GRADING RUBRIC FOR GRADUATE PAPERS
Michael Gorman, CUA, May 2012
Points Grade A likely description of your paper
100000
A
one of the best pieces of philosophical writing ever
10000
A
one of the best pieces of philosophical writing in the last few centuries
5000
A
one of the best pieces of philosophical writing in the last century or so
1500
A
deserves to be re-published in an anthology with a title like Gems of Early 21stCentury Philosophy
625
A
deserves to be re-published an anthology of recent papers on its subject matter
300
A
could be published in an excellent journal with little revision
150
A
could, with a lot of work, be published in an excellent journal
80
A
could be published in a respectable journal with little revision
40
A
could, with a lot of work, be published in a respectable journal
20
A
well written, accurate about others’ views, thoughtful, insightful—analysis extensive
and successful enough that even someone who had already read and thought about
the texts you are considering could learn something from your paper—he’d want to
retain a copy for future reference
10
A
well written, accurate about others’ views, thoughtful, insightful—analysis extensive
and successful enough that even someone who had already read and thought about
the texts you are considering could learn something from your paper
9
A-
more-than-trivial, but still relatively minor problems with
 writing
 accuracy about others’ views, or
 philosophical engagement
8
B+
somewhat graver problems, or more widespread problems, with
 writing
 accuracy about others’ views
 philosophical engagement
7
B
marred by very real problems, with not much to compensate for them;
not doctoral-level work
6
B-
marred by extremely serious problems, with little or nothing to compensate for them;
questionable whether this is graduate-level work
5
C
not acceptable as graduate-level work
4
F
not acceptable as upper-level undergraduate work
3
F
not acceptable as college freshman work
2
F
not acceptable as high school work
1
F
Wovon man nichts nettes sagen kann, davon soll man schweigen.
Good writing is…
--grammatically flawless or very nearly so
--clear and uncluttered
--vigorous and engaging (not the same as pompous and show-offy)
A good interpretation of others’ views…
--is accurate
--explains as opposed to merely paraphrases: it sets out now merely what others say, but also what they mean
A paper that’s philosophical is marked by…
--conceptual clarity
--good arguments
--penetrating analysis that really comes up with something interesting (which means that the paper likely has
a fairly narrow focus on one particular issue)
--the revelation of something non-obvious, interesting, illuminating, i.e., something that wouldn’t readily
occur to someone who had read the texts you are discussing