Department of American Studies Marking Criteria
Marks of 70% or over Class I
These assignments will be of a first-class standard. Students will have read widely around the topic and will show a thorough understanding and appreciation of the material. There will be evidence of original and critical thought. Assignments in this band will be exciting to read; they should stand out from most of the others. Students may have taken a risk to make an unusual point or to challenge some accepted position, though they must be able to support their argument with appropriate evidence or reasons. An essay or similar work will have a clear structure, be well presented, in appropriate academic English, with proper referencing.
Assignments in this band will show flair, maturity and confidence.
AA++ 1st (80%) This is publishable or near-publishable work. Such a high grade is awarded only in rare cases.
A+ 1st (75-79) The exceptional quality is likely to lie in the degree of conceptual sophistication and interpretative originality, over and above the qualities identified in the 70-74% category.
A.
1st (70-74) A first-class answer displaying an argument of substance, mature understanding and effective organisation of material, drawn from a wide range of sources.
Clearly expressed.
Marks between 60% and 69% Class IIi
These assignments will be of an upper second-class standard. Students should have read a diversity of material from the reading list and should show a clear understanding of the issues raised by their reading. All important material on the topic should be covered in the exercise, and the exercise should be well structured, clearly written and well presented. The exercise should show that the student has thought about the topic and has not simply reproduced standard arguments or evidence from major sources. Particularly in marks at the higher end of this band, assignments will show confidence in handling complex material. The exercise should contain no significant errors of understanding or interpretation. The standard of
English should be good, clear and coherent. An essay or similar work will have proper citations and a correct list of references. At this level the student should seem at ease in handling empirical data and/or theoretical ideas, as appropriate, and will display qualities of thoroughness, conscientiousness and insight.
B+ 2/1 (65-69). Shows a very good grasp of the intellectual skills required to handle the question, notably analytical and conceptual skills, based upon wide reading. Answers in this band often engage intellectually with a question rather than simply reacting to it and so interpretation rather than simply exposition is in evidence and there should not be any doubt that the mechanics of essay-writing have been fully grasped.
B 2/1 (60-64) This answer develops a logical argument with perception, expository skill, balance, and a degree of insight which lifts it above the sound and competent level which, in general, characterises a 2/2 answer. In some cases particular strengths (e.g. in close analysis) might not be matched by other aspects of essay-writing (e.g. the ability to handle concepts or breadth of reading). But tutors are looking for evidence of at least some of the qualities mentioned in this and the categories above which allow the award of a 2/1.
Marks between 50% and 59% Class IIii
These essays or exams will be of lower second-class standard. Submissions will show evidence that the student has read the basic material for the topic and has a reasonable understanding of it. There may be some signs of weakness, such as a mild confusion about a complicated issue or argument, or a not-too-serious misinterpretation of some evidence, provided the overall grasp of the topic is sound. The exercise should be reasonably well structured and the material should be coherently presented. The students should have avoided heavy reliance on any one source, unless this is in the nature of the topic.

Assignments marked in this band either will be reasonably competent but somewhat predictable and lacking in liveliness, or will show signs of an attempt at originality which is nevertheless insufficiently grounded in a thorough appreciation of the material. The standard of English should be competent; problems in spelling, grammar or vocabulary may be tolerated provided they do not produce unintelligibility.
C+ 2/2 (55-59) Displays a combination of most of the following qualities: good knowledge and an ability to synthesise, evidence of reading beyond the basic requirements, relevance to the question, competent use of perhaps unremarkable or standard material, and a sense of critical judgement but without the degree of intellectual insight for which higher marks are given. The key adjectives used to describe performance at this level tend to be "good",
"competent", "sound".
C 2/2 (50-54) Displays a satisfactory level of relevance and knowledge, but often weakened by certain shortcomings: grammatical errors, loose or wordy expression, a lack of focus, lapses in logic or organisation etc. Work may also be graded between 50 and 54 if it does not demonstrate sufficient effort or interest (e.g. using only the most obvious sources & resorting to paraphrase).
Marks between 40% and 49% Class III
These assignments will be of third-class standard. They will be substantially below average.
Students may well have done only basic reading, and may show little appreciation of the subtlety or complexity of issues, or of different interpretations which might be drawn from particular evidence. The exercise will indicate a very basic understanding of the topic, but will not have gone beyond this, and there may well be signs of confusion about more complex material. The standard of English may leave something to be desired, but the exercise should make sense and show some sign of structure and organization. An essay or similar work should be properly referenced, but may show quite heavy reliance on one or two sources.
D+ 3 rd (45-49) Distinct lapses in content, organisation or style which damage more favourable aspects of the work (e.g. accumulation of information or occasional insights).
Conversely, effort and enthusiasm could be lacking even though there is a grasp of the basics of essay-writing.
D 3 rd (40-45) Answers which receive a bare pass include the mainly descriptive answer which may show some implicit relevance or a relevant answer but based upon superficial knowledge. The answer may ramble and lack organisation; writing standards may fall short of reasonable expectations; and, at the lower end, the tutor will at least be considering a fail.
Marks below 40%
These assignments will be either of non-honours-pass standard (30% to 39%) or below degree standard (below 30%). Assignments in this band will probably be excessively short, or jumbled, or very heavily derivative. Students will show little evidence of much reading
(perhaps a dip into a textbook plus a few odd snippets picked up from a lecture or from old Alevel notes). There may be no clear argument, or an attempted argument may not be substantiated by appeal to evidence or sources. The standard of English may be weak. Many significant elements of the topic will have been neglected, and there will be scarcely any appreciation of complexity or subtlety. Work marked below 30% will show little or no understanding of the relevant course material.
F Fail (below 39) Some knowledge may be shown but the development of a coherent argument is obscured by faulty logic, poor expression, frequent mechanical errors and a lack of any discernible principle of organisation. Papers which fail bear virtually no relevance to the topic and any pertinent points will appear to have been stumbled upon by accident. Answers at the lower end of the range will display no understanding and will be fragmentary and possibly very short.