iRubric: Compare/Contrast Essay rubric

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Compare/Contrast Essay

Compare/Contrast essay scoring rubric

Rubric Code: H9AWX8

By cdeluz

Ready to use

Public Rubric

Subject: English

Type: Writing

Grade Levels: 9-12

Criteria Comparison-Contrast Essay
	Excellent 4 pts	Good 3 pts	Emerging 2 pts	Does Not Meet Expectation 1 pts
Hook Did the writer grab the reader's attention?	Excellent The writer used a hook that was creative, interesting and relevant to the topic.	Good Null	Emerging Null	Does Not Meet Expectation The essay does not contain a hook.
MLA Stylistic Elements Did the student correctly format the final draft of the essay?	Excellent The paper was typed, doubled-spaced, used Times New Roman font (12 pt.), and contained no bullets/numbers or abbreviations or contractions. The title is an appropriate choice for the topic and centered beneath the heading. The heading is correctly formatted. Citations are correctly formatted and included.	Good The paper is missing one stylistic element. Citations are not included.	Emerging The paper is missing two stylistic elements. Citations are not included.	Does Not Meet Expectation No attention was paid to the stylistic requirements for this paper. Citations are not included.
Thesis Statement Is a purpose for the comparison - contrast made clear?	Excellent Very well developed introduction and thesis statement. They engage the reader and create interest. They cover both subjects and the author's point for the comparison or the contrast.	Good Introduction and thesis statement create interest and are fairly well developed. But while they cover both subjects,<BR> they are not very engaging.	Emerging Introduction and thesis statement introduce the subjects for comparison or contrast, but they either do not give accurate and complete information, or they do not emphasize the author's point for the comparison or contrast.	Does Not Meet Expectation Introduction and thesis statement do not introduce both subjects for comparison or contrast, or they may not be a complete sentence. No controlling point about the subjects is evident.
Overall Organization Does the essay break the information into the whole-to-whole (bl0ck), similarities-to-differences, or point-by-point structure?	Excellent The details are in a clear effective order and the author sticks to one pattern: whole-to-whole, similarities-to-differences or point-by point. Both subjects are covered vividly and given about the same amount of space.	Good The details are in a clear order and the author sticks to one pattern. Both subjects are given roughly the same space.	Emerging The details are in a discernible order, but the author does not stick to one pattern in the essay, or the details do not adequately support the author's controlling point.	Does Not Meet Expectation No discernible organization. Details are either missing or not in any discernible order.
Writing Style Is the writing coherent? Is the sentence structure intact and varied?	Excellent Writing is smooth, skillful, and coherent. Sentences are strong and expressive with varied structure. Consistent and appropriate tone and word choice is used throughout the essay.	Good Writing is clear and sentences have varied structure. There is consistent tone and word choice. There may be one or two run-ons or fragments.	Emerging Writing is clear, but sentences may lack variety. The tone is inconsistent and word choice, while adequate, could be better. There may be two or three run-ons or fragments.	Does Not Meet Expectation Writing is confusing and hard to follow. Contains numerous fragments and/or run-on sentences. The tone and purpose is inconsistent and difficult to determine. There are many run-ons and fragments.
Descriptive Language Does the essay contain vividly descriptive language?	Excellent Uses vividly descriptive language that is precise, engaging, and sophisticated. The choice and placement of the words seems accurate, natural and not forced.	Good Uses descriptive language that is original and somewhat precise, but occasionally the words are used inaccurately or seem overdone.	Emerging Uses appropriate language, but the writing lacks variety, punch or flair.	Does Not Meet Expectation Relies on very basic vocabulary that is imprecise or incoherent.
Transitions Are transitions used where needed?	Excellent Transitions are present and effectively direct the reader from point to point and depict comparison and contrast effectively.	Good Transitions are present and direct the reader from point to point though not to the level of excellence. They do not always depict comparison and/or contrast.	Emerging Transitions are present but do not effectively direct the reader from one example to the next. They only sometimes depict comparison and/or contrast.	Does Not Meet Expectation Transitions are not present or do not effectively direct the reader from point to point or the transitions have nothing to do with comparison or contrast.
Grammar, Mechanics, & Spelling Does the essay indicate that the writer has control of the rules of grammar, spelling, capitalization, and mechanics?	Excellent There are no errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar, or mechanics.	Good There are one to three errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar, or capitalization, but they do not detract from the overall meaning and effectiveness of the essay.	Emerging The essay contains several errors which obstruct the flow of reading.	Does Not Meet Expectation The essay contains many errors, some of which make it difficult to understand the writing.

Keywords:

Compare/Contrast essay, rubric, writing components

Subjects:

English

Types:

Writing

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