ESSAY EVALUATION
© Perry Glasser
Content / Organization / Mechanics / Expression
A
/ clear thesis statement; ideas appropriate to an adult, educated audience; key terms defined; ideas adequately supported; facts and judgments are unconfused; appropriate tone for the audience; effective documentation / a strong, frequently referred to controlling idea; paragraph sequencing that creates clarity, focus and leads to a strong conclusion / mss. is cleanly typed and exhibits general control of language; documentation as needed. / evocative, lean and fresh language; sentences vary in structure and length; engaging transitions; effective subordination, coordination, and parallelism; integration of quotes
B
/ clear thesis statement; ideas appropriate to an adult, educated audience; most terms defined; most ideas adequately supported; facts, opinions and assertions are seldom confused; effective documentation / a strong, frequently referred to controlling idea; inconsistent paragraph sequencing that frequently but not always is effective; presentation of a conclusion / mss. exhibits few typographical errors, strong usage and spelling, insignificant sentence structure errors, no important errors in syntax or grammar; well-intentioned documentation / evocative, lean language; sentences vary in structure and length; engaging transitions; some effective subordination, coordination, and parallelism; integration of quotes
C
/ clear thesis statement; ideas too often are obvious; many ideas presented at a single level of generalization; facts, opinions and assertions presented as equivalents; inconsistent tone; inconsistent documentation / a weak, seldom referred to controlling idea; paragraph sequencing in no special order; presentation of a weakly prepared conclusion / mss. exhibits many typographical errors; weak spelling; some sentence structure errors; occasional errors in syntax or grammar; weak documentation. / arch and derivative language; wordiness; frequent use of passive voice; weak transitions; little effective subordination, coordination, and parallelism; “scissors and paste” documentation
D
/ vague thesis statement; obvious ideas; many ideas presented at a single level of generalization; facts, opinions and assertions presented as equivalents; inappropriate tone; poor documentation / no discernible controlling idea; paragraph sequencing in no special order; the essay “stops” without a conclusion / mss. exhibits poor spelling, gross sentence errors and frequent grammar and syntax errors; poor documentation. / verbose, familiar cliché-ridden prose, plodding sentence with little variation, vague internal references; irrelevant quotations
F
/ non-performance
