objectives

exceeding expectations

CONTENT

Significance

___Strong awareness of main ideas

___Some awareness of main ideas; some flaws in interpretation of main ideas.

___Lack of awareness of main ideas or wrong interpretation of main ideas

Accuracy of factual claims and interpretation

___Fully accurate statements; shows comprehension of material

___Most statements are accurate, but require further clarification

___ Several inaccurate statements; wrong interpretation of facts

Concreteness of examples and other statements

___Concrete statements about texts and authors; well developed examples

___Most statements are concrete, but require further detail

___Vague statements and examples; skims the surface of issues.

Ethical and religious analysis

___Uses ethical and religious theories/principles accurately and in detail

___Uses ethical and religious theories/principles, but more detail or clarity is required

___Makes minimal or no use of ethical and religious theories/ principles

argument

Thesis

___Thesis is very clearly stated and unifies the essay

___Thesis is adequately stated; paper has central focus

___Thesis is not clearly stated; paper lacks central focus

Support for positions taken

___Strong support for positions, based on ethical theories and reasoned statements

___Adequate support for positions, but more needs to be said in their defense

___Lack of support for statements/opinions. Mere assertion of opinions

___Author emerges with a unique voice: creative interpretation of ideas; nuanced analysis; reasoned yet committed arguments

___Author begins to develop a personal voice: makes thoughtful claims but could press for more originality or nuance

___ Author restates the views of others; draws overly broad conclusions; does not show commitment to the thesis

Objections (aka: counterarguments, alternative views)

___Objections strongly presented and analyzed

___Objections presented, but more needs to be said to rebut them

___Missing objections, or objections presented simplistically

writing

Structure and transitions

___Clear structure; very coherent story; excellent transitions between paragraphs

___Adequate structure; the paper is clear overall, with some stumbling points; adequate transitions

___No clear structure; the story lacks coherence; poor transitions

Paragraphs

___Each paragraph has a central focus and structure

___Most paragraphs are focused

___Many paragraphs lack internal coherence

Introduction & conclusion

___Strong introduction and conclusion

___Clear intro & conclusion; some work needed

___No clear introduction and/or conclusion

___Excellent grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation. Appropriate word choice. Very few errors.

___A few/some errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and/or word choice. Minimal distraction.

___Some/many errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation and/or word choice. These flaws interfere with reader’s understanding.

Use of sources

___The author’s words and ideas are clearly differentiated from those of others

___ The author’s words sometimes rely on a source’s words without distinguishing

___The author’s words or ideas are blurred with those of others

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

Meets all assignment criteria; follows the instructions.

Note: Meeting these requirements will not improve your grade, but lacking them may lower your grade—substantially, in the case of citation. Comments:

All sources are identified and referenced appropriately in the body of the paper.

All sources consulted are listed in the appropriate bibliographic format.

Format Checklist

The paper is presented in the format requested.