Essay Feedback + Scoring Rubric

Instructor Comments and Feedback

Purpose and Focus

The extent to which you present information in a unified

and coherent manner, clearly addressing the issue.

__ 2 Full Credit: Clear point of view addresses purpose, audience and topic
__ 1 Half Credit: Purpose, audience, and topic are usually clear but may be inconsistent at times.
__ 0 No Credit: Point of view is confusing or never established.
__ 2 Full Credit: Topic and conclusion sentences are stated clearly
__ 1 Half Credit: Clear topic and conclusion sentences are sometimes but not always present.
__ 0 No Credit: There are very few clear topic or conclusion sentences.
__ 2 Full Credit: Stays on topic.
__ 1 Half Credit: Essay is mostly on topic but makes substantial digressions.
__ 0 No Credit: Essay is frequently off-topic.
__ / 6 TOTAL for Purpose and Focus (add section criteria scores)

Organization and Structure

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Paragraphs are in logical order and clearly separated by topic.
Half Credit: Paragraphs are mostly in logical order and mostly separated by topic.
No Credit: Paragraphs lack logical order and topical foci.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Sentences are complete, connect ideas, and progress in logical order
Half Credit: Sentences are mostly complete, mostly connect ideas, and mostly progress in
logical order
No Credit: Order of sentences is consistently jumbled and difficult to follow throughout essay

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Intro + Conclusion are present, effective and concise.

Half Credit: Essay may be missing either the intro or the conclusion, or they may both be
ineffective.
No Credit: Introduction and conclusion are absent.

__ / 6 TOTAL for Organization and Structure (add section criteria scores)

The extent to which you order and connect ideas.

Development and Support

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Ideas are clearly expressed and expanded upon.

Half Credit: Most ideas are clear and presented with some support.
No Credit: Ideas are unclear and/or confusing. Lacks sufficient supportive details.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Arguments are supported with specific details and relevant examples.
Half Credit: Arguments have little support or few relevant examples provided.
No Credit: Few or no arguments presented.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Plenty of supportive evidence.

Half Credit: Some supportive evidence is present, but more is needed.
No Credit: Few or no evidence support.

The extent to which you develop and support ideas.

__ / 6 TOTAL for Development and Support (add section criteria scores)

Sentence Variety and Style

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Sentences are varied, involving both simple and compound/complex structures.
Half Credit: Sentences are often simple, robotic and/or formulaic.
No Credit: Little or no sentence variation.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Academic vocabulary expressed.

Half Credit: Essay presents some academic vocabulary, but could use more specific terms.
No Credit: Few or no academic vocabulary expressed.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Use of transitions.

Half Credit: A few examples of transitions throughout essay, although more are needed.
No Credit: One or no transitions used.

__ / 6 TOTAL for Sentence variety and Style (add section criteria scores)

The extent to which you craft sentences and paragraphs

demonstrating control of vocabulary, voice and structure.

Mechanical Conventions
__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Indentation for paragraphs.

Half Credit: Paragraphs are mostly indented, with only a couple exceptions.
No Credit: Several paragraphs are missing indents.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Few or no grammatical errors.

Half Credit: There are a handful of grammatical errors in the essay.
No Credit: Essay contains a significant number of grammatical errors.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Few or no spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors.

Half Credit: Essay contains some spelling errors, but they do not interfere with
comprehensibility.
No Credit: Enough spelling errors exist in the essay to significantly impact comprehensibility.

The extent to which you express ideas using Standard

Written English.

__ / 6 TOTAL for mechanical Conventions (add section criteria scores)

Critical Thinking
__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Topic is fully addressed.

Half Credit: Topic is partially addressed, but missing key points.
No Credit: Topic is unclear or briefly mentioned.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Clear reasoning and complexity of thought expressed.

Half Credit: Essay presents some logical reasoning, but lacks complexity of ideas.
No Credit: Essay presents little or no logical reasoning/complex ideas.

__ 2
__ 1
__ 0

Full Credit: Clear relationships between ideas.

Half Credit: Ideas are sometimes connected, but some relationships are not clear.
No Credit: Ideas have little or no clear relationships.

__ / 6 TOTAL for Critical Thinking (add section criteria scores)

Overall Essay Score (Average of section totals) __/6

The extent to which you communicate a point of view

and demonstrate reasoned relationships among ideas.