ENGL110 / Lampe / Fall 2015 / Rubric for Essay Two

Points

Project

Sources

Voice

Editing & Design

The essay develops an

interesting story and pushes
readers to think differently
about the bigger picture. It has
a compelling lead and ending,
and employs an article
structure strategically. The
topic has tension and
originality.

Sources, including sources

from the field, are integrated
effectively. The writer
differentiates analysis from
sources. All sources are
properly cited and there are no
citation or Works Cited page
formatting mistakes.

Effective and lucid writing that

makes clear, cogent points.
Incisively-worded sentences
that display creative use of
feature article literary devices.
Paragraphs are coherent and
developed.

Carefully edited and free of

typos. Perfectly follows MLA
document designing and
formatting guidelines.

The essay develops an

interesting story and explores
the bigger picture. It has an
effective lead and ending, and
uses a distinct article structure.
The topic has tension.

Sources, including sources

from the field, are present
and do not upstage the writer.
One or two minor formatting
mistakes on citations and/or
Works Cited page references.

Effective writing throughout the

essay. Sentences with crisp
phrases that thoughtfully use
feature article literary devices.
Organized and thoughtful
paragraphs.

Very few typos and editing

mistakes. With one or two
exceptions, follows MLA
document designing and
formatting guidelines.

The essay identifies a story

and makes progress toward
identifying a bigger picture. It
has a somewhat effective lead,
ending and structure.The topic
has some tension but is
ineffectively developed.

Sources are awkwardly

integrated or upstage the
writer. Mistakes on several
citations and/or Works Cited
page references. No or only
nominal sources from the
field" are presented.

The writing is clear in most of

the essay, but several
sentences are muddled,
vague, or wordy.

Some typos and editing

mistakes. Generally follows
MLA document designing and
formatting guidelines.

Essay submitted before due

date on Canvas and observes
the word count (1800-2000
words).

The essay has an

uninteresting lead, struggles to
identify a bigger picture, and
only superficially reports a
story. Lacks tension.

All or nearly all citations and

references on Works Cited
page contain mistakes. No
sources from the field
included.

Substantial portions of the

writing are ineffective because
of vague phrasing and
wordiness.

Many typos and editing

mistakes. Poorly follows MLA
document designing and
formatting guidelines.

Essay submitted after due

date on Canvas and observes
the word count (1800-2000
words), or essay is submitted
before due date on Canvas but
does not word count.

The essay has no lead or a

poor one, no identifiable issue,
and does not develop the
story.

No sources are used or

sources are no cited and no
references given.*

The writing through almost all

of the essay is incoherent,
vague or unclear.

Riddled with typos and editing

mistakes. Significantly
disregards MLA formatting
guidelines.

Essay neither submitted

before due date nor observes
the word count (1800-2000
words).

*Note: Failing to cite sources is plagiarism. Final drafts of work containing plagiarism are automatically scored as a zero.

Assignment

Grade Scale
Points

Percentage Grade

23

100

22

95.7

21

91.3

A-

20

87

B+

19

82.6

B-

18

78.3

C+

17

73.9

16

69.6

D+

15

65.2

14

60.9

13

56.5