Characteristic

Score  8-9

87 or above

Score 5-7

77 or above

Score 2-4

67 or above

Score 0-1

66 or below

Thesis

Clear, well developed thesis

Contains a clear thesis with limited development

Lacks a thesis, or thesis may be confused or underdeveloped

No thesis

Understanding of the Question

Understands complexity of the question; deals with all parts of the question in depth

Limited or lack of understanding of complexity; may deal with one part of the question in some depth, or in a more general way

Ignores complexity; may deal with one part of the question, or all elements of the question in a superficial way

May simply paraphrase or restate the question

Analysis

Provides effective analysis of the question; some imbalance permissible

Limited analysis, mostly describes

Weak or inappropriate analysis

No analysis

Documentary Evidence

Effectively uses a substantial number of documents.  Documents supplement analysis and are balanced with outside information

Effectively uses someof documents; may only restate information found in documents

Poor use of documents with only brief citation or paraphrase; not enough documents used to support analysis

Almost no use of or inappropriate attempts to use documents

Supportive Information

Supports thesis with substantial, relevant information. Outside information is balanced with use of documents in the analysis of the question

Supports thesis with some factual information

Lacks supporting information, or information given is minimal

Incompetent, inappropriate responses

Grammar and Structure

May contain insignificant errors

May contain minor errors that do not detract from overall essay

May contain major errors

Contains many major or minor errors

Organization and Writing Style

Well organized and well written

Clearly organized and written, but not exceptional

Weak organization and writing

Disorganized and poorly written

Characteristic

Score  8-9

87 or above

Score 5-7

77 or above

Score 2-4

67 or above

Score 0-1

66 or below

Thesis

Clear, well developed thesis

Contains a clear thesis with limited development

Lacks a thesis, or thesis may be confused or underdeveloped

No thesis

Understanding of the Question

Understands complexity of the question; deals with all parts of the question in depth

Limited or lack of understanding of complexity; may deal with one part of the question in some depth, or in a more general way

Ignores complexity; may deal with one part of the question, or all elements of the question in a superficial way

May simply paraphrase or restate the question

Analysis

Provides effective analysis of the question; some imbalance permissible

Limited analysis, mostly describes

Weak or inappropriate analysis

No analysis

Supportive Information

Supports thesis with substantial, relevant information

Supports thesis with some factual information

Lacks supporting information, or information given is minimal

Incompetent, inappropriate responses

Grammar and Structure

May contain insignificant errors

May contain minor errors that do not detract from overall essay

May contain major errors

Contains many major or minor errors

Organization and Writing Style

Well organized and well written

Clearly organized and written, but not exceptional

Weak organization and writing

Disorganized and poorly written