Rubric

Rating

4

3

2

1

0

Thesis

Clear and concise, well developed.

Clear and mostly complete

Vague or incomplete

Missing

Missing

Ideas/

Analysis

Original, thoughtful and perceptive, demonstrating complete command of the material

Thoughtful, demonstrating good understanding of the major points of the issue.

Demonstrates basic understanding of the issue or assignment, at times resorts to summarizing rather than analysis

Shows only spotty understanding of issues, very limited analysis.

Lacks basic understanding of the issue or assignment, little or no analysis

Argument

Well organized, with a logical structure that develops the ideas one paragraph at a time, with appropriate transitions between segments.

Mostly well organized with each paragraph containing one idea, each idea related to  the thesis, but with some elements vague, or minor links missing

Shows some organization, most ideas related to thesis, some parts of the argument muddled or contradictory.

Limited evidence of organization, several elements lacking connection to thesis and each other.

Little evidence of organization, many elements lacking connection to thesis and each other.

Evidence

Thoughtful use of well chosen evidence, demonstrating a profound understanding of sources.

Mostly good use of sources, showing a general understanding of their argument and relevance

Some use of evidence, not clearly demonstrating relevance of source to argument.

None or little support for argument, or misuse of sources (misunderstanding sources, using sources that are not relevant to argument).

None or little support for argument, misuse of sources (misunderstanding sources, using sources that are not relevant to argument).

Grammar, Language

Free of errors; good use of language, none or few mechanical errors

Few errors, mostly good use of language, few and minor mechanical errors.

Some errors, uneven use of language, occasionally errant sentence structure or inappropriate word choice.

Numerous errors that impede understanding of argument, notable mechanical errors.

Numerous errors that show lack of care and impede understanding of argument, notable mechanical errors.