iRubric: English 110 Diagnostic Essay rubric

Lacks a clear thesis or focus. Fails to make an argument or states the obvious.

Restates ideas found in the essay or essay prompt. Adds no new thoughts, insights, or feelings to the subject.

May have focus, but lacks a clear statement of thesis/argument.
Argument is occasionally forgotten or abandoned, or have a split thesis.

The essay feels fairly well-executed but boring and uninteresting. Vagueness and repetition are often two problems here.

Has explicit thesis and/or focus, but the thesis wording or topic sentences may need to be tweaked for clarity and argument.

Essay is largely fun to read, because of a catchy title, thesis or topic sentences, but originality fades at different points.

Clear thesis and focus, with no straying away from the main point. Thesis is articulate and elegant in its wording. Thesis is creative and interesting in its approach to the subject.

The essay presents a fresh interpretation of the idea. The essay is convincing and fun to read.

Fails to stay on topic; main points are unrelated to each other and stray from the argument. Missing introduction and conclusion. Missing clear organizational pattern.

No consideration of opposition/counterarguments.

May be somewhat organized, but the pattern isn't clear. The essay lacks transitions, and the connections between main points may be missing. Introduction and conclusion paragraphs are skeletal (2-3 sentences only).

Counterarguments are mentioned only briefly, but not refute or considered.

Clear organization, but better transitions needed to increase fluidity and cohesion of points. Has an introduction and conclusion, but these could be more interesting.

Essay may consider the opposition, but does not do enough to refute counterarguments.

Fluid organization. Essay as a whole is well organized and body paragraphs are also cogently organized to prove the argument. Has an interesting and engaging introduction and conclusion paragraph.

Considers and refutes opposition/counterarguments in a thoughtful and articulate manner.

Difficult to read due to severe grammar errors, stylistic problems and/or errors in format.

Some grammatical errords or stylistic problems. Often has one dominant, repeated grammatical error that obscures readability.

Minimal styilstic or grammatical errors. May need work primarily on citation and format.

Minimal errors in grammar and citaion. Limited to 1-2 per page.