Name:
Period:
Date:
Essay Title:
General Essay Scoring Guide
Category
6 (95%+)
Exceptional
Score:
5 (92%)
Commendable
4 (84%)
Proficient
3 (76%)
SHOULD REVISE
2 (68%)
MUST REVISE
1 (65% - 0 )
MUST REVISE
Content/
Response to
Prompt
Insightful, original in
thought, engaging
response to prompt.
Effective, thoughtful, a
depth of understanding
of prompt.
Competent and
clear, developing
ideas demonstrate
understanding of
prompt.
Adequate response,
addresses some aspects
of prompt.
Lacks understanding of
prompt, may stray from
topic.
Off topic, demonstrates
misunderstanding of
prompt.
Thesis
Insightful, guides and
controls writing.
Clear, guides writing.
Thesis is adequate.
Thesis is
underdeveloped, may not
control writing.
No/simplistic thesis.
No thesis.
Claims/
Assertions
Offers original
thinking, supports
thesis with logical,
insightful, well-defined
ideas.
Clear claims with logical
connections to the
thesis.
Has claims to
support the thesis.
Claims are simplistic or
under-developed, only
loosely tied to thesis.
Claims are illogical or
off-topic from thesis.
No claims.
Evidence
Well-chosen,
thoughtful, relevant.
Chosen purposefully to
prove claims.
Generally related
to topic and
claims.
Simplistic evidence with
only loose ties to claims
and thesis.
Has little relation to
claims . May be off-topic
or illogical.
No evidence.
Commentary
Thoughtfully and
purposefully
developed, proves
claims in an engaging
way.
Logically developed with
a depth beyond the
obvious.
Proves claims, but
mostly stays at the
obvious.
Simplistic, logic may be
questionable. May rely
heavily on summary, with
only moments of
analysis.
Relies on summary, or
repeats evidence. Little to
no analysis.
Commentary is missing,
off topic.
Style
Sophisticated diction,
varied and well chosen
sentence structures,
smooth transitions.
Appropriate vocabulary,
variety of sentence
structures, good
transitions.
General vocabulary,
obvious sentence
structures,
transitions may be
formulaic.
Simplistic vocabulary,
simple or choppy
sentence structures,
inconsistent transitions.
Errors in word choice
and vocabulary, choppy
sentence structures, no
transitions.
Difficult to read for
meaning.
Conventions
Virtual mastery of
conventions. Only
minor errors that do
not detract from
meaning and are not
repeated.
Displays clear control
and has minimal errors.
Displays control,
some errors may be
repeated, but
generally does not
detract from
meaning.
Displays some control,
but errors are repeated
and may interfere with
meaning.
Displays minimal
control, frequent errors
distract or confuse
reader.
Serious mechanical errors
throughout paper make it
incoherent, unable to be
read.