Analytical Writing Scoring Rubric

  1. 6:
    “Outstanding” Essay
    • Insightfully presents and convincingly supports an opinion on the issue or a critique of the argument
    • Communicates ideas clearly and is generally well organized; connections are logical
    • Demonstrates superior control of language: grammar, stylistic variety, and accepted conventions of writing; minor flaws may occur
  2. 5:
    “Strong” Essay
    • Presents well-chosen examples and strongly supports an opinion on the issue or a critique of the argument
    • Communicates ideas clearly and is generally well organized; connections are logical
    • Demonstrates solid control of language: grammar, stylistic variety, and accepted conventions of writing; minor flaws may occur
  3. 4:
    “Adequate” Essay
    • Presents and adequately supports an opinion on the issue or a critique of the argument
    • Communicates ideas fairly clearly and is adequately organized; logical connections are satisfactory
    • Demonstrates satisfactory control of language: grammar, stylistic variety, and accepted conventions of writing; some flaws may occur
  4. 3:
    “Limited” Essay
    • Succeeds only partially in presenting and supporting an opinion on the issue or a critique of the argument
    • Communicates ideas unclearly and is poorly organized
    • Demonstrates less than satisfactory control of language: contains significant mistakes in grammar, usage, and sentence structure
  5. 2:
    “Weak” Essay
    • Shows little success in presenting and supporting an opinion on the issue or a critique of the argument
    • Struggles to communicate ideas; essay shows a lack of clarity and organization
    • Meaning is impeded by many serious mistakes in grammar, usage, and sentence structure
  6. 1:
    “Fundamentally Deficient” Essay
    • Fails to present a coherent opinion and/or evidence on the issue or a critique of the argument
    • Fails to communicate ideas; essay is seriously unclear and disorganized
    • Lacks meaning due to widespread and severe mistakes in grammar, usage, and sentence structure
  7. 0:
    “Unscorable” Essay
    • Completely ignores topic
    • Attempts to copy the assignment
    • Written in a foreign language or contains undecipherable text