8/3/2019 Literary Essay Rubric
2/3
LEVEL OFCOMPREHENSION &FOCUS
A sophisticatedtopic/thesis revealsan in-depthanalysis of the
text
A soundtopic/thesisdemonstrates aplausibleinterpretation ofthe
text
The cleartopic/thesisdemonstratessomeinterpretivecomprehension
ofthe text
The topic/thesisdemonstrates abasicunderstanding ofthe text
The topic/thesisis sogeneral/simple itdoes not needdevelopment
;an obvious fact
No evidence ofa topic/thesisOR thetopic/thesisdoes
notdemonstrate areading of thetext
ORGANIZATION
Exhibits asophisticated andcoherent structurethrough
skillfulplacement of ideasand effectivetransitioning
Exhibits a coherentstructure withlogical placementof ideas
andsmooth transitions
Exhibits a logicalstructure and hasrelatively
smoothtransitions
Exhibits afundamentalstructure that hasfairly
smoothtransitionscombined withsome choppy ones
Much of theessay seems outof order, illogicaland has veryfew
transitions
Essay has littleto no sense oflogical order
SUPPORT &FOCUS
Ideas are original,clearly developedand supported witheffective,
relevant,and specific
references in orderto analyze the text
Ideas aredeveloped, makinguse of relevant andspecific
referencesin order to
interpret the text
Most ideas aredeveloped, withinterpretation ofthe text,
makinguse of relevant
and specificreferences fromthe text
Ideas are brieflydeveloped, usingsome relevant andspecific
referencesfrom the text
combined withparaphrasing/summary
Most ideas areundeveloped,repetitive, orsupported onlywith
summary of
text
Ideas areundeveloped,unsupported,or supportedwith irrelevant
text orsummary
LEAD/INTRODUCTION
Innovative, originalintroduction thatindicates writersgrasp of
topic,purpose andaudience
Pulls the readerinto the piece,introduces the textand thesis
Standard lead andintroduction tothesis (it works)
Lead is attempted,introducing the textand thesis
Lead isattempted,but does little tointroduce essay
Too short, non-existent, orunfitting for theessay
CONCLUSION
Writer comes to aconclusion, leavingreader satisfied and
thinking
Writer comes to aconclusion aboutthesis/text, leaving
reader satisfied
Writer comes to aconclusion, tiesessay together
Restates thesis,may be superficial
Short orsuperficial, justtacked on the
end
Non-existent ordoes not makea point
8/3/2019 Literary Essay Rubric
3/3
VOICE
Diction
Syntax
Imagery
Tone
Utilizes terminologyappropriate togenre, choosesdistinct words,
andvaries sentencelength andgrammaticalstructure to create
an original andconfident voiceboth fitting to thepurpose of
theessay and intendedaudience
Utilizesterminologyappropriate togenre, makesconscious
wordchoice, and variessome sentencelength and
grammaticalstructure to createa convincing voice
Utilizesterminologyappropriate togenre, and variessome
sentencelength andgrammaticalstructure; voice is
stronger in someparts of essay
Attempts to utilizeterminologyappropriate togenre,
experimentswith variedsentence length andgrammaticalstructure; a
hint of
voice is present inessay
Writing showslittle awarenessof varyinggrammaticalstructures
orword choice tofit purpose ofessay; voice
may only bepresent in leadand conclusion
No voice andno awarenessof audiencedemonstrated ;sentences
areawkward,rambling,fragmented
and/orconfusing
CONVENTIONS
Mastery ofconventions: nospelling,punctuation orformat
errors(correctly cites the
text)
Strongconventions:correct format;one or tworeasonable errorsin
punctuation,
verb tense, andspelling.
A few grade-appropriate errorsin format, spelling,punctuation,
andverb tense
Some grade-appropriate errorscombined withcareless errors
inspelling,conventions, and
editing
Frequentspelling/editing,typing errors
Too manyerrors inspelling,punctuation,andconventions
All prewriting, notes, peer responses, and drafts/with obvious
revision must be submitted with the publishedcopy.
