Grading Rubric for Argumentative/Analytical Essays Native American Studies R1A, Fall 2012 Thesis / Argument

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Develops a meaningful interesting and/or complex argument through the thesis Thesis statement addresses how and why in an insightul manner Excellent Key terms are clear, interesting and well-defined in the argument and nicely developed throughout the essay Argument is consistently focused, clear and persuasive Develops a meaningful argument through the thesis Thesis statement addresses how and why Good Key terms are identified, but general, broad or confusing and an effort is made to develop them throughout the essay Argument is generally focused and clear Attempts to develop an argument through the thesis Thesis statement addresses how and why but not both, or attempts to address both, but does not execute convincingly Argument identifies key terms but are poorly defined and vaguely developed throughout the essay Satisfactory Ideas in the essay refer to an argument, but the argument does not consistently tie the ideas in the essay together Argument has some substance, but lacks some focus or clarity There is no argument or no thesis, or the thesis does not argue anything substantive Little to no attempt is made to address how or why in any aspect of the argument Unsatisfactory Little to no attempt made to define key terms in the argument and are not developed throughout the essay Ideas in the essay are not tied to an argument Argument is unfocused and unclear

Analysis/Support
Uses a variety of support that reflects the complexity of the text Consistently supports argument by referring to specific textual evidence Textual evidence consistently introduced with sufficient and relevant context Provides interesting and insightful analysis of textual evidence that explains how evidence supports argument Avoids use of generalizations Uses a variety of support that reflects a thorough knowledge of the text Supports argument by referring to specific textual evidence Makes a consistent effort to provide sufficient context for textual evidence Provides thoughtful analysis of textual evidence that relates to argument Avoids use of generalizations Uses support that reflects an adequate knowledge of the text Support for argument is too general or inconsistently refers to textual evidence Context for textual evidence is insufficient, unclear or confusing References to textual evidence are not elaborated by analysis, analysis needs elaboration , or analysis is confusing Makes an attempt to use textual evidence, but it is unclear how textual evidence relates to the argument A few claims are based on generalizations

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Argument lacks support and/or reveals an inadequate knowledge of the text Little to no attempt to provide textual support for argument, or textual support is not relevant to argument Unsatisfactory Little to no attempt to contextualize support Little to no attempt at textual analysis Relies heavily on generalizations to make claims

Logic/Coherence

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Excellent

Ideas in essay tie together and to thesis with complexity and sophistication Transitions between paragraphs are effective and clearly show how each idea connects to the next Paragraphs are controlled and coherent: each one contains an identifiable topic or controlling idea that is elaborated upon through the course of the paragraph Inferences made from evidence are logical and insightful

Ideas in the essay tie together to the thesis Transitions between paragraphs are clear and generally help the reader make connections between paragraphs Good Paragraphs are mostly coherent: each one contains a topic and most to the ideas in the paragraph relate to the topic Inferences mad from evidence are logical Although the ideas in the essay may not all logically tie together, the writer demonstrates clear effort in trying to make ideas in the essay tie together and to the thesis Transitions between paragraphs are unclear or weak: ideas in the essay are not explicitly tied together between paragraphs Satisfactory Paragraphs have some coherence problems: topics of paragraphs may be unclear, there may be too many topics in one paragraph, or topic in paragraph is not elaborated Inferences made from evidence need more elaboration for the reader to follow logic Ideas in the essay do not tie together or tie to thesis in any identifiable way Little to no effort is made to provide transitions between paragraphs Unsatisfactory Paragraphs have serious coherence problems: little to no sense of topic, or little to no elaboration of topics Inferences are unsupported by logic

Structure/Mechanics/Expression
Essay is not only well organized and easy to follow, but makes use of sophisticated argument structure (such as parallel development, appropriate use of concession, balance, consistent application of contrast) Few to no errors in mechanics or expression Clear and/or interesting use of expression and voice Essay is well organized: it has a clear structure that communicates meaning in a way that is easy for the reader to follow and understand A few errors in mechanics and expression, but these do no hinder understanding Makes an effort to organize ideas and structure the essay, but the structure may be hard to follow Some errors in the mechanics and expression that hinder meaning, but errors are not so consistent that the essay is difficult to understand Little to no effort is made to organize ideas in essay

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfactory Consistent and/or serious errors in mechanics and expression that make the essay difficult to read and
understand

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