Junior English with Mr. Geuder
Name___________________________________
ESSAY FEEDBACK SHEET: Literary Analysis
DISTINGUISHED SKILLS: Once you have established strong writing skills, you should focus on the following stylistic
elements. As you develop these skills, your writing becomes more interesting, compelling, and unique to you. These skills
will separate your writing from the rest of the pack.
1st 2nd
  You have been able to establish a clear, personal voice in your writing.
  You can use sophisticated language and structural elements to deepen your argument and engage the audience.
You can use effective language techniques (i.e. imagery, allusions, humor, metaphor, irony) that are appropriate to the
topic, purpose, and audience.
  You are effective at making the reader think beyond the piece of literature by making the content of the essay
relevant to life.
STRONG WRITING SKILLS: Demonstrating ALL of these skills will result in an A grade. It should be your goal by
the end of the school year to write an essay that incorporates all of these elements.
1st 2nd
INTRODUCTION
  1. Your introduction is interesting, relevant, and creative; it is effective in gaining the attention of the reader.
  2. You can construct a clear, sophisticated, argumentative thesis statement.
BODY PARAGRAPHS
  3. You have stated a clear contention at the beginning of each body paragraph; all are connected to the thesis.
  4. You give complete, clear context for every quote that you use.
  5. All of the details in your body paragraphs are connected to the argument in your thesis.
  6. You use at least three quotes per main idea section for the sole purpose of analysis.
  7. You have chosen excellent quotes from the entire text that convincingly support your contentions.
  8. You integrate your quotes smoothly in a grammatically correct way.
  9. You use a sophisticated clincher sentence at the end of each main idea section to reinforce your contentions.
  10. Your analysis pushes deep enough to uncover something new, going beyond what is discussed in class. You
have demonstrated independent thinking.
CONCLUSION
  11. Your conclusion is interesting, relevant, and creative; it gives the reader plenty of ideas to keep thinking about.
OVERALL CONVENTIONS
  12. The order of your paragraphs presents your argument in a clear, logical way.
  13. You can effectively proofread in order to eliminate all of the grammatical errors in your paper.
  14. You can use MLA citations correctly throughout the essay.
PLACES FOR IMPROVEMENT: Your essay shows that you are on the right track, but also that you need to make
some minor revisions for your skills to be considered strong. You can improve your essay by applying the advice below.
1st 2nd
INTRODUCTION
  1a. You can improve your grabber sentences. This will make the introduction more interesting.
Junior English with Mr. Geuder
Name___________________________________
  1b. You can give deeper background information in order to set up your thesis better.
  2. Your thesis statement is clear, but its wording lacks sophistication. Spruce up the language.
BODY PARAGRAPHS
  3. You need to use more precise language in your contentions. Some of your argument is too implied or vague.
  4. You do not frame some of your quotes well. This causes issues with understanding the context.
  5. There are a few details in your essay that are afterthoughts. They do not detract from the argument, but they
don’t advance it either. Eliminate these extra details.
  6. You have a quote or two that are used for summary. They do not advance your argument.
  7a. You chose good quotes, but they are not from the entire text. Expand the range.
  7b. You generally chose good quotes, but there are one or two that need to be strengthened.
  8. You have a comma splice or run-on quote integration. Fix the grammar.
  9. One or more of your clincher sentences relate back to your contentions, but not to the thesis as well.
  10. You have a strong argument, but it exclusively follows concepts that we have already discussed in class.
CONCLUSION
  11a. Your conclusion is too formulaic. You have missed an opportunity to really drive home your points.
  11b. Your zinger sentences can be more creative. You don’t clearly leave the reader with things to think about.
OVERALL CONVENTIONS
  12. Your argument can be improved by changing the order of your paragraphs.
  13. You have a handful of grammatical mistakes, but they do not interfere with general clarity.
  14. You have citations, but they are not formatted correctly according to MLA style.
MAJOR ERRORS: The following errors need to be fixed in your essay because they are significant mistakes. These
mistakes show that there are fundamental issues in your essay. You are highly encouraged to revise. Some of these errors
may be easy to fix, but some of them may take more time and effort. Be sure to arrange a conference with me if you need
extra help.
1st 2nd
  1. Organization: You have all of the paragraphs of an essay, but there are paragraphs that are misplaced.
  2. Argument: You have an introduction and a conclusion, but one or both may be incomplete.
  3. Argument: You have a thesis statement, but it is misplaced. -OR- It is awkwardly worded / unclear.
  4. Argument: You have topic sentences for each body paragraph, but they are misplaced, non-specific, or
disconnected from the thesis.
  5. Argument: The explanation or analysis for your main ideas is not fully developed.
  6. Support: You haven’t chosen quotes that support your main ideas well.
  7. Support: You can incorporate quotes, but you mostly use them to summarize the text instead of for analysis.
  8. Focus: Some of the details in your body paragraphs stray from your argumentative focus.
  9. Clarity: The details within your paragraphs can be arranged more logically / clearly. Order of ideas is confusing.
  11. Proofreading: You have spelling, word usage, and/or grammar mistakes that greatly interfere with clarity.
  12. Citations: Citations are completely missing, but you used quotation marks.
Junior English with Mr. Geuder
Name___________________________________
INCOMPLETE: If any of these errors appear in your essay, you must redo it mandatorily before it can be evaluated for a
grade.
 You are completely missing the introduction, the conclusion, or both.
 You have a thesis statement, but it is strictly observational; it lacks argumentation. You are attempting to summarize
the text.
 You are missing a thesis.
 You are missing one or more topic sentences.
 You are completely missing one or more main ideas.
 The details in one or more body paragraphs are completely off-focus and disconnected from the thesis.
 You do not use three quotes per main idea.
 You do not use a consistent organizational strategy, so your ideas seem very disconnected or random.
As an example of your writing skills, this essay shows:
A
You have strong writing skills. Additionally, you are developing distinguished skills.
B
You have many strong writing skills, but you have a few places for improvement. You may also show strong skills, but
inconsistently throughout the essay. You are highly encouraged to revise your essay in order to refine your skills and show better
consistency.
C
You know how to write an essay, but you have some major errors that need correcting. You are highly encouraged to revise
this essay in order to learn and grow in your writing skills.
Incomplete
You must mandatorily redo your essay. You cannot be assigned a grade until your essay is completed.