An American Elegy

Lesson #2

The Role of Memorial Music

Analytical Writing Rubric

Exemplary / At Standard / Emerging / In Progress
Ideas / Ideas are strong; rich, informative details clarify and strengthen the writer’s ideas. / Ideas are mostly clear; important details support most of the writer’s ideas. / Ideas are emerging and are at times supported with explanatory details. / Ideas are weak; details may be vague, unrelated, or lacking.
Organization / Very well organized, with powerful connections among ideas and strong transitions that enhance understanding. / Well organized, with clear connections among ideas and smooth transitions that facilitate understanding. / Organization Is emerging; the reader can follow of the text, but connections among some ideas may be weak and some transitions may be bumpy. / Organization is not apparent; connections among ideas are unclear, and transitions may misdirect the reader or may be lacking.
Word Choice / Clear, precise, and varied language enhances the reader’s understanding. / Clear and somewhat varied language supports the reader’s understanding. / Mostly clear language supports understanding of some ideas; word choice may be basic and/or repetitive. / Word choice may be inaccurate or unclear, and interferes with the reader’s understanding.
Fluency / Varied sentence structure adds power, rhythm, and movement to the writing and strategically supports the writer’s purposes. / Sentence structure is varied in length and style and generally supports the writer’s purposes. / Sentence structure is somewhat varied; some repetition may hurt the flow of the writer’s ideas. / Sentence structure is simple, choppy, and unconscious of the writer’s purposes.
Mechanics
(spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing, etc.) / Use of mechanics enhances and adds impact to the reading of the text; few errors do not take away from clarity. / Use of mechanics supports the clear reading of the text; errors do not interfere with understanding. / Use of mechanics generally supports the clear reading of the text; errors do not significantly interfere with understanding. / Errors in the use of mechanics impede the clear reading of the text.