Composition I Grading Criteria

COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF RHODE ISLAND
GRADING CRITERIA: COMPOSITION I, ENGL 1010

GRADE	CONTENT OF ESSAY	ORGANIZATION AND ESSAY DEVELOPMENT	SENTENCE STRUCTURE	DICTION	GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, SPELLING	RESEARCH All previous criteria as well as the following:
A Superior ability to discern effective writing strategies	A significant controlling idea clearly defined and supported with concrete, substantial, and consistently relevant detail. Meets needs of audience and clearly identifies purpose.	Essay thoughtfully planned and effectively developed with originality and logical sequencing of ideas. Clear and effective introduction and conclusion incorporating appropriate strategies. Utilizes explicit and effective transitons.	Sophisticated and purposeful construction of sentences that are unified, coherent, effective, and varied.	Distinctive, precise, and concise word choice. Extended vocabulary. Facility with figures of speech. Perception of connotation and denotation.	Consistently correct standard grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Confident, expressive application of correct English usage.	Smoothly incorporates meaningful material from scholarly and/or reputable electronic and print sources. Uses variety of techniques to incorporate material. Exhibits superior grasp of paraphrase, summary, and synthesis. Correctly reproduces assigned documentation style and format. Contains number and types of sources assigned.
B Proficient in choice of effective writing strategies	Fairly significant central idea supported with some substantial and relevant detail. Meets most audience needs and identifies purpose.	Essay reasonably well planned and paragraphs adequately and effectively developed. Some originality and attention to proportion and emphasis evident. Introduction and conclusion clear and present but may not be completely developed. Exhibits coherence and unity and utilizes explicit and effective transitions.	Most sentences are well constructed, forceful, and somewhat varied.	Clearly noted effort at original, precise, and concise word choice. Little use of figures of speech. Slight indication of connotation and denotation.	Uses standard grammar, punctuation, and spelling with few deviations.	Smoothly incorporates material from scholarly and/or reputable sources though not all material is equally well chosen. Exhibits proficient use of paraphrase, summary, and synthesis. Uses required documentation style and format with minor errors. Contains number and types of sources assigned.

GRADE	CONTENT OF ESSAY	ORGANIZATION AND ESSAY DEVELOPMENT	SENTENCE STRUCTURE	DICTION	GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION,SPELLING	RESEARCH All previous criteria as well as the following:
C Basic ability to discern effective writing strategies	Central idea present but not focused. Supported with concrete detail that is occasionally repetitious, irrelevant, or redundant.	Essay exhibits evidence of planning and is adequately developed. Random use of transitions. Inadequate introduction and conclusion.	Sentences generally correctly constructed but lack distinction and forcefulness.	Some attention paid to clear and concise word choice. Inappropriate or nonexistent use of figures of speech.	Clarity and effectiveness of expression weakened by misuse of standard grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Exhibits shallow treatment of subject. Source material weak and indicative of superficial research. Quotations not well chosen and/or exact. Paraphrase, summary, and synthesis deficient. Frequent errors in documentation and format. Insufficient number and types of sources assigned.
D Lack of ability to discern effective writing .	Central idea lacking, confused, or unsupported with concrete and relevant details. Audience and purpose overlooked or poorly considered.	Essay is undeveloped or exhibits irrelevancy, redundancy, or inconsistency. Transitions are unclear or absent. Introduction and conclusion seriously deficient.	Simplistic style and errors in sentence construction limit development and expression of ideas.	Generally unclear and inappropriate word choice.	Communication may be obscured by frequent misuse of standard grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Exhibits poor choice of sources. Perfunctory inclusion of material, showing little or no relevance to content. Paraphrase, summary, and synthesis poorly presented or absent. Frequent errors in documentation and format. Insufficient number and types of sources assigned.
F Scant or no ability to discern effective writing strategies	Central idea lacking or extremely superficial. Little substantial detail. No coherent development. No consideration of audience or purpose.	Poor or no organizational plan. Insufficient development. Irrelevant ideas. Transitions, introduction, and conclusion lacking.	Substandard word choice. Meaning generally obscured.	Sentences generally incoherent, fused, and incomplete.	Limited relation to standard grammar. Punctuation completely inadequate. Spelling unacceptable. Communication almost totally obscured.	Exhibits superficial and/or unfocused or nonexistent research. Little or no understanding of research process. Paraphrase, summary, and synthesis seriously deficient or absent. Quotations inexact and/or meaningless. Format not followed. Number and types of sources assigned not met.