Rubric Essay One: General Guidelines

This is more "nuts and bolts" than we may want to discuss on the blog, but here's my revised rubric for next time after taking it through this first paper...

ENGLISH 95X – This I Believe/Essay One
Thesis and Introduction
___ Do the first few sentences of your introduction effectively get the attention of your readers and make them want to continue reading?
___ Do the beginning sentences of your introduction logically and smoothly lead up to your thesis statement?
___ Do you present a one-sentence statement of your thesis that conveys the main idea of your whole essay and answers the assignment question?
Organization and the Support and Development of Ideas
___ Do you begin each body paragraph with a clear topic sentence that gives you some specific point(s) to develop or support?
___ Is the main idea of each topic sentence directly support your thesis?
___ Is each claim presented in your body paragraphs supported using PIE? Is there enough information and evidence/elaboration?
___ Is there a logical progression of ideas within paragraphs and from one body paragraph to the next?
___ Do you end body paragraphs with a concluding sentence and/or logical transition into the next body paragraph?
___ In the conclusion, do you restate (but not repeat) the thesis statement and leave readers thinking about the importance of the ideas you develop in the body of the paper?
Style
___ Do you use a variety of sentences throughout your paper? (Notice how each sentence begins and how long each sentence is. If necessary, rewrite or combine sentences for more variety.)
___ Could any of your sentences be rewritten to convey ideas more effectively or more clearly? Do any of your sentences seem a bit awkward, causing you to pause and reread the sentence to understand the meaning? (If so, rewrite those sentences.)
___ Do you use a variety of words and avoid repeating the same words many times in your paper?
Mechanics
___ Is your paper in the correct format, double spaced with 12-point fonts?
___ Do you have the proper heading and first page format on the paper?
___ Does the paper have a title?
___ Have you proofread your paper carefully to eliminate all errors?