ARGUMENTATIVE (CLAIM) ESSAY SCORING GUIDE
Meeting:
* Argument is communicated clearly and strongly maintained
* Consistently focused
* Clear and completely organized
* Clear thesis statement
* Opposing views are clearly addressed
* Effective introduction & conclusion for audience and purpose
* Logical progression of ideas from beginning to end
* Variety of transitions
* Strong connections among ideas with some word choice variety
* Each point of the argument is clearly supported with evidence
* Effective use of sources, facts, details
* Evidence from sources is relevant and text based
* Clearly & effectively expresses ideas, using precise language
* Specific source (text based) vocabulary is used
* Appropriate for audience and purpose
Developing:
* Generally focused
* Argument is clear, mostly maintained, may have some loosely related material
* Opposing views are started, but not supported
* Organizational structure is there, but has minor flaws
* Transitions, but with little variety
* Acceptable progression of ideas from beginning to end
* Adequate introduction & conclusion
* Slightly inconsistent connection among ideas with limited word choice variety
* Evidence is used to support the writer’s argument
* Uses sources, facts, details
* Some evidence from sources is relevant and text based
* Some points of the argument are supported with evidence
* Adequately expresses ideas with mix of specific and general language
* Text based vocabulary is sometimes used
* Appropriate for audience and purpose
Not Developed:
* Somewhat focused, may have minor drift in focus
* Has a topic sentence, not a thesis statement
* Details are not convincing
* Opposing views are unclear & somewhat unfocused
* Inconsistent organization; flaws are evident
* Inconsistent use of transitions; little variety
* Uneven progression of ideas from beginning to end
* Weak introduction & conclusion
* Weak connection among ideas with no word choice variety
* Limited evidence is used to support the writer’s argument
* Some evidence is used, but does NOT support the argument
* Source evidence is weak
* Little evidence from sources is relevant or text based
* Uses simplistic language
* Limited use of text based vocabulary
* Inappropriate for the audience and purpose
No Evidence:
* Clearly not on topic
* Very brief
* Opposing views are confusing or not included
* Little or no structure
* Few or no transitions
* Introduction and/or conclusion is not present
* No connection of ideas
* Evidence is off topic or not relevant
* Ideas are vague, lacks clarity or is confusing
* Uses limited variety of language
* Little sense of audience and purpose.
Meeting:
* Argument is communicated clearly and strongly maintained
* Consistently focused
* Clear and completely organized
* Clear thesis statement
* Opposing views are clearly addressed
* Effective introduction & conclusion for audience and purpose
* Logical progression of ideas from beginning to end
* Variety of transitions
* Strong connections among ideas with some word choice variety
* Each point of the argument is clearly supported with evidence
* Effective use of sources, facts, details
* Evidence from sources is relevant and text based
* Clearly & effectively expresses ideas, using precise language
* Specific source (text based) vocabulary is used
* Appropriate for audience and purpose
Developing:
* Generally focused
* Argument is clear, mostly maintained, may have some loosely related material
* Opposing views are started, but not supported
* Organizational structure is there, but has minor flaws
* Transitions, but with little variety
* Acceptable progression of ideas from beginning to end
* Adequate introduction & conclusion
* Slightly inconsistent connection among ideas with limited word choice variety
* Evidence is used to support the writer’s argument
* Uses sources, facts, details
* Some evidence from sources is relevant and text based
* Some points of the argument are supported with evidence
* Adequately expresses ideas with mix of specific and general language
* Text based vocabulary is sometimes used
* Appropriate for audience and purpose
Not Developed:
* Somewhat focused, may have minor drift in focus
* Has a topic sentence, not a thesis statement
* Details are not convincing
* Opposing views are unclear & somewhat unfocused
* Inconsistent organization; flaws are evident
* Inconsistent use of transitions; little variety
* Uneven progression of ideas from beginning to end
* Weak introduction & conclusion
* Weak connection among ideas with no word choice variety
* Limited evidence is used to support the writer’s argument
* Some evidence is used, but does NOT support the argument
* Source evidence is weak
* Little evidence from sources is relevant or text based
* Uses simplistic language
* Limited use of text based vocabulary
* Inappropriate for the audience and purpose
No Evidence:
* Clearly not on topic
* Very brief
* Opposing views are confusing or not included
* Little or no structure
* Few or no transitions
* Introduction and/or conclusion is not present
* No connection of ideas
* Evidence is off topic or not relevant
* Ideas are vague, lacks clarity or is confusing
* Uses limited variety of language
* Little sense of audience and purpose.