Changes to the Grading Process of the Adolescence Papers

After meeting with Mr. Potts, we have decided to change the manner in which we will be grading the Adolescence Papers. Instead of grading everything on the original rubric, we will be grading only the following areas: Thesis Statement: Does it state a clear argument relating what we read this year to adolescence? Selection of Quotes: Do your quotes serve as evidence, or are they merely quotes? The quotes you include should serve to move your argument forward. Idea-based Paragraphs: Are your paragraphs organized under a clear topic sentence, and do they discuss more than one work according to the topic of the topic sentence? Logical Flow: If I read only your topic sentences and transitions, will I see the progress of your thinking in convincing your reader of your position? Smooth mixture of sentence types: Do you mix up the types of your sentences so that you have a nice flow among ssimple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences? Word choice: Have you used a dictionary and thesaurus to find the words that most closely express your meaning? Punctuation: Where you have quotes without parenthetical documentation, are your commas and periods inside the quotation marks as they should be?

Rather than waiting for the return of the drafts you have handed in, you should begin to revise in light of the above. The first drafts will not be graded, but there will be comments at either the beginning or the end of your papers to guide you in further revision before final drafts are due.