iRubric: Narrative with an Epiphany rubric

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Narrative with an Epiphany

Guidelines for scoring a narrative with an epiphany, based on the model of Annie Dillard's essay, "Living Like Weasels." Write your second or third or fourth draft of this assignment where you are to capture a moment in life during which you learned a huge life lesson. The epiphany is the moment you understood the importance and the meaning of this lesson.

Rubric Code: A33638

By snowqueen

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Public Rubric

Subject: English

Type: Writing

Grade Levels: 9-12, Undergraduate

Narrative with an Epiphany Enter rubric description
	Excellent 15 pts	Good 13 pts	Fair 11 pts	Poor 6 pts
Introduction Is the setting established and the beginning of the narrative intriguing?	Excellent The reader is hooked and can't wait to keep reading; The reader has a question that has to be answered or is looking forward to finding out what will happen; intriguing.	Good The reader is looking forward to reading the story; the reader is left with questions or wants to know what will happen; interesting.	Fair The reader has a slight interest in reading the story and is questioning what will happen later in the story.	Poor The reader unwillingly reads beyond the introduction; coming events are very predictable.
Setting The time and place are described with sensory details.	Excellent The reader feels he is present in the time and place of the story; descriptive imagery appeals to the reader's five senses.	Good The reader feels he is present in the time or place of the story; descriptive imagery appeals to at least three of the senses	Fair The reader gets a sense of time and place, though vague. The writer attempts descriptive language that appeals to two or more senses	Poor The reader must guess the time and place of the setting; the writer uses little descriptive language by over-using trite adjectives.
Logical Order of Plot Is the pattern of development appropriate for the writer's purpose and the readers' needs?	Excellent The writer effectively develops all elements of the plot; conflicts are believable, appropriate and complicated and resolved in an unique fashion; events are realistic in the context of the story. The conclusion may hold an implicit thesis in the epiphany.	Good The writer develops all elements of the plot (character, action, conflict, rising action, climax, denoument); events, though not necessarily realistic in life, are described in a believable way.	Fair Most of the plot is presented in a logical order, and readers should have little trouble following the plot. Conflicts are somewhat believable but are missing some explanation.	Poor One or more elements of the plot are developed; very vague description of the action (bland choice of adjectives and verbs); events are weak considering they ought to lead to an "a-HA!" realization or lesson in life.
Transitions Are transitions provided where needed but not overused?	Excellent Transitions are present and effectively direct readers from one example to the next. They exhibit sophistication on the part of the writer. The writer uses appropriate transitional phrases depicting either movement of the plot or recognition of the epiphany.	Good Transitions are present and direct readers from one example to the next though not to the level of excellent. They may be basic and/or confusing.	Fair Transitions are present but do not effectively direct readers from one example to the next. They may be basic and/or confusing.	Poor Transitions are not present or do not effectively direct readers from one example to the next.
Character The main character is extraordinary or memorable.	Excellent A sense of voice or style or uniqueness inundates the description of the main character. Character flaws are believable and contribute to a conflict in the story. Character is extremely dynamic and changes as a result of the epiphany.	Good The main character is unique and impacts the reader; character's flaw(s) are mostly believable and contribute to moving the story along. The character is dynamic and changes as a result of the plot.	Fair The main character is ordinary with character flaw(s) that are trite or that weakly contribute to the storyline. The character makes few changes throught the story. Dialogue may be used, but does not contribute to the character.	Poor The main character is predictable; though character flaw(s) exist, they are stereotypical. The character is static; dialoge is sporadically used, if at all.
Grammar/Mechanics/Fluency Does paper indicate that writer has control of the rules of grammar and mechanics, and can adjust sentence fluency to control the reader's cadence?	Excellent Mechanics and grammar are accurate throughout; errors are so few that the reader can easily overlook them. Sentence fragments are obviously intentional for effect. There is an excellent mixture of varied and complex sentence patterns. This writer plays with language.	Good The writer has a good control of mechanical and grammatical usage with few errors that do not interfere with communication. There is an effective use of sentence structure with varied sentence patterns. It is easy to read and has natural phrasing.	Fair Though mechanical and grammatica errors do not interfere with communication, moderate editing is needed. There exist an adequate use of sentence structure and an experimenting with sentence lengths and beginnings.	Poor Mechanical and grammatical and spelling errors flood the narrative. There is a weak use of sentence structure. Sentence patterns are predictable. Run-ons and fragments greatly interfere with communication.
Word Usage Does writer use vocabulary appropriate to the assignment?	Excellent Word usage is appropriate for the essay and reflects sophistication on the part of the writer. Diction is sophisticated, using mature word selection to describe the relationship between characters or the epiphany. Syntax indicates a variety of sentence types. The diction adds tremendously to the voice of this writer.	Good The vocabulary is age-appropriate, but the writer may take risks, playing with word choice. The phrasing is somewhat original, with energetic verbs and/or memorable phrases. The language is beginning to sound colorful and natural throughout.	Fair Slang and less mature vocabulary debase the communication of this story. There lacks creative language.	Poor There is little use of grade-level vocabulary. Diction, phrases, and common descriptors (adjectives and adverbs) blunt any force of the story.

Subjects:

English

Types:

Writing

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