Indicators

Exemplary Achievement

Competent Achievement

Moderate Achievement

CONTENT

Students effectively convey accurate and relevant content information with support for opinion and insightful analysis

• Thesis is insightful, specific, and unique and clearly answers question

• Thesis is clear and concise, makes sense and addresses question

• Thesis is unclear, not debatable, or does not address question

• Argument is developed in a compelling and logical manner

• Argument is developed in a logical manner

• Argument is awkward or inconsistent

• Evidence is accurate, relevant, and detailed; effectively uses a variety of primary source quotes

• Evidence is accurate, reliable and fairly detailed; includes quotes from primary sources

• Evidence is unreliable, irrelevant, or not detailed; does not include enough quotes from primary sources

• Analysis of evidence is clear, detailed and insightful; artfully furthers argument

• Analysis is logical and based on reliable evidence and clearly connects evidence to thesis

• Analysis is insufficient, awkward, or not based on evidence; doesn’t clearly connect evidence to thesis

• Essay demonstrates insightful understanding of three revolutions

• Essay shows clear understanding of revolutions

• Essay shows basic or surface understanding of revolutions

PRESENTATION

Students write eloquent and logically-structured essays with grammatical correctness and proper mechanics; pride in work is evident in final product

• Language is eloquent, persuasive, and concise and demonstrates exceptional understanding of voice and audience

• Language is clear and organized, demonstrates good understanding of voice and audience

• Language is understandable, but lacks clarity and precision or understanding of appropriate voice or audience

• Introduction and conclusion are effective, insightful, original and thought-provoking

• Introduction and conclusion are effective but may lack originality and/or depth of thought

• Introduction and conclusion are simple and undeveloped

• Paragraph structure is excellent throughout

• Paragraphs consistently use topic sentences, detailed evidence, and analysis to support thesis

• Paragraphs are poorly structured; may lack topic sentences, sufficient evidence or analysis to support thesis

• Mechanics: Extreme care is taken in spelling, punctuation, and grammar

• Mechanics: Few errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar

• Mechanics: Errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar are distracting

PROCESS

Students demonstrate a thorough approach to their process with thoughtful, critical thinking

• Quotes from a variety of sources are artfully integrated; citations are properly formatted

• Quotes from a variety of sources are included; citations are properly formatted

• Insufficient quotes are included; citations are not properly formatted or not included

• Works cited page is complete and properly formatted

• Works cited page is included and properly formatted

• Works cited page is improperly formatted or not included

• Writing and revision process is carefully documented with brainstorm, outline, and revision

• Writing and revision process is demonstrated with brainstorm, outline, and revision

• Writing and revision process is superficially demonstrated