The score you assign each essay should reflect your judgment of its quality as a whole. You should reward the writers for what they do well in response to the question. Remember that students had 40 minutes to read and write. The resulting essays should thus be thought of as comparable to essays produced in final exams, not judged by standards appropriate for out-of-class writing assignments.
All essays, even those scored 8 and 9, are likely to exhibit occasional flaws in analysis or in prose style and mechanics; such lapses should enter into your holistic judgment of the essay's quality. In no case, however, may an essay with many distracting errors in grammar and mechanics be scored higher than 2.
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9: Essays earning a score of 9 meet all the criteria for 8 papers and in addition are especially full or apt in their analysis or demonstrate particularly effective stylistic control.
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8: Essays earning a score of 8 effectively analyze how the rhetorical strategies in each letter achieve the author's purpose and explain convincingly which letter makes the more persuasive argument. They are likely to recognize how specific strategies [for example, syntax, tone, and diction] contribute to the writer's purpose. Their prose demonstrates an ability to control a wide range of the elements of effective writing but is not flawless.
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7: Essays earning a score of 7 fit the description of 6 essays but employ more complete analysis or more mature prose style.
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6: Essays earning a score of 6 adequately analyze how the rhetorical strategies of each letter achieve their author's purposes and evaluate which letter makes the more persuasive case. They may discuss rhetorical elements such as diction or tone that contribute to the letter's effect, but their discussion may be incomplete. A few lapses in diction or syntax may be present, but generally the prose of 6 essays conveys their writers' ideas clearly. |
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5: Essays earning a score of 5 analyze strategies used in each letter to make their case but their development of these strategies is limited or inconsistent. Their focus may be unclear or their analysis insufficiently developed. A few lapses in diction or syntax may be present, but usually the prose in 5 essays conveys their writers' ideas more or less clearly. |
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4: Essays earning a score of 4 inadequately respond to the task. Their analysis of rhetorical strategies and effectiveness is limited in accuracy or purpose. They may misunderstand purpose or paraphrase the letters more than analyze them, or they may focus on only one letter. The prose of 4 essays may convey their writers' ideas adequately, but may suggest immature control over organization, diction or syntax. |
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3: Essays earning a score of 3 meet the criteria for the score of 4 but are less perceptive about how rhetorical strategies connect to purpose in these letters or less consistent in their control of elements of writing.
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2: Essays earning a score of 2 achieve little success in analyzing how rhetorical strategies contribute to relative effectiveness in the two letters. These essays may pay little attention to rhetorical features and generalize about, or seriously misread, tone or purpose. They may simply paraphrase or comment on the letters without analyzing their strategies. The prose of 2 papers often reveals consistent weaknesses in writing: a lack of development or organization, grammatical problems, or a lack of control. |
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1: Essays earning a score of 1 meet the criteria for the score of 2
but in addition are especially simplistic in their discussion or weak in controlling
elements of language.
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0: Indicates an on-topic response that receives no credit, such as one that merely repeats the prompt. |
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-: Indicates a blank response or one that is completely off topic. |
