Rating |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
Thesis
|
Clear and concise, well developed.
|
Clear and mostly complete |
Vague or incomplete |
Missing |
Missing |
Ideas/ Analysis |
Original, thoughtful and perceptive, demonstrating complete command of the material |
Thoughtful, demonstrating good understanding of the major points of the issue.
|
Demonstrates basic understanding of the issue or assignment, at times resorts to summarizing rather than analysis |
Shows only spotty understanding of issues, very limited analysis. |
Lacks basic understanding of the issue or assignment, little or no analysis |
Argument |
Well organized, with a logical structure that develops the ideas one paragraph at a time, with appropriate transitions between segments.
|
Mostly well organized with each paragraph containing one idea, each idea related to the thesis, but with some elements vague, or minor links missing |
Shows some organization, most ideas related to thesis, some parts of the argument muddled or contradictory. |
Limited evidence of organization, several elements lacking connection to thesis and each other. |
Little evidence of organization, many elements lacking connection to thesis and each other. |
Evidence |
Thoughtful use of well chosen evidence, demonstrating a profound understanding of sources. |
Mostly good use of sources, showing a general understanding of their argument and relevance |
Some use of evidence, not clearly demonstrating relevance of source to argument. |
None or little support for argument, or misuse of sources (misunderstanding sources, using sources that are not relevant to argument). |
None or little support for argument, misuse of sources (misunderstanding sources, using sources that are not relevant to argument). |
Grammar, Language |
Free of errors; good use of language, none or few mechanical errors |
Few errors, mostly good use of language, few and minor mechanical errors. |
Some errors, uneven use of language, occasionally errant sentence structure or inappropriate word choice. |
Numerous errors that impede understanding of argument, notable mechanical errors. |
Numerous errors that show lack of care and impede understanding of argument, notable mechanical errors. |