ENGLISH DEPARTMENT WRITING SCORING GUIDE
5
5
5
5
IDEAS AND EXPLANATIONS (more than two) are insightful, thorough, convincing, varied in strategy, and strongly supported by compelling evidence.
ORGANIZATION uses appropriate transitions between and within paragraphs for consistently clear, smooth and logical relationships among ideas.
STYLE is a "pleasure to read" - graceful, uncluttered, rich and vivid.
GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS errors are rare or absent.
4
4
4
4
IDEAS AND EXPLANATIONS (at least two) are substantial and supported by well-chosen evidence.
ORGANIZATION is logical and appropriate for content, but not as smooth as a 5.
STYLE is clear, shows sentence variety, and uses interesting and precise vocabulary.
GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS errors are occasional.
3
3
3
3
IDEAS AND EXPLANATIONS are mostly understandable and on topic but evidence may be limited and/or explanations may be simpllistic or too brief. May contain some plot summary or evidence-to-interference.
ORGANIZATION maintains one idea per paragraph, but is simplistic OR idea relationships are sometimes unclear.
STYLE is functional but lacks sentence variety and vocabulary are limited OR style is lively but wordy.
GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS errors are frequent.
2
2
2
2
IDEAS AND EXPLANATIONS are too simple, very repetitious, hard to follow, mostly irrelevant,inaccurate and/or contain mostly plot summary.
ORGANIZATION shows some minor skill but has major flaws—e.g. no controlling idea; poor paragraphing; redundant sections.
STYLE has major flaws—e.g., simplistic, wordy, repetitious, monotonous, often unclear.
GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS errors exist in almost every sentence and may interfere with meaning.
1
1
1
1
IDEAS AND EXPLANATIONS are absent, irrelevant, unsupported by evidence or incomprehensible.
ORGANIZATION lacks paragraphing, is chaotic, illogical, and confusing; OR essay is too short to have any organization.
STYLE has such severe flaws that sentences are hard to understand; OR essay is too short to judge.
GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS errors are pervasive and obstruct meaning; OR essay is too short to judge grammar/mechanics.