•The hook is engaging and/or functional—it gets readers interested and focused on your discussion.
•The linking sentences are clear and appropriate. They provided needed background without giving too much information.
•The thesis wraps up the paragraph (if it is at the end of the paragraph) and reflects a thoughtful consideration of the topic.
•Any specific details—presented as quotes and/or examples—add to the introduction and are not distracting.
•The language is not too casual, stilted or overly ornate.
•The introduction as a whole appears to lead to a thoughtful discussion.
•The introduction has a clear hook.
•The introduction has a clear thesis statement (with a specific topic and a controlling idea)
•The paragraph’s connecting sentences artfully connect the hook to the thesis.
•The paragraph is coherent—all sentences “stick” together.
•The paragraph is unified—and sentences support the thesis.
•A plan of organization is implied.
•The writer uses tense consistently.
•There are no spelling errors.
•There are no punctuation errors.
•There are no grammatical errors.
Rubric 3 Another General Rubric for Analytical Essays
Text Box
1) / 20
Focus: Your essay establishes its central idea clearly and effectively in the opening paragraph and maintains this focus throughout the essay. Each paragraph is logically linked to the main idea and all sentences within the paragraphs serve to further develop and maintain this focus.
2) / 10
Conventions : Your essay's prose is written in grammatically correct English; it has no spelling or grammatical errors; it shows a sound understanding of the structure of a good sentence and paragraph.
3) / 10
Organization : Your ideas follow and relate to each other in a logical and effective way. Information is organized within the sentence and paragraph, as well as the paper itself, for maximum rhetorical effectiveness. Also means ideas and topics within the essay are balanced.
4) / 30
Insight : The degree to which your shows insight into your theme. Your essay explores your subject in all its complexity and reveals and examines the nature of that complexity in your essay. Such insights should not be implied but revealed and developed through good examples from the text.
5) / 20
Development : Your essay uses specific, concrete examples from the text to illustrate the ideas your essay develops. The examples are clearly cited.
6) / 10
Benchmark : quality of this work in relation to what I expect you to be able to do in this class at this time on such an assignment.
/ 100
Grade and Comment
Rubric 4 In-Class Essay Rubric
________ 1. Thesis: The thesis is restricted, precise and unified. It articulates a specific topic related to the texts and presents a worthy argument.
________ 2. Main points: The support the thesis, and each point of the argument is demonstrated with specific evidence. The points are, in fact, persuasive.
________ 3. Mechanics: The essay is easy to follow because it is written clearly and structured in an effective manner.
________ 4. Sizzle: The essay is artful and insightful. The reader enjoys himself and feels like he has gained from reading the piece.
25 = 100% 24= 96% 23 = 92% 22 = 88%
21= 84% 20 = 80% 19 = 76% 18 = 72%
17 = 68 % 16 = 64% 15 =60 %
Comment:
Rubric 5 Another General Rubric