Honors_Essay_Rubric.html

Utopia Essay Rubric

Criterion	A 90-100 Excellent Sophisticated	B 80-89 Good Competent	C 70-79 Acceptable Adequate	D 60-69 Unacceptable Inadequate	F 0-59 Not Yet Competent
Choice of Topic	Topic fully meets requirements of the assignment; topic is also interesting, or is approached in am interesting or and original manner. The topic is in itself worthy of an student who is highly motivated and hungry for knowledge.	Topic fully meets requirements of the assignment; topic is also interesting, or is approached in am interesting or and original manner.	Topic meets requirements but is approached in a routine and mechanical manner, without concern for reader interest or originality.	Topic minimally meets requirements of the assignment; shows no effort to engage or interest reader; late change in topic might indicate writer has procrastinated and failed to follow through on original plan	Topic minimally meets or fails to meet the assignment; merely goes through the motions; topic indicates the "easy way out"
Research	Topic is researched as fully as possible, using a balance of print and on-line sources, except where print sources are unavailable. Number and range of sources enable writer to write persuasively and authoritatively. Sources might involve interviews, email contacts, solicited brochures and pamphlets, etc. Level of research demonstrates a genuine interest in the topic.	Topic is researched thoroughly, using a balance of print and on-line sources, except where print sources are unavailable. Number and range of sources enable writer to write persuasively and authoritatively. Level of research indicates a sound interest in the topic.	Research is minimally acceptable for the topic. Only a few sources are used, or sources of only one kind. The sources are not only limited but also biased or lacking in authority. The research is superficial rather than probing.	Research is superficial. Although sources are indeed available, little or no effort has been made to find them or use them with any depth or probity.	Research is superficial, non-existent, or flawed by deep bias or other weakness. Little or no effort has gone into probing the depths of the topic or exploring its potential richness.
Organization	The organizational plan of the paper is clear and thoughtful and is suitable to the nature of the topic. A strong introduction, a logically developed body, and a sound conclusion all flow smoothly and naturally, without artificial or stilted transitions or breaks. The movement from part to part of the essay is easy and natural, not forced. The individual paragraphs within the essay are coherent and unified.	The organizational plan of the paper is clear and thoughtful and is suitable to the nature of the topic. The major structural components-introduction, body, conclusion-flow smoothly and logically, with clear and unobtrusive transitions. Body paragraphs are fairly well unified and coherent.	The organizational plan of the paper is not immediately obvious, and the reader must struggle to make connections from part to part. The introduction is mechanical or perfunctory and does not evoke interest in the reader. Transitions within and between body paragraphs are sometimes weak. The essay as a whole seems loosely connected and lack full coherence and unity.	The paper is disorganized. There is no introductory paragraph that engages the reader's interest; the essay merely starts. Similarly, there is no concluding paragraph, and the essay merely trails off after the last paragraph of development. The body paragraphs lack unity and coherence and are not interconnected by transitions. Little or no discernible structure is evident in the essay. The paragraphs appear to be organized randomly.	The essay is disorganized and incoherent. The reader has great difficulty following the ideas because of the lack of a coherent argument or logical flow of ideas. The reader feels disoriented because of the lack of verbal and logical "cues" that might pull the essay together. The essay begins abruptly, ends abruptly, and seems to go nowhere in between.
Development	The essay meets or exceeds the required essay length, without wasting words. The introduction, body, and conclusion are developed with full and rich detail from a variety of sources. The introduction stimulates reader response. The body paragraphs provide an array of carefully selected detail that is persuasive and authoritative. The conclusion inspires thoughtful reflection. The development of an excellent honors paper is thorough and comprehensive without being tedious and repetitious.	The essay meets the required essay length, without wasting words. The introduction, body, and conclusion are well developed with detail from a variety of sources. The introduction is interesting but not stimulating. The body paragraphs provide good and effective detail. The conclusion brings effective closure to the topic but does not inspire reflection. The development of a good honors paper is thorough without being tedious.	The essay minimally meets the required length. The introduction is superficial and unclear in focus. Body paragraphs are minimally developed, with superficial or shallow detail. The essay merely ends, without any conclusion, or it trails off with a perfunctory and mechanical conclusion	The essay falls below the minimum length, or barely meets it. There is either no true introduction or a superficial one. The body paragraphs lack detailed support, analysis, and interpretation. The body paragraphs are rather more like those in newspapers than paragraphs in formal expository prose. The conclusion is either nonexistent or superficial, the rhetorical equivalent of merely saying "The End."	The essay significantly falls below the minimum length requirement. Its introduction, body, and conclusion are minimal in length and quality. The essay fails to develop the topic effectively.
BasicGrammar	The essay is fully correct in every detail. There are very few or no grammatical errors. The essay is an exemplary piece of writing in its respect for the highest levels of written communication.	The essay has a few distracting minor errors in grammar but no serious errors such as sentence fragments, comma splices, subject-verb agreement errors, incoherent sentences.	The essay has enough grammatical errors to distract the reader and confuse meaning. There are one or two major sentence errors and several others that obstruct meaning.	There are several serious sentence errors and a variety of other errors scattered throughout. These errors seriously distract the reader and indicate a general disregard for grammatical correctness.	The essay exhibits a complete disregard for grammatical correctness. Errors of all kinds abound. These errors utterly disrupt the writer's message.
Style Diction Usage Mechanics	The essay is very nearly error free. The style, diction, and usage are appropriate for the topic and purpose of the essay. There are few or no errors in mechanics (punctuation, italics, capitalization, etc.)	The essay contains only a few errors in style, diction, usage, and mechanics.	There are minor errors in nearly every paragraph.	Errors of all kinds abound	The writing is utterly careless and demonstrates no regard for correctness.
Revision Editing	The essay is fully revised at least once and probably as many as three or four times. Each revision produces a significant improvement in the overall quality of the essay.	The essay is revised only once. The revision significantly improves the quality of the essay.	The essay is revised one or more times but with only slight improvement in the overall quality.	The essay is either superficially revised or not revised at all. Important improvements are neglected, important errors or flaws ignored.	The essay is not revised.