iRubric: Rhetorical Analysis rubric

These essays demonstrate minimal understanding of the topic or the passage.

These essays are weaker because the writer overlooks or perhaps misreads important ideas in the passage.

Essays that earn a average score complete the essay task, but with no special insights; the analysis lacks depth and merely states the obvious. Frequently, the ideas are predictable and the paragraph development weak. Although the writing conveys the writer's ideas, they are presented simplistically and often contain lapses in diction or syntax.

Above average essays complete the tasks of the essay topic well - they show some insight but usually with less precision and clarity than high-scoring essays.

Excelling essays thoroughly address all the tasks of the essay prompt in well-organized responses. Overall, high-scoring essays present thoroughly developed, intelligent ideas; sound and logical organization; strong evidence; and articulate diction.

Stylistically, these essays may show consistent grammatical problems, and sentence structure is usually simple and unimaginative.

Although the writer's ideas are generally understandable, the control of language is often immature.

Although the writing conveys the writer's ideas, they are presented simplistically and often contain lapses in diction or syntax.

Presents thoroughly developed, intelligent ideas; sound and logical organization; strong evidence; and articulate diction.

Overall, high-scoring essays present thoroughly developed, intelligent ideas; sound and logical organization; strong evidence; and articulate diction.