Clear organization, purpose, and focus on the dominant idea or point of view.
Coherent and logical development of ideas.
Concrete and appropriate diction (word choice) and relevant supporting evidence for ideas and generalizations.
Mature sentences in well-developed paragraphs.
Some originality of conception, or insight concerning topic, or use of an effective rhetorical plan for
developing the topic.
Positive Qualities of Good Papers ("B")
Clear organization, purpose, and focus on dominant ideas or point of view.
Coherent, logical, and reasonable specific development of ideas.
Use of some concrete examples and relevant supporting evidence for ideas and generalizations.
Some variety and logical subordination in sentence structure and reasonably well-developed paragraphs.
Positive Qualities of Average Papers ("C")
Clear purpose and reasonable sense of organized plan or pattern to the idea.
Coherent development of the general ideas with some concrete examples.
Sentence structure and paragraph development adequate to convey the development.
Reasonably free of minor and most mechanical errors.
Weaknesses of Inferior or Failing Papers (Unacceptable)
Weak or clouded sense of orderly development of ideas usually caused by lack of clear thesis idea,
organized pattern, or coherently related ideas.
Some sense of development but often incomplete because of the overuse of generalizations, lack of
unity caused by digressions or moving off on a tangent, and confused relationship of example and idea.
Sentence structure and paragraph development usually weak or too awkwardly phrased to sustain the ideas.
The following procedure is useful for in-class writing. Use those items that apply to the specific
circumstances of any in-class writing you are assigned.
Choose your topic.
If a specific topic is not assigned, often a choice of topics is presented.
Remember that most topics usually have some leeway in them.
Choose the topic that you relate to in some way and that you have enough information
on to write about in the time period allowed.
Make a list.
Write a list of from three to ten items that come to mind about the topic you have chosen.
This should be a free association of ideas relating to your topic.
Organize the list.
Rearrange the list according to related ideas, grouping the items accordingly.
If you have any orphaned items or items that do not seem to fit, eliminate them from the list.
You are looking for those items that directly relate to your topic, not items that are tangential
to your topic.
Organize the list again.
This time you should organize the list in the best order for presentation in your essay.
Look for some natural order in what is left of your list. If no natural order presents itself,
use some order which is easy to impose--most important to least important, least important to
most important, top to bottom, left to right, etc. To this point, you should not have taken more
than three to five minutes of your writing period to organize your thoughts and make use of them.
Write the essay.
Use the list you have written and follow it closely. Mention the points on the list in the order
they are written. The best results are usually achieved by holding to this list and filling it out with
concrete details and specific examples as much as possible. Usually, time will not allow expansion of
your list, but if something occurs while writing your essay which will enhance what you write, use
it if it fits in with your list in some way. If possible use every other line to write your essay to leave
space for last minute additions and proofreading corrections to your paper.
Proofread your essay.
Leave three to five minutes at the end of your writing period to proofread what you have written.
There will not be time to do this in detail, but look for the major concerns you can correct: verb-subject
disagreement, comma usage, misspellings, sentences with missing parts (a not left out of a sentence
can ruin an entire essay, for instance), etc. This is also the time to add last minute phrases and sentences to
your essay.
Effective student-teacher cooperation can be maintained only if you are completely honest in
all your work. You may be tempted to try to better your essay grades by having someone revise and correct
your writing before your teacher sees it, or by submitting as your own a composition written by someone else.
If you thus present papers that are not genuine evidence of your own ability, you are thwarting your teacher's
efforts to diagnose your writing problems. Bear in mind that your objective in the course is to achieve proficiency.
Such proficiency can be developed only through practice and through the development of your own ability
to critique and improve your own work.
Your teacher will accept your signature on an assignment as a pledge that the writing is truly your own.
You should not dishonor your name and signature by claiming credit for a composition that is not yours. Essentially,
plagiarism is the intentional presentation of another person's ideas or wording as one's own. The following regulations
are designed to keep you out of plagiarism trouble:
Do not fail to acknowledge the source of idea, fact, or phrase that clearly comes from an identifiable source.
Do not fail to enclose in quotation the statements, phrases, or distinctive terms of a printed source,
whether or not the source is acknowledged. Making slight changes in wording "so the passage is not
copied word-for-word" is not tolerated as a substitute for a clear indication that verbatim quotation
is being used.
Do not use another's main headings or general plan or an expansion or a synopsis of another's work unless
specifically advised to do so by your instructor.
Do not permit your work to be copied in whole or in part by another student.
Do not allow anyone other than your teacher or a teacher-authorized tutor or another student(s) in
your class, at the instructor's direction, to revise your papers at any stage in their composition.
