Cogency:

A

insightful, thought-provoking, consistent, strong thesis

B

clear, principled, thoughtful argument, good thesis

C

competent, plausible argument, occasionally limited, generally consistent

D                                   F

implausible, unclear, incomplete, inconsistent, lacks thesis

Support:

A

compelling support, judiciously chosen, upholds thesis well

B

effective support, relevant examples and reasoning

C

appropriate support, credible materials sufficiently back thesis

D                                   F inadequate, unconvincing, irrelevant or derivative support

Control:

A

organizational clarity and logical force, explicit and implicit organizational elegance

B

consistently strong organizational form directly helps paper’s purpose

C

competence in overall organization; reader knows where the paper is going and why

D                                   F major structural flaws; lacks structural fluency, stilted or no coherence

Addressing the Issue:

A

exploration of issue, sophisticated and provocative,
engaged with sources

B

fully explores complexities and sources

C

recognizes complexities and sources, some oversimplification

D                                   F treats issues simplistically, ignores assignment or sources

Style:

A

fluid and eloquent style reinforces effectiveness; near mastery of academic writing style

B

appropriate to academic style, furthers purpose of paper

C

acceptable but uneven command of academic style, does not add to paper

D                                   F inappropriate style or tone detracts from paper, unacceptable academic style

Grammar and Mechanics:

A

no errors in grammar, spelling, usage; excellent sentence variety and structure

B

strong sentence variety, grammar, spelling, and usage errors infrequent

C

competent sentence variety, occasional errors in grammar, spelling, usage

D                                   F major flaws in grammar and mechanics impede comprehension