Clear, specific, original, significant, insightful.

Clear and purposeful.

May be overly general.

Unclear or vague, poorly linked to content of essay.

Lacks a thesis; does not address assigned topic.

Logical, creative organization; fluid transitions.

Logical organization.

Some evidence of organization; clear beginning, middle, and end.

Poorly structured or disordered.

Lacks paragraph breaks, transitions.

Paragraphs thoroughly developed; rich variety of convincing reasons, explanations, examples, illustrations; concrete, powerful details.

Paragraphs fully developed with supporting reasons, explanations, examples, illustrations; relevant, specific details.

Gives supporting reasons and examples.

May not meet length requirement. Underdeveloped; lack of support; factual or logical errors; irrelevancies, redundancies, oversimplifications.

Severely underdeveloped; serious and consistent logical errors; absence of or severe errors of fact.

Sources are of the highest quality and are sufficient in number; thorough and creative use of varied source material.

Sources are of good quality and number; appropriately varied and thorough source material.

Sources are of acceptable quality and number; may not be the most relevant or current sources.

Insufficient number of sources or insufficient amount of source material used. Sources lack credibility or currency. Some plagiarism (missing quotation marks, insufficient para-phrases, unattributed summaries).

Unacceptable number and/or quality of sources. Inadequate amount of source material used in essay. Much source material or entire essay is plagiarized. A plagiarized essay will receive an overall grade of 0.

Quotations, summary, and paraphrases are deftly analyzed or interpreted. Source material is thoroughly, creatively integrated into student’s argument.

Quotations, summary, and paraphrases are analyzed or interpreted. Source material is integrated into student’s own argument.

Quotations, summary, and paraphrases are commented upon simplistically.

Source material does not adequately support student’s argument; source material is not sufficiently reflected upon or interpreted.

Source material is irrelevant or contradicts student’s argument; source material is not reflected upon or interpreted.

Mastery of edited Standard English.

Observes conventions of Standard Written English.

Contains some errors.

Unclear, incoherent, confusing. Frequent distracting errors.

Numerous distracting mechanical errors.

Quotations correctly introduced, punctuated, and formatted (e.g., blocked, when necessary).

Quotations are correctly introduced, punctuated, and formatted in most instances.

Some errors (dropped quotations, failure to block long quotes, errors in punctuation).

Frequent, significant errors in quotation formatting.

Severe deficiencies in quotation formatting.

Parenthetical citations done correctly. Works Cited page follows most recent MLA guidelines; very minor, if any, formatting errors.

Parenthetical citations and Works Cited page are mostly correct. Minor formatting errors do not deter from comprehensibility of citations.

Some content and formatting errors in parenthetical references and Works Cited page. Parenthetical references may not coordinate well with Works Cited entries.

Parenthetical citations are frequently absent or inaccurate. Many errors or omissions in content and formatting of Works Cited entries.

Severe deficiencies in parenthetical citations, and Works Cited entries; lack of parenthetical citations; missing Works Cited list.