English
136B: Supplement to Paper Comments
These guidelines were created for distribution
to students, as a supplement to paper comments.
In this course you should work towards improvement. Try
determining what you have done effectively and what you
could do more effectively. This outline of expectations
is Intended to help you do that.
D's
and F's still exist, but of course these are not the goal.
C
An embryonic paper: assembled parts could develop and
mature. May have some exciting ideas which are not yet
situated in a persuasive context. Achieves some basic
organization. Deals with aspects of the assigned topic.
Refers to text(s). Ideas still need developing. Connections
between ideas need sharper elaboration in order to support/create
both the thesis and a more thorough conceptual organization.
The contribution the essay wants to make to a specific
issue needs to be clearer.
B
Basic organization and analytical topic/thesis defined clearly.
References to text(s) effectively enhance the persuasiveness
of its position. The diction is generally unproblematic.
May show strong command of ideas discussed in lecture. Coherent
Texts point of view distinguished from personal point of
view. The contribution of the essay to an issue or network
of issues is clear, although the complexities and implications
of the essay's position may not be fully worked out. Or
the essay moves into the heart of these complexities very
well, but does not fully conceptualize the way out for its
reader, leaving too much of the final analysis to the reader.
Proofread for typos and grammar.
A
The essay makes a complex contribution to the problem designated
by the topic. It does not simply illustrate the topic/problem,
but shows why thinking about the issues it raises is important.
It has a specific analytical thesis which also relates to
central issues of the text(s). Does not over-rely on ideas
from lectures. It demonstrates a strong analytical synthesis
of ideas from the writer's perspective: the thesis is complex.
and the body explores implications and highlights connections.
The introduction, generally speaking, sets the limits of
the paper's concerns and the conclusion draws the paper
together without reducing the ideas of the body. Rhetorical
strategies, for example: effective transitions, illustrations,
analytical use of sources, bold formulations of issues,
creative appropriation of the topic. Unproblematic diction.
Interesting. Doesn't just work up to complexity by the end,
but introduces it in the beginning and lives up to that
complexity throughout the body. Persuasive because it builds
in defenses against possible critiques. Proofread for typos
and grammar. General impression of seamlessness.
