Literary Analysis Rubric for 9th and 10th Grades

Analysis/ Synthesis: the extent to which the writing exhibits sound understanding, original interpretation of the text, and execution of the prompt Conveys a valid and in-depth understanding of the topic, audience, and purpose Offer clear, explicit, and insightful interpretations of the text(s) with analysis beyond a literal level Support: makes wise choices about what quotes and examples to include to support each point and the overall thesis Development: the manner in which evidence demonstrates the point being made and supports the thesis Purpose: the extent to which the writing establishes a clear thesis and maintains direction, focus, and coherence

Jones College Prep Department of English

Diction /Audience/ Style: the extent to which the writing reveals an awareness of audience and purpose through word choice and sentence variety

Conventions/ Mechanics: the extent to which the writing exhibits conventional spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, capitalization, and grammar Demonstrates consistent control of format and conventions with few errors and no errors that disrupt meaning, perhaps exhibiting occasional errors when using sophisticated language (e.g., punctuation of complex sentences)

Incorporate supporting quotes and examples which are wisely chosen to prove points Incorporate support smoothly with correct MLA citation of sources and skillful placement of quotes and examples

Develops ideas clearly and fully, integrating and elaborating on specific textual evidence Reveal a thorough and insightful understanding of the authors use of language and literary elements Make effective use of transition words and phrases

Effectively establishes and maintain consistent focus on a clear and compelling thesis Exhibits logical and coherent structure with claims, evidence, and interpretations that convincingly support the thesis

Uses language that is fluent and original, with clear awareness of audience and purpose Incorporates varied sentence patterns that reveal an awareness of different syntactic structures

Conveys a valid and complete understanding of the topic, audience, and purpose for the writing task

Incorporates supporting quotes and examples which prove the points being made

Develops some ideas more fully than others, using relevant textual evidence Reveals a clear and possible insightful understanding of the authors use of language, and literary elements Makes use of transition words and phrases Develops ideas briefly or partially, using some textual evidence but without much elaboration Reveals a vague or limited understanding of the authors use of literary elements and techniques Makes use of basic transition words or phrases Attempts to offer some development of

Establishes and maintain consistent and interesting focus on a clear thesis Exhibits a logical sequence of claims, evidence, and interpretations that effectively support the thesis

Uses appropriate language with awareness of audience and purpose Includes different sentence patterns but with uneven success

Incorporates Offers clear and support into the explicit paper with correct interpretations of MLA citation and the text(s) with competent analysis that placement of overall goes quotes and beyond a literal examples level Conveys a valid although somewhat basic understanding of the topic, audience, and purpose for the writing task Incorporates supporting quotes or examples which pertain to the points being made

Demonstrates partial understanding of format and partial control, exhibiting occasional errors that do not hinder comprehension (e.g., incorrect use of homonyms)

Establishes and maintains focus on a clear, basic thesis Exhibits a clear sequence of claims, evidence, and interpretations, although paragraphs may be inconsistently internally organized

Relies on basic vocabulary, with some awareness of audience or purpose Demonstrates a limited awareness of sentence patterns and rely on a limited range of syntactic structures

Incorporates support into the Offers partially paper with some explained and/or form of MLA somewhat literal citation and at interpretations of least partially the text(s) with appropriate some analysis placement of examples Conveys a confused or largely invalid Includes some support which attempts to

Demonstrates emerging understanding of format and control, exhibiting errors that somewhat hinder comprehension (e.g., agreement of pronouns and antecedents; spelling of basic words)

Establishes a Uses language simplistic thesis that is imprecise but fail to maintain or unsuitable for

Demonstrates poor understanding of

understanding of the topic, audience, and purpose for the writing task

address the points being made Incorporates support perhaps without citation or with inconsistent MLA citation and perhaps in awkward or ineffective placement

ideas, but textual evidence is vague, irrelevant, repetitive, or unjustified Reveals little or confused understanding of the authors use of language, and literary elements Makes an inconsistent use of basic transitions Completely lacks development and/or textual evidence Reveals no awareness or understanding of the authors use of language, and literary elements Make little or no use of transitions

focus Exhibits a basic structure but lack the coherence of consistent claims, evidence, and interpretations

the audience or purpose Demonstrates inconsistent sentence structure and little or no ability to vary sentence patterns

format and lack of control, exhibiting frequent errors that make comprehension difficult (e.g., subject verb agreement; use of slang)

Offer unclears interpretations of the text(s) and no attempt to analyze

Includes little or no support to address the points being made Incorporates no citation or references

Establishes a confused or irrelevant thesis or fail to include a thesis; fail to maintain focus Lacks coherence and organization.

Uses incoherent or inappropriate lang. Uses ineffective sentence structure, sentence fragments, and run-ons that significantly hinder comprehension

Illegible or unrecognizable as literate English