis, Contains no thesis, Not especially persuasive

 

Voice

Bland language, Not especially individual, Forced or unnatural in tone, Inappropriate to the task, tone isn’t well-controlled, Sarcasm replaces ideas

 

Organization

Not well-supported, Lacks a structure that supports the purpose, Too much irrelevant summary, Too much irrelevant support, Weak transitions, Weak topic sentences, Unimpressive hook, Weak title, No title

 

Word Choice

Imprecise vocabulary, Too many vague words like “a lot” and “really,” Bland verbs, Vocab is imprecise, Thesaurus abuse

 

Sentence Fluency

Not eloquent, Wordy, Passive voice, Sentence don’t always make sense, Subjects & verbs don’t always agree, Pronouns and antecedents aren’t always clear and in agreement, Confusion of past/present/future tenses

 

Conventions

Too many spelling, punctuation, or capitalization errors, Inappropriate run-on sentences, Inappropriate sentence fragments

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