Grading Rubric for Critical Essay Analysis Essay # _________

Student _______________________________

10

Above and beyond; a truly professional job with precise attention to detail

9-8

Good, lacks the precision of a 10

7

Several errors keep this from being your best work

6-5

You mis-understood expectations or you did not communicate ideas clearly. Too many deviations.

0

You did not do this part or it is so poorly done as to not be eligible for credit

Identify and explain the author's thesis. In other words, restate his or her thesis as written and then put it in your own words with more explanation if needed. Include this information in your opening paragraph in which you also give the name of the essay and the author. Make a smooth transition to the next paragraph. (x 1)

Show how the author supported this thesis. There is not just one way to organize these paragraphs, but a good suggestion is to give his/her main supporting points and how she/he supported them in some logical order, perhaps even giving each main point its own paragraph. Be sure that you are showing how the thesis was supported. You will use tags like (say the author's name is Mary Brown) "Brown believes," "Brown explains," "Brown gives the example," etc. (x 2)

End with a paragraph in which you do one of two things: 1) Say whether or not you agree with the author's thesis and give solid, text-based reasons for your opinion. 2) Say how reading this essay gave you new insight into the work. Explain clearly how and in what ways. (x 1)

Essay follows standard format and style conventions and those expected with the assignment in particular. (x 1)

Totals:

_______ / 50