Research Paper Rubric

INTRODUCTION
A / C
effective, attention grabber/hook / all specific or all general
effective thesis / thesis is weak or obvious
exciting, relevant, unique / needs spice; obvious or bland
interested in reading more / too short; undeveloped

B

/ D
barely general to specific / almost no intro at all
thesis needs stronger argument / no thesis or irrelevant one
could be more engaging/developed / just plot/information summary
begins to grab attention / does not grab attention

BODY

A

/ C
intelligent/convincing argument / argument obvious; no depth
relevant and sufficient support / not enough evidence/support
exciting and unusual ideas / plot/information summary is excessive
thesis is clearly proven / ideas not connected to the thesis
thought-provoking analysis / not nearly enough analysis
very effective use of quotations / overuse or weak use of quotations
deep and insightful / partially developed insights
terrific development of paragraph ideas / weak paragraph development

B

/ D
acceptable argument / no logical argument
more or stronger support is needed / serious lack of evidence
connect ideas to thesis more / bare focus on the thesis ideas
supports thesis with a little depth / thesis not proven
stronger analysis would help / no analysis
uses quotations nicely / no quotations
insights border on the obvious / no depth of thought or insights
good paragraph development / very weak paragraph development

CONCLUSION

A

/ C
powerful ending / mere summary of ideas
refers effectively to the thesis / reference to the thesis too obvious
specific to general / all specific or all general
shows importance again / too short to show importance of idea
leaves the reader thinking / inadequate commentary
interesting extension of ideas / bare extension of ideas

B

/ D
some good or unusual ideas / barely a summary at all
more depth will help / no depth of thought
refers adequately to the thesis / no mention of the thesis
barely goes from specific to general / all specific or all general
Does not provoke much more thought / almost nonexistent
extends the ideas somewhat / no extension of ideas at all
OVERALL ANALYSIS GRADE:

BUSINESS LETTER

A

/

C

Heading, date accurately formatted / Heading, date incorrectly formatted
Inside address accurately formatted / Inside address incorrectly formatted
Salutation accurately formatted / Salutation incorrectly formatted
Body: block format, business tone / Body: block format incorrect, informal tone with errors
Body: required content covered in-depth / Body: required content missing two elements
Complimentary close accurately formatted / Complimentary close incorrectly formatted
Enclosure accurately formatted / Enclosure incorrectly formatted

B

/

D

Heading, date with one error / Heading, date incorrect or missing elements
Inside address with one error / Inside address incorrect or missing elements
Salutation with one error / Salutation missing parts
Body: block format mostly correct, casual tone / Body: block format grossly incorrect, rude tone
Body: required content missing one element / Body: required content missing
Complimentary close with one error / Complimentary close missing parts
Enclosure with one error / Enclosure missing parts
OVERALL BUSINESS LETTER GRADE:
MECHANICS
A / C
no or minute mechanical errors / several mechanical errors
clear organization / little evidence of organization
intelligent vocabulary / common vocabulary
sophisticated sentence structure / repetitious and simple sentences
very effective use of transitions / insufficient transitions
B / D
few mechanical errors / excessive mechanical errors
fair organization / no logical organization
occasional vocabulary that is challenging / poor word choice
attempts sentence variety/style / all simple sentences
good use of transitions / no transitions
OVERALL MECHANICS GRADE:
CITATIONS/MLA FORMAT

A

/ C
all information cited as necessary / frequent information not cited
punctuation of quotations is accurate / punctuation of quotations is backwards, parenthetical information is incorrectly formatted
page set up follows format without error / page set up follows format with several errors
works cited page correctly formatted / works cited page present without perfect formatting and/or missing information
quotations blended into your own words / few quotations blended into your own words

B

/ D
occasional information not cited / most information not cited
punctuation of quotations is backwards / punctuation of quotations is backwards, missing
parenthetical information is incorrect or missing
page set up follows format with minimal errors / page set up does not follow format
works cited page present without perfect formatting / works cited page inaccurate
most quotations blended into your own words / quotations not blended into your own words
OVERALL MLA STYLE GRADE: