ENGLISH COMPOSITION: A Guide to the Possible Dream PART I: Policies & Procedures PART II: Course Descriptions PART III: Library Information PART IV: Evaluation of Compositions

EVALUATION OF ENG  071 ESSAYS View a sample of:  A SUPERIOR ESSAY  |  AN ADEQUATE ESSAY  |  AN INADEQUATE ESSAY Each ENG 071 student chooses a topic from a list provided by the instructor and then, during a scheduled time at the end of the semester, plans, drafts, and completes a multiple-paragraph essay, using the writing skills studied during the semester.  The topics were developed by a committee of ENG 071 instructors. These sample final exam essays were written by ENG 071 students. They have not been changed in any way. The first essay is superior, and the second is adequate. Both of these essays allowed the students to enter ENG 101. The last two essays do not meet the criteria in the ENG 071 scoring guide.

"A," "B," and "C" papers meet the following criteria.

1. These papers clearly address the topic.
2. These papers have a separate introduction that includes a focused thesis sentence.
3. These papers have three to five support paragraphs.
1. Each paragraph has a topic sentence, support sentences, and a concluding sentence.
2. Each paragraph is unified.
4. These papers have a separate concluding paragraph.
5. These papers have few or no sentence-structure errors.
6. These papers are approximately four hundred words in length.
7. These papers have transitions between and within paragraphs.
8. These papers include sentence variety.
9. These papers contain few mechanical errors.
1. These papers maintain a consistent point of view.
2. These papers maintain a consistent verb tense.
3. These papers have few punctuation errors.
4. These papers have few other mechanical errors.
An "A" paper (superior) will exhibit all of the criteria listed in 1 through 9.

 A "B" paper will meet all the criteria of 1 through 4 and will meet the criteria of 5 through 9 but with less proficiency than"A" papers.

 A "C" paper (adequate) will attempt to meet the criteria for 1 through 4 but without the depth shown "A" and "B" papers. It will meet the criteria listed in 5 through 9 with some minor weaknesses.

 A "D" or "F" paper (inadequate) will exhibit the following criteria:

1. These papers may not address the topic.
2. These papers may have a separate introduction, but the introduction lacks coherence and an organized, focused thesis sentence.
3. These papers lack adequate support paragraphs.
1. Paragraphs may lack topic sentences, sufficient support sentences, and a concluding sentence.
2. Support paragraphs may not be unified.
4. These papers may have a separate concluding paragraph but usually do little more than repeat the thesis sentence.
5. These papers may contain several major sentence-structure errors.
6. These papers will be shorter than the four-hundred word limit.
7. These papers have few or no transitions between and within paragraphs.
8. These papers may contain little sentence variety.
9. These papers contain distracting mechanical errors.
10. These papers may lack consistent point of view.
11. These papers may lack consistent verb tense.
12. These papers may have many punctuation errors.
13. These papers may have other mechanical errors.