Ideas/Content: the essay: contains clear,valid, arguable, insightful thesis that addresses some nuances in the text convincingly explains importance of thesis uses MLA style to cite quotations accurately; quotations are elegantly integrated into the text; they are introduced, contextualized, and explained; evidence is accurate, relevant and sufficient, and in places particularly well-chosen analyzes author’s language effectively; contains appropriate and sufficient discussions of opposing or alternate interpretations. shows clear understanding of the text with some insight into its nuances Organization Voice Intro. draws reader in, establishes the topic and may Writer sometimes makes stylistic choices to make the contain an implicit thesis voice distinctive Concluding paragraph contains an element of discovery Word Choice: The Essay uses: or surprise A level of vocabulary appropriate for the issue or Multiple paragraphs develop the thesis text; varied and clear word choices; vivid verbs and in a well-chosen order that gradually builds an argument specific nouns consistently, and adjectives and Essay consistently uses transitional phrases, clauses, adverbs sparingly and sentences to structure a coherent argument Body paragraphs are organized and develop one part of Sentence Structure: The the overall thesis Avoids sentence fragments, run-ons, and uses: openers and closers for variety, and uses a variety of phrases and sentence types Uses: the active voice; subject-verb split position for variety; a variety of clauses; deliberately uses passive voice/sentence errors as a rhetorical choice Mechanics: the essay Punctuates phrases correctly; avoids errors in subject/verb, pronoun/ antecedent agreement and parallelism Shows evidence of proofreading
Ideas/Content: the essay: contains clear,valid, arguable, insightful thesis that addresses some nuances in the text convincingly explains importance of thesis uses MLA style to cite quotations accurately; quotations are elegantly integrated into the text; they are introduced, contextualized, and explained; evidence is accurate, relevant and sufficient, and in places particularly well-chosen analyzes author’s language effectively; contains appropriate and sufficient discussions of opposing or alternate interpretations. shows clear understanding of the text with some insight into its nuances Organization Intro. draws reader in, establishes the topic and may contain an implicit thesis Concluding paragraph contains an element of discovery or surprise Multiple paragraphs develop the thesis in a well-chosen order that gradually builds an argument Essay consistently uses transitional phrases, clauses, and sentences to structure a coherent argument Body paragraphs are organized and develop one part of the overall thesis Voice Writer sometimes makes stylistic choices to make the voice distinctive Word Choice: The Essay uses: A level of vocabulary appropriate for the issue or text; varied and clear word choices; vivid verbs and specific nouns consistently, and adjectives and adverbs sparingly Sentence Structure: The Avoids sentence fragments, run-ons, and uses: openers and closers for variety, and uses a variety of phrases and sentence types Uses: the active voice; subject-verb split position for variety; a variety of clauses; deliberately uses passive voice/sentence errors as a rhetorical choice Mechanics: the essay Punctuates phrases correctly; avoids errors in subject/verb, pronoun/ antecedent agreement and parallelism Shows evidence of proofreading