~ A ~
Revision of Drafts – writer has made significant revisions from one draft to the next by exploring ideas, re-seeing them, shaping them, perhaps adding depth.
Focus and Treatment of Topic – essay has a clear focus, says something worth saying, shows complexity of thought, shows originality and avoids clichés.
Development – essay shows effective development and support of ideas, writer has supported generalities with specific examples, explanations, and description.
Organization – essay is well-organized, is unified by its focus (main point, thesis), one paragraph leads logically to the next, and each point is developed and unified.
Audience – essay shows an awareness of audience as appropriate to the purpose or goal of the essay, essay shows that the writer is communicating ideas to a reader.
Voice, Style – through voice and language, essay shows that the writer is engaged in the subject and hence engages the reader, reader senses a human presence behind the words.
Grammar, Mechanics – essay is nearly free from grammatical, mechanical errors.
~ B ~
Revision of Drafts – writer has made revisions from one draft to the next that improve the paper by expanding, deleting, or changing the placement or organization of points.
Focus and Treatment of Topic – essay has a controlling idea and sense of direction, responds to the topic.
Development – contains good support and several specific details.
Organization – includes a logical progression of ideas and coherence, contains a beginning, middle, and end.
Audience – essay shows an awareness of audience.
Voice, Style – included appropriate vocabulary and diction, though may lack freshness and variety.
Grammar, Mechanics – has good mechanics, contains no major distracting errors.
~ C ~
Revision of Drafts –revision of drafts is minimal or extensive, but addresses only surface-level concerns.
Focus and Treatment of Topic –has a controlling idea and some sense of direction, though may be less evident than in higher categories.
Development – contains detail for support, but those details may lack specificity.
Organization – includes a generally logical progression of ideas and paragraphing, though may show occasional lapses in coherence.
Audience – essay shows little awareness of audience.
Voice, Style – has less sophisticated vocabulary and diction, essay does not show that writer is engaged in the subject.
Grammar, Mechanics – has fair mechanics.
~ D ~
Revision of Drafts – little or no revision of drafts.
Focus and Treatment of Topic –has a vague or very general controlling idea.
Development – has some detail for support, but those details may lack specificity or appropriateness.
Organization – may contain irrelevancies or digressions.
Audience –shows little or no awareness of audience.
Voice, Style – essay is mechanical, sentences are immature, vocabulary and diction are hard to understand.
Grammar, Mechanics – has poor mechanics.
~ F ~
Revision of Drafts – drafts are not revised or there is no rough draft.
Focus and Treatment of Topic –may lack a controlling idea altogether.
Development – may have little support or development may be irrelevant.
Organization – lacks coherence, paragraphing is immature or absent, characterized by digressions.
Audience – shows little or no awareness of audience.
Voice, Style – shows little or no awareness of audience.
Grammar, Mechanics – has poor mechanics, often has distracting errors.
