ESSAY 1 EVALUATION RUBRIC1 When I was assigning a provisional grade to your draft, I first asked some basic questions: • Does the thesis make a debatable argument? Yes No • Are claims supported with evidence? Yes No • Do you analyze that evidence? Yes No • Would the audience for the draft likely find it easy to follow? Yes No • Has the draft been effectively proofread and edited? Yes No • Does the draft match MLA conventions, as well as the other requirements

outlined on the “Formatting your work” page our blog? Yes

No

If so, your draft qualifies for at least a C. Then, I considered some other criteria to decide whether you draft merited an A or B: Intro/thesis Yes Mostly Partly No Does the summary accurately and coherently outline a concept from Hunt? Does the thesis follow from the application of that concept? Is the thesis and the reasoning behind it clear, specific, and coherent? Would the audience for this piece likely find the thesis thought-provoking? Analysis Yes Mostly Partly No Are individual paragraphs focused on analysis? Are the main claims of body paragraphs clear and foregrounded? Are they supported with evidence, as directly presented as possible? Does the writer use Hunt’s terms and concepts to analyze the evidence? Are the analyses clearly linked to the thesis? Arrangement Yes Mostly Partly No Does the arrangement serve not only support but to develop the thesis? Does the sequence of ideas proceed logically and build to a climax? Does the writer devote the most space to the most important ideas? Are there clear transitions between paragraphs? Do individual paragraphs unfold gracefully? Sentence-level style Yes Mostly Partly No Are sentences clear and easy to understand? Are sentences largely free of errors in grammar, punctuation, etc.?

                                                                                                               1 Adapted from Doug Hesse, Writing Beyond Writing Classes (2010), 31–33.