Argument Evidence Mechanics Excellent A clear, original, persuasive, and Makes excellent use of Well-written, elegant and clear sophisticated argument with a evidence; interprets with appropriate documentation. A to A+ provocative thesis which takes a and uses evidence with No spelling errors or punctuation clearly defined position relating to sensitivity to the errors, including apostrophes. the topic. nature of the text(s) and of historical contexts. Very Good Well-organized, with a clear and Very good use of Well-written, on the whole, coherent thesis statement and evidence with clear though there may be some B+ to A- argument; may need to pursue understanding of the passages that are unclear or more difficult questions. nature of the evidence require further explication; good and its historical use of citations, etc. context. Good A clear thesis and argument, Good use of evidence, Some problems of spelling, though not necessarily a clear understanding of grammar, word choice, or style, B- to B particularly original or creative the basic elements of though not sufficient to entirely one; some attempt to synthesize or the texts under obscure the points being made; draw conclusions. discussion and their basic scholarly apparatus intact. uses; no major problems of interpretation. Fair Some effort to develop a basic Some use of evidence; Confusing or vague, requiring a argument, though it may be some problems of real effort on the part of the C- to C+ unevenly or inadequately understanding or reader to guess at the arguments developed; inadequate or banal interpretation. being made or their implications; approach to the question at hand. problems with spelling, grammar, word choice, and style. Poor No clear thesis or argument; purely Failure to use evidence Poorly written, troubling problems descriptive; argument is from the text with grammar and word choice; D or Fail and/or polemical. adequately or difficult to understand or follow competently; basic claims; failure to properly inappropriate or identify or cite passages that are misunderstood quoted if texts are even – examples; significant referenced.. problems of
Argument Evidence Mechanics Excellent A to A+ A clear, original, persuasive, and sophisticated argument with a provocative thesis which takes a clearly defined position relating to the topic. Makes excellent use of evidence; interprets and uses evidence with sensitivity to the nature of the text(s) and of historical contexts. Well-written, elegant and clear with appropriate documentation. No spelling errors or punctuation errors, including apostrophes. Very Good B+ to A- Well-organized, with a clear and coherent thesis statement and argument; may need to pursue more difficult questions. Very good use of evidence with clear understanding of the nature of the evidence and its historical context. Well-written, on the whole, though there may be some passages that are unclear or require further explication; good use of citations, etc. Good B- to B A clear thesis and argument, though not necessarily a particularly original or creative one; some attempt to synthesize or draw conclusions. Good use of evidence, clear understanding of the basic elements of the texts under discussion and their uses; no major problems of interpretation. Some problems of spelling, grammar, word choice, or style, though not sufficient to entirely obscure the points being made; basic scholarly apparatus intact. Fair C- to C+ Some effort to develop a basic argument, though it may be unevenly or inadequately developed; inadequate or banal approach to the question at hand. Some use of evidence; some problems of understanding or interpretation. Confusing or vague, requiring a real effort on the part of the reader to guess at the arguments being made or their implications; problems with spelling, grammar, word choice, and style. Poor D or Fail No clear thesis or argument; purely descriptive; argument is and/or polemical. Failure to use evidence from the text adequately or competently; inappropriate or misunderstood examples; significant problems of Poorly written, troubling problems with grammar and word choice; difficult to understand or follow basic claims; failure to properly identify or cite passages that are quoted – if texts are even referenced..