The Argumentative and Informative/Explanatory (source-based) essays should effectively communicate a whole message to the specified audience for the stated purpose. You will be assessed on your ability to express, organize, and support opinions and ideas.
The Argumentative essay will be scored on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being the best. A response that receives a score point of 1 is an undeveloped written response, while a score point of 6 is assigned to a response that is very well developed. The table below provides guidelines as to how your essay will be scored.
Argumentative Essay Scoring Guide |
|
Score
|
Description |
6 |
A 6 essay demonstrates a high degree of competence in response to the assignment but may have a few minor errors. An essay in this category: |
states or clearly implies the writer’s position or thesis |
|
| organizes and develops ideas logically, making insightful connections between them | |
| clearly explains key ideas, supporting them with well-chosen reasons, examples, or details | |
| displays effective sentence variety | |
| clearly displays facility in the use of language | |
| is generally free from errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics | |
5 |
A 5 essay demonstrates clear competence in response to the assignment but may have minor errors. An essay in this category: |
| states or clearly implies the writer’s position or thesis | |
| organizes and develops ideas clearly, making connections between them | |
| explains key ideas, supporting them with relevant reasons, examples, or details | |
| displays some sentence variety | |
| displays facility in the use of language | |
| is generally free from errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics | |
4 |
A 4 essay demonstrates competence in response to the assignment. An essay in this category: |
states or implies the writer’s position or thesis |
|
| shows control in the organization and development of ideas | |
| explains some key ideas, supporting them with adequate reasons, examples, or details | |
| displays adequate use of language | |
| shows control of grammar, usage, and mechanics, but may display errors | |
3 |
A 3 essay demonstrates some competence in response to the assignment but is obviously flawed. An essay in this category reveals one or more of the following weaknesses: |
| limited in stating or implying a position or thesis | |
limited control in the organization and development of ideas |
|
| inadequate reasons, examples, or details to explain key ideas | |
| an accumulation of errors in the use of language | |
| an accumulation of errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics | |
2 |
A 2 essay is seriously flawed. An essay in this category reveals one or more of the following weaknesses: |
| no clear position or thesis | |
| weak organization or very little development | |
| few or no relevant reasons, examples, or details | |
| frequent serious errors in the use of language | |
| frequent serious errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics | |
1 |
A 1 essay demonstrates fundamental deficiencies in writing skills. An essay in this category: |
| contains serious and persistent writing errors, or | |
| is incoherent | |
| is undeveloped | |