Evaluation and grading criteria for essays

The following entry explains some of the major aspects that are given special attention when an essay is evaluated.

1. Thesis and Thesis Statement

The thesis should be stated in your introduction as one complete sentence that

1. identifies the topic of the essay, (gets readers interested in the subject of the essay),

2. states the main points developed in the essay,

3. clarifies how all of the main points are logically related, and

4. conveys the purpose of the essay.

Topic Sentence 1 +
Topic Sentence 2 +
Topic Sentence 3 =
Thesis Statement

2. Organization

Effective expository papers generally are well organized and unified, in part because of fairly rigid guidelines that writers follow.

1. Each body paragraph of your paper should begin with a topic sentence, a statement of the main point of the paragraph.

2. In general, body paragraphs are between 6 and 12 sentences, and most expository essays have at least three body paragraph each (for a total of at least five paragraphs, including the introduction and conclusion.)

3. Support and Development of Ideas

The main difference between a convincing, insightful interpretation or argument and a weak interpretation or argument often is the amount of evidence than the writer uses. "Evidence" refers to specific facts.

4. Insight into Subject

Sometimes a student will write a well-organized essay, but the essay does not shed much light on the subject.

· The insightfulness of an essay often is directly related to the organization and the support and development of the ideas in the essay.

5. Clarity

If your writing is not clear, your meaning will not reach readers the way you would like it to. If any parts of your essay or any sentences seem just a little unclear to you, you can bet that they will be unclear to readers.

6. Style

It refers to

1. conciseness: A. Avoid Wordy Expressions. B. Avoid Use of the Passive Voice

C. Avoid the Use of Clichés

2. variety of sentence structure

3. consistent verb tense

4. avoidance of the passage voice: A. Do not use first-person pronouns ("I," "me," "my," "we," "us," etc.). B. Avoid addressing readers as "you." C. Avoid the use of contractions. D. Avoid colloquialism and slang expressions. E. Avoid nonstandard diction. F. Avoid the overuse of short and simple sentences.

5. attention to the connotative meanings of words.

7. Mechanics

It refers to the correctness of a paper: complete sentences, correct punctuation, accurate word choice, etc. All of your papers for the course should be free or almost free from errors.