Essay Strip - Explanation - 1/9/2005
The
Essay Strip - Front
To the right is the front side of the strip that I attach to each formal essay that I grade. This is called a "rubric." As you can see, it is quite specific as to what I grade. I have broken the elements of writing a good historical essay into segments (each line) that make sense to me. I have also grouped similar segments of writing into stylistic categories such as "Title & Intro Paragraph" and "Body Structure." The numbers next to each line are the amount of points you can earn for properly doing each aspect of writing.
You will also notice on the front of the essay strip that I have boxes next to each section. These boxes are used to total all of the circled items in each of the sections. So, the higher the numbers circled and the more points in each box, the better.
The section called "Bonuses" is exactly that: bonus points that you can earn for being a stylish writer. One of the "problems" I noticed when I started using this rubric is that I was giving great grades to unexciting but well-structured papers. This is not really bad, but it does mean that writers who also have flair were not getting the benefit they deserved. So, the bonuses can add to your grade. If you are a good, safe writer, you'll get a solid grade. If you are stylish but failing in structure, you'll get some make-up points for style. If you are a proper AND stylish writer, you can find yourself earning over 100%!
The total grade is at the bottom right of the strip. This grade adds up all the positive points from the front of the strip and subtracts all the negative points from the back. I grade essays harder than any other assignment, so don't think of your grade in the standard "90% and higher is an A, etc." manner. If you clear 60 out of one hundred points, you have done a passable job. If you clear 80 you're doing quite well. You might also want to see what you got just on the front of the strip to see what grade you got before grammar hurt you. More than a few students are good thinkers, but poor spellers and sentence-writers. Whatever your grade, please study the points to see how exactly you earned it. That way you can fix those problematic sections before the next essay.
The
Essay Strip - Back
The back of the essay strip works much the same as the front. The letters in squares (such as SP for spelling) following some of the lines are how I will make the errors on your paper.
One of the interesting differences is the "Grammar - You get one point per..." part. What this is is a way for me to use the same strip for multiple levels of students and multiple lengths of papers. If you write five pages, you should be allowed a few more typos before your grade starts to fall. Similarly, sophomore regular classes shouldn't be graded the same way as a senior honors class. I usually give two points per page to sophomore regular students. This means that you can make six points worth of grammar mistakes on a 750 world (three page) paper before they start to actually hit your grade. For seniors, especially senior honors, I generally give only one or two points total. Depending on the number of years a student has spoken English, special eduction status, and other aspects of a student's life, I might give more or less points per page.
The various lines and sections work similarly to the front. Here, however, I simply circle one of the numbers every time you make one of the mistakes. As you can see, the first number next to each line is usually -.5, meaning that making a mistake just once accounts for less than 1% of your grade. If you consistently make the same mistake, however, the losses mount. Kindly, I have only included a few numbers next to each possible mistake. Thus, you won't get killed if you make one mistake repeatedly, but no others.
The only two lines that are curiously worked are the "each missing comma" line and the "slang or swearing" line. For the commas, I try not to count more than two of the same sort of missing comma. In other words, if all you miss are conjunction commas, you'll only see two circles, even if you miss a hundred conjunction commas. On the slang and swearing issue, I circle what seems appropriate. If you are slangy (words that are too conversational and unprofessional), you'll get hit for -.5. If you flat-out swear, I'll circle -5 immediately (if I don't just return the paper to you with a zero grade).
A further odd little point of the back of the strip is the handwritten sub total. This number tells you how much your grammar, spelling, and format subtracted from the good points you got on the front of the strip. I know that it's a bit depressing to write a smart essay and then see your grade hurt by so-called technicalities. Still, it is better to know now, while you still have time to fix it, than later, when there will not be some crazy bald guy willing to spend 20 minutes reading your essay and telling you exactly what is up with your writing. If you want to be taken seriously as a writer, or get a job where you will be expected to write basic reports or something, you had better be able to spell and write in complete sentences or you'll end up doing some pretty sketchy work and being ignored.
Link to a Word document version of the strip