An adequate essay will attain the grade of "C"

It should demonstrate the following:

1) Knowledge of a draft-and-revise writing process that incorporates ideas from in-class writing, peer
commentary, and my own commentary into a longer essay.

2) The ability to use the academic essay format with an arguable thesis, focused and well-organized
paragraphs, supporting examples, and an intellectual conclusion.

3) Knowledge of how to describe, analyze, and use evidence from primary, secondary, and outside texts
to build an argument sufficient to creating an essay that meets the page count requirement noted on the
syllabus.

4) Effective negotiation of the skills noted in The 5 Paragraph Essay Format, as well as the course syllabus, assignment prompts, etc.
 

"A" papers will demonstrate:

All of the above and have significantly more complex ideas, examples that are analyzed more thoroughly,
and sentences that are interesting as well as correct.
 

"B" papers contain:

A mixture of the particulars describing "A" and "C"

"D" and "F" papers:

Papers that do not demonstrate most of the above or which are hampered by a high degree of sentence
error will be graded in the "D-F" range.

Also part of the rubric:

It is also my expectation that, as the semester evolves, you will become more astute readers, and
more highly skilled writers of academic prose. As such, I expect your writing skills and your
analytical skills to progress from one major project to the next.

I will assist you in identifying your writing strengths, as well as the aspects of your writing that will
negatively impact your grade in this class and in upper division classes.

Your grade on a particular writing assignment might be higher, lower, or comparable to a previous
assignment, depending on the degree of progess you demonstrate.

Overall, I expect you your writing, theses, and analyses to reflect careful thought and execution.

Avoid the use of first-person except when using phrases such as: "I will argue..." or "I suggest."

Avoid the use of second-person at all times.

No student is expected to completely resolve every aspect of their writing that evinces a lesser strength, but you are expected
to focus on the issues I identify and demonstrate progress in resolving them.

You should also review my policy on avoiding the use of gender-specific language.

All the criteria listed above apply to all course work, not just the major projects.