Grading Your Essays

Dear Students: Thank you for sharing your thoughts and life experiences with me on Essay #1. I know how hard it can be to “open up” your experiences to strangers, let alone to subject your ideas to criticism, and, worse, grades. I often think that, if I had my druthers, I’d teach writing without grades—just comments and conversation. But grades are useful in a university context. It's good to remind yourself, however, that you should never take the grade as an evaluation of you as a person, or of the value of your experiences and thoughts. It is an evaluation of how well this paper responded to this assignment, in this context. Your paper is itself; it should and does have value beyond whatever grade I assign it. If you grew in even a small way as a result of writing it, that really is a gain--although I know that feels like cold comfort when your grades aren't all that you desire. Keep on, keeping on. The process can be painful, but I know it can, in the long run, bring tremendous fulfillment and great joy.

To clarify my standards, I offer the following schema, which a colleague and friend of mine, Susan Carpenter, originally developed, but which I have modified with my own language.

A This paper is insightful, original, clear, and complex. It is organized in a way that fits its subject perfectly. Its themes are fully developed with carefully chosen evidence; the reader’s questions are answered. The writing demonstrates subtle and sophisticated awareness of audience, even as it presents a potentially controversial argument. There are very few errors in usage, mechanics, or sentence structure. What errors there are do not interfere with the reader’s understanding. Moreover, the sentences have been carefully crafted to suit the central ideas, and the style is polished, interesting. Truly solid “A” papers are rare, lovely gems.

A- Almost wonderful. This paper has many of the qualities of an A-paper, but typically there’s a confusing patch, a theme not entirely dealt with, which prevents the essay from achieving completion, perfect wholeness. There are very few errors in mechanics, usage, or sentence structure, but the stylistic details are probably not quite as perfectly attended to as in the A paper.

B+ This is a very good paper—clear, thoughtful, and well-organized. Its themes are dealt with, although they may not be fully developed. It may not have explored material that's less obvious, below the surface. Or it may have a weak spot—often the conclusion—which prevents it from achieving completion, wholeness. There are, again, only a few errors in usage, mechanics, sentence structures. One or two may interfere with the reader’s understanding, require a little work.

B This is a good essay. It is clear, and makes sense. In spots it may contain excellent writing. The writer’s thinking and effort are evident. Yet many B papers tend to stay on the surface of issues, arriving at simple explanations rather than exploring complexities. There may be some problems with language usage—sentence structure, word choice, mechanics—which get in the way of the reader’s understanding. Some of the language is likely to be imprecise, too general, vague.

B- This essay does not quite work, though parts of it make good sense, and it contains good ideas. There are likely to be gaps and/or repetitions and/or confusing spots that leave the reader puzzled. The organization, also, is typically a little random—not clearly structured to best express the idea—perhaps strongly influenced by questions that may have been asked on the assignment. There are probably also some problems with sentence structure, word choice, mechanics, which get in the way of the reader’s understanding. Often the language is imprecise, too general, vague, at various times.

C+ This essay has a thesis, but does not work yet--yet it may very well have clear evidence of potential. It is still an “above average” essay. It may be that the writer is working on an issue or experience or text that she/he has not fully worked through for him/herself. Sometimes students for whom English is a second language have really excellent ideas, but their struggles with language are holding the paper back from clarity and wholeness. For any of these reasons, or others, the reader is often confused, sometimes for significant passages. Typically there are problems with sentence structure, word choice, mechanics, that get in the way of the reader’s understanding, and the language is typically, again, imprecise, too general, vague.

To get a C+ or above, the paper must have a clear, arguable, specific thesis that directly answers the assignment.

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C This is an essay, with a subject, and evidence of organization, and probably potential to be a good or even excellent essay. But it needs work. Probably it doesn't really have a clear thesis--or it has only a very general, obvious, not really arguable one. Most of the sentences in a C-level are complete, but they typically don’t contain much original thought, or they are vague and therefore lack the kind of detailed information that helps a reader see and remember the essay’s points. The reader is confused, often, and may suspect that the writer has not really thought about what she or he means to say. Sentence structure, word choice, mechanics may be okay, but usually there’s some obstruction to understanding. The language is typically imprecise, too general, vague, throughout.

C- This is still an essay. With some work, the reader is able to figure out the writer’s intentions, which may have begun with a good idea, or eventually arrived at one worth pursuing. The organization does not help to clarify the subject or the meaning of the essay, and there is little evidence of original thinking. Sentence structure, word choice, and mechanics get in the way of the reader’s understanding. The language seems unconnected in some way from the writer’s thoughts. This essay needs more drafting time.

D+ This is not yet an essay. However, there are some thoughts organized into sentences, and there is probably an identifiable subject. The writer’s intentions are not clear. Sentence structure, word choice, and mechanics also get in the way of the reader’s understanding. The language is typically problematic—imprecise, vague, very general. It's also possible that this paper neglects to complete a significant requirement of the assignment--e.g., perhaps it examines only 1 text when it was required to analyze 2, or it explores an experience but does not really link it to a specific reading, if the assignment required that.

D This is not an essay. There are some sentences, and there may be an identifiable subject. The writer’s intentions are not clear, and there is little evidence of the writer’s thinking. Sentence structure, word choice, mechanics all prevent understanding.

D- Here are some words on paper. They make just enough sense so that the reader can imagine a subject emerging which could form the basis of an essay.

F Here are some words on paper. Very few papers turned in are F papers. I have given very, very few Fs to papers turned in, on time. Typically students who fail 100-level courses, or most other courses, fail because they "drop out" at some level--i.e., they fail to complete the work, or fail to turn in the paper on time, fail to follow the required procedures for papers. See the syllabus' "fine print" for those procedures, or come talk to me if you do not understand them.

Two thoughts on learning and work, from Kahlil Gibran, Persian mystic/poet:

“I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.”

"Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms from those who work with joy." ~~Kahlil Gibran

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