A Outstanding B Above Average C Average D Below Average F Unacceptable Content A significant central idea clearly defined & supported with concrete, substantial & relevant detail. Audience awareness apparent. Tone consistent & appropriate. Writer establishes a consistent & authoritative voice. The assignment is fulfilled. Significant central idea ambitious & generally well supported, but occasionally details missing. Shows some complexity of thought. Tone reasonably well maintained, but there is a lapse in consistency or appropriateness. Some audience awareness evident. Developed in accordance with purpose. Central idea apparent but unoriginal, trivial, or too general; supported with detail, but it is occasionally obvious, repetitious, irrelevant, or sketchy. Some attention paid to tone. Some audience awareness. Assignment is followed, but not fulfilled. Central idea confused or unsupported by concrete & relevant detail. Little, if any, awareness of audience or attempt at creating a tone. The essay has no central idea; no audience awareness & the paper is quite short. Writer has no concept of tone & little, if any, control over the thoughts presented. It goes off in several different directions. Assignment not fulfilled. Organization Logical & clearly developed paragraphs. Transitions effective. Proportion & emphasis consistent. The writer is in control of the material. Clear, logical, & easy to follow. Paragraphs coherent, unified, & developed. Most transitions effective. Plan & purpose apparent but not consistently fulfilled. Paragraphs adequately developed, divided, unified, & coherent with only occasional disproportion or inappropriate emphasis. Many transitions between paragraphs abrupt & repetitious. Plan & purpose not apparent. Paragraphs not well developed, well divided, or appropriately arranged. Characterized by irrelevancy, redundancy, or inconsistency. Transitions between paragraphs missing, unclear or ineffective. Lacks a purpose or plan. Sentence Structure Sentences skillfully constructed (unified, coherent, forceful, effectively varied with attention to style & rhythm). Structures fluent & suited to the meaning of the paper. Sentences have some variety & are generally unified & coherent. Sentences vary in length. Some structures unclear or wordy. Sentence structure correct, but lacks distinction. Little or no variation in structure. Phrases often awkwardly placed. Sentences not unified, coherent, complete or varied. Too many simple (not complex) sentences. Sentences incoherent. Lack of logical connections between sentences. Diction Distinctive: fresh, precise, economical, & idiomatic. Sensitive to connotative & denotative meanings. An absence of “clutter” or hackneyed expressions. Word choice workable & clear, but words (especially verbs) may lack freshness or strength. General absence of clutter & clichés. Vocabulary precise & varied. Word choice clear & idiomatic, but the paper is characterized by wordiness & clichés. Vocabulary limited. Inappropriate: vague, unidiomatic, or sub-standard. Comprehension obscured by inappropriate word choice. Grammar Punctuation Spelling Virtually no errors.Some errors in internal punctuation (commas, semicolons). A few spelling errors. Clarity & effectiveness of expression weakened by occasional deviations from standard grammar, punctuation, & spelling. Comprehension & communication obscured by frequent deviations from standard grammar, punctuation, & spelling. Comprehension & communication obscured by frequent deviations from standard grammar, punctuation, & spelling. Multiple errors in subject/verb, noun/pronoun agreement, tense shifts, modification, or parallel structure. Misuse of common words such as their, there, they’re, its, it’s, your, you’re makes the writing substandard. Use of Sources (MLA = Humanities; APA = Social Sciences) Source material incorporated logically & insightfully. Sources properly documented. Source material incorporated logically. Sources properly documented. Source material incorporated adequately. Sources usually properly documented. Source material incorporated, but sometimes inappropriately or unclearly. Some sources not properly documented. Plagiarized work.