Basic Grading Scale for Essays:
On a Scale of 1-6, with 6 being the best, as in above and beyond, 3 as in adequate, and gets the job done/just enough, and 1 nothing close to being good:
Objective: Did the author answer all parts of the prompt? Is the essay (or narrative, or whatever kind of assignment this is) focused and does not deviate from what it is intended to be?
Thesis Statement: Is the thesis statement clear? Is the thesis statement complex enough to have substance, and not overcomplicated? Is it concise enough that it does not give too much needless details reserved for the body paragraphs? Does the thesis statement answer the question or respond to the prompt?
Support: Do the body paragraphs support the thesis statement (or do they deviate and go on irrelevant tangents)? Do the body paragraphs give good details, be it evidence, vivid details, anecdotes, quotations, statistics, dialogue, descriptions, comparisons (whichever applies)? Do the body paragraphs provide good topic sentences (topic sentences are like miniature thesis statements for each paragraph)?
Organization: Does the paper use correct MLA formatting? Does the paper use THIS IStransitions? Does the paper split paragraphs correctly ( IMPORTANT! Many of you are still submitting whole essays that are still one giant glob of just one paragraph)? Is each paragraph cohesive and organized correctly?
Word Choice: Does the author use the appropriate words, language, and terminology? Did the author carefully craft and edit the paper enough as to avoid awkwardly-phrased, or ambiguous passages?