Postcolonial Essay Rubric

Course: AP English with Mr. Comeau

Another Course to College

Student: Due Date:

May 23, 2011

Topic: 2,000 word researched position paper, a combination of a research paper and your standard analytical English paper. Counts for 50% of your term 4 grade. You decide the focus of your paper, but it must be on one or more of the texts in this unit, and address postcolonial issues. Include your research in an area related to your thesis. Must use MLA citation.

Content: (70%)
Introduction: The student introduces subject matter and topic, preparing for the argument in the thesis. ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 3 2 1 0 Times 5 = ____ Hooks the reader with relevant background on the unit text and your research in a skillful build-up to the thesis Engages the reader with much of the background on the unit text and your research, in a build-up to thesis Summarized most of the relevant background information on the unit text and your research related to the thesis Summarized some background information on the unit text and your research related to the topic Provided the reader with almost no relevant background information on the unit text and your research Times 10 = ____

Thesis Statement: In one or two sentences at the end of the first paragraph, the student ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 3 2 1 0

Justifies the discussion with a standpoint on the unit text and your research, taking an intellectual risk, going past the information given into difficult terrain, and grabs the readers attention with original insight and lively prose Made a specific assertion on the unit text and your research, justifies the discussion, with some originality Made a general assertion about on the unit text and your research, attempts to justify discussion, fairly unoriginal Presented a thesis that simply reworded the assignment, made an unclear or incomplete assertion about the unit text and your research, failed to justify the discussion, covers ground well-trodden in discussions Did not make an assertion on the unit text and your research, or one that does not capture the papers main point Times 10 = ____

Textual Evidence: The student ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 3 2 1 0

Smoothly integrated more than five direct quotes in proof of the thesis and supporting arguments; quotes were given context, were neither too long nor too short, and supported a careful reading of the unit text and your research Supported their reasoning with at least five direct quotes in proof of the thesis and supporting arguments; quotes were given context, appropriate length, and supported a sound reading of the unit text and your research Generally supported key ideas with at least five direct quotes, but used too many unnecessary quotes, or too few good ones, and/or failed too often in their context, analysis; a fair reading of the unit text and your research Used fewer than five direct quotes, or mostly unnecessary or irrelevant to the ideas, with weak context and analysis Did not support their reasoning with useful direct quotes from the text, or failed to analyze the quotes used Times 5 = ____

Structure: The student ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 3 2 1 0

Organized the essay to flow smoothly and logically from the thesis to supporting arguments on text and research Organized the essay with general smooth and logical flow from one idea to the next, from text to research Presented ideas that were relevant to the thesis, but did not generally flow with smooth and logical connections Presented ideas that were occasionally relevant to the thesis, but made poor connections between them Presented ideas that had few connections to the thesis or to one another Times 15 = ____

Research: The student ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 3 2 1 0

Chose an excellent academic source, eloquently delivered its essential thesis , demonstrated thorough understanding through analysis and evaluation, cited it in perfect MLA format, connected it smoothly to unit text Chose a good academic source, delivered its essential thesis , demonstrated a good understanding through analysis and evaluation, cited it in almost perfect MLA format, connected it to unit text Chose a fair academic source, delivered a key argument , demonstrated fair understanding through analysis and evaluation, cited it in fair MLA format, awkward connection to unit text Chose a poor source, failed to deliver a key argument , demonstrated poor understanding through analysis and evaluation, cited it in poor MLA format, failed to connect it smoothly to unit text Chose an inappropriate source, delivered no argument, demonstrated little understanding through book-report style summary, failed to cite it in MLA format, failed to connect it to unit text

Conclusion: The student ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 3 2 1 0

Times 10 = ____

Elegantly synthesized thesis and key points, the unit text and your research, into a strong closing statement, in order to produce one or more new insights with analytical depth Attempted to synthesize thesis and key points, the unit text and your research, into a strong closing statement, but included new insights that did not flow from the body of the essay, or that only approached analytical depth Summarized most of their thesis and key points, the unit text and research, or attempted a synthesis without depth Ended the essay by repeating or rephrasing thesis statement, or attempted a synthesis without roots in essay body Ended their essay without any conclusion, or with a conclusion that had no connection to the essays thesis or body Times 15 = ____

Understanding and Thoroughness: The student ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4 3 2 1 0

Excellent understanding: deep analysis and sound argument on unit text and your research. Good understanding: provided some deep analysis with generally sound argument on unit text and your research. Fair understanding: provided uneven analysis and argument, varying in quality, on unit text and your research. Poor understanding: provided surface-level analysis with weak and/or repetitious argument on text and research. Little understanding: provided inadequate analysis with little or often fallacious argument. Short on text or research.

Style and Form (30%)

Language/Word Choice: The student used engaging language that was clear, appropriate, and expressive in style ___ 4 Excellent choices ___ 3 Good choices ___ 2 Fair choices ___ 1 Poor choices Times 10 = ____ ___ 0 Often unclear/inappropriate

Proper Paragraphs: The student organized proper paragraphs (transition, topic sentence, supporting ideas, closing) Times 5 = ____ ___ 4 Strong organization ___ 3 Good organization ___ 2 Fair organization ___ 1 Poor organization ___ 0 Unorganized

Conventions: The student made ___ 4 No errors ___ 3 Few errors ___ 2 Several errors ___ 1 Regular errors

Times 5 = ____ ___ 0 Many errors

MLA Citation: In the works cited page at the end, and parenthetical citations in the essay, the student made ___ 4 No errors ___ 3 Few errors ___ 2 Several errors ___ 1 Regular errors

Times 10 = ____

___ 0 Many errors

Scoring: Each category of your essays quality is multiplied by a number representing that categorys relative weight -- Understanding and Thoroughness being weighted most heavily. Multiplying each sections 0 to 4 rating by each sections weight, then totaling the results, will yield a number between 0 and 400, which is divided by 100, yielding a number between 0 and 4. Your teacher considers this number in determining your letter grade, but it is not the sole factor. Others, difficult to quantify, transcend the rubric innovations in style and form, creativity, originality, etc. 4 - A - Excellent 3 - B - Good 2 - C - Fair 1 - D - Poor 0 - F - Not Acceptable

Comments:

Grand Total (of 400) = ____ Divided by 100 = ____ Letter Grade = ____