c

 


 is clearly worded, provides a strong governing idea and addresses the topic.

 is a clearly worded central idea and addresses the topic.

 is a central idea for the essay, but does not address the topic.
 is present but may be vague or too broad
 is absent.

 (at least three) are insightful, thorough, convincing, varied in
 strategy, and strongly supported by compelling evidence. Ideas clearly support the thesis

 and topic.

 (at least two) are reasonable, substantial, and supported by well-
 chosen evidence. Ideas support the thesis and topic.

are mostly on topic and understandable but evidence may be
 limited and explanations are often too simple, obvious, brief, vague or illogical. May
 contain evidence-to-inference without explaning sufficiently. Ideas do not consistently
 support the thesis or the topic.

 are too simple, very repetitious, hard to follow, mostly irrelevant
 and/or inaccurate.

 are absent, irrelevant, unsupported by evidence, or
incomprehensible
  uses appropriate transitions between and within paragraphs for consistently
 clear, smooth and logical relationships among ideas.

  is logical and appropriate for content, but not as smooth as a 5.

  maintains one idea per paragraph, but is simplistic or idea relationships are
 sometimes unclear. Transitions are not use consistently or appropriately.
  shows some minor skill but has major flawsͶe.g., no controlling idea; poor
 paragraphing; redundant sections.
  lacks paragraphing and is illogical and confusing or essay is too short to have
any organization
   is a ͞pleasure to read͟Ͷgraceful, uncluttered, rich, and vivid.

   is clear, shows sentence variety, and uses interesting and precise vocabulary
   is functional but sentence variety and vocabulary are limited
   has major flawsͶe.g., simplistic, wordy, repetitious, monotonous, often unclear.
   has such severe flaws that sentences are hard to understand or essay is too short to
 judge.
 !! and mechanics errors are rare or absent.

 !! and mechanics errors are occasional

 !! and mechanics errors are frequent
 !! and mechanics errors exist in almost every sentence and may interfere with
 meaning
 !! and mechanics errors are pervasive and obstruct meaning or essay is too short to
 judge grammar/mechanics.


" !!#$$%& Correct sentence structure (no fragments or run-ons), subject-

verb agreement, correct use of past tense verb forms, absence of glaring pronoun errors, correct
spelling, inclusion of all necessary words, correct punctuation.