University Writing Standards Page

 

Excellent

·         Addresses the assignment thoughtfully and analytically, setting a challenging task.

·         Displays awareness of and purpose in communicating to an audience.

·         Establishes a clearly focused controlling idea.

·         Demonstrates coherent and rhetorically sophisticated organization; makes effective connections between ideas.

·         Provides clear generalizations with specific detail, compelling support, and cogent analysis.

·         Cites relevant sources and evaluates their validity, effectively integrating them into text when appropriate.

·         Displays superior, consistent control of syntax, sentence variety, word choice, and conventions of Standard English.

·         ESL/Dialect Guideline: Grammatical errors are rare and do not interfere with overall effectiveness of the paper; occasional imprecision in word choice and usage may occur.

Strong

·         Addresses the assignment clearly and analytically, setting a meaningful task.

·         Addresses audience needs and expectations.

·         Establishes a clearly focused controlling idea.

·         Demonstrates clear and coherent organization.

·         Provides clear generalizations and effective support and analysis.

·         Cites relevant sources, effectively integrating them into text when appropriate.

·         Displays consistent control of syntax, sentence variety, word choice, and conventions of Standard English.

·         ESL/Dialect Guideline: Some grammatical errors may occur throughout the paper, but do not interfere with overall effectiveness; occasional inappropriate word choice or incorrect usage may occur.

Adequate

·         Addresses the assignment with some analysis.

·         Addresses most audience needs and expectations.

·         Establishes a controlling idea.

·         Demonstrates adequate organization.

·         Provides support for and some analysis of generalizations.

·         Cites appropriate sources, adequately integrating them into text.

·         Displays adequate control of syntax, sentence variety, word choice, and conventions of Standard English; errors do not slow the reader, impede understanding, or seriously undermine the authority of the writer.

·         ESL/Dialect Guideline: Grammatical errors, inappropriate word choice or incorrect usage may occur throughout the paper but rarely interfere with effective communication.

Seriously Flawed

·         Addresses the assignment inadequately.

·         Shows insufficient audience awareness.

·         Strays from the controlling idea, or the idea is unclear.

·         Displays formulaic, random, or confusing organization.

·         Lacks generalizations, or provides generalizations with inadequate support or analysis.

·         Fails to cite sources or cites and/or integrates them inappropriately.

·         Shows deficient control of syntax, sentence variety, word choice, and conventions of Standard English; errors impede understanding.

·         ESL/Dialect Guideline: Serious and frequent errors in grammar, word choice, or usage hinder communication.

Fundamentally Deficient

·         Fails to address assignment.

·         Demonstrates a lack of audience awareness.

·         Lacks a controlling idea.

·         Lacks organization or organizes illogically.

·         Displays inability to generalize, analyze, or support ideas.

·         Fails to use outside sources or misuses the texts of others.

·         Shows inadequate control of syntax, sentence variety, word choice, and conventions of Standard English.

·         ESL/Dialect Guideline: An accumulation of serious and frequent errors in grammar, word choice, or usage prevents communication.