Junior American Literature and Composition
Category
Writing
Focus
Distinguished
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This category
reflects how
well the
student
constructs a
Rogerian
argumentcarefully
articulating
multiple sides
of an
argument, and
presenting a
compromise
position that
takes into
account both
sides.
Organization
This category
reflects how
effectively the
organization of
the essay
reinforced the
ideas.
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The writer clearly establishes the issue
being addressed
The writer carefully articulates multiple
sides of the issue.
The essay focuses clearly on building
bridges between writer and audience, and
places considerable weight on the values,
beliefs, and opinions the two share.
The essay doesn’t emphasize an "I win–
you lose" outcome as much as classical
arguments do. Rather it emphasizes a
"You win and I win too" solution, one
where negotiation and mutual respect are
valued.
Essay appropriately manages the appeals
(pathos, ethos and logos) in presenting a
convincing compromise.
The writer recognizes the audience’s
position, tries to follow the audience’s
reasoning, and acknowledges the validity
of the audience’s viewpoint.
The well-developed introduction engages
the readers and begins with the writer
exploring the common ground she or he
shares with the audience.
In the body paragraphs, the writer gives an
objective statement of her or his position.
Ideas are intentionally and effectively
sequenced, and develop a significant and
compelling compromise.
Powerful conclusion effectively wraps up
points and goes beyond restating the
introduction. In the conclusion, the writer
presents his or her thesis, usually phrased
in such a way that shows the audience that
the writer has made some concessions
toward the audience’s positions.
Effective, mature, graceful transitions exist
throughout the essay.
Unit 4 The Rhetoric of Drama
Proficient
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The writer establishes the issue being
addressed, but there are some gaps in
information.
The writer articulates multiple sides of the
issue, but one side may be more developed
than the other.
Focuses adequately on building bridges
between writer and audience, and places
weight on the values, beliefs, and opinions the
two share.
Although the essay doesn’t emphasize an "I
win–you lose" outcome as much as classical
arguments do, it does contain periodic
antagonistic moments. It usually emphasizes a
"You win and I win too" solution, but at times
gives more credit to one side.
Essay adequately manages the appeals
(pathos, ethos and logos), but at times the
appeals feel forced.
The writer sometimes recognizes the
audience’s position, tries to follow the
audience’s reasoning, and acknowledges the
validity of the audience’s viewpoint.
The introduction clearly begins with the writer
exploring the common ground she or he shares
with the audience.
In the body paragraphs, the writer gives an
objective statement of her or his position.
Ideas are intentionally sequenced, but there
are some minor lapses. The essay develops a
convincing compromise.
Conclusion adequately wraps up points and
goes beyond restating the introduction. In the
conclusion, the writer presents his or her
thesis, usually phrased in such a way that
shows the audience that the writer has made
some concessions toward the audience’s
positions.
Effective transitions exist throughout the essay
Rogerian Essay Rubric
Emerging
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The writer establishes the issue being
addressed, but there are large gaps in
information.
The writer presents multiple sides of the
issue, but one side is seriously
underdeveloped.
Focuses little on building bridges between
writer and audience, and places little weight
on the values, beliefs, and opinions the two
share.
The essay often emphasizes an "I win–you
lose" outcome, and it does contains a
number of antagonistic moments. It rarely
emphasizes a "You win and I win too"
solution, and clearly gives more credit to
one side.
Incomplete
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Essay tends to neglect the appeals (pathos,
ethos and logos), or uses them in a forced
manner.
The writer fails to establish the issue
being addressed.
The writer presents only one side of the
issue.
Does not focus building bridges
between writer and audience, and
places little or no weight on the values,
beliefs, and opinions the two share;
The essay emphasizes an "I win–you
lose" outcome, and it contains a number
of antagonistic moments. Essay clearly
gives credit only to one side.
Essay neglects the appeals (pathos,
ethos and logos).
The writer fails to recognize the
audience’s position, or follow the
audience’s reasoning.
The writer fails to recognize the audience’s
position, or fully follow the audience’s
reasoning.
The introduction does not clearly begin with
the writer exploring the common ground she
or he shares with the audience.
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In the body paragraphs, the writer attempts
to present an objective statement of her or
his position, but fails to fully articulate it.
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Ideas are randomly sequenced. The essay
fails to develop a convincing compromise.
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Conclusion does not adequately wrap up
points and in many ways merely restates the
introduction. In the conclusion, the writer
does not fully present his or her thesis.
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Few effective transitions exist throughout
the essay
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The introduction does not begin with the
writer exploring the common ground she
or he shares with the audience.
In the body paragraphs, the writer fails
to attempt to present an objective
statement of her or his position.
Ideas are randomly sequenced. The
essay fails to offer any discernable
compromise.
Conclusion does not wrap up points and
in many ways merely restates the
introduction. In the conclusion, the writer
does not present his or her thesis.
No effective transitions exist throughout
the essay
Junior American Literature and Composition
Category
Effective
use of
Language
This category
reflects how
effectively the
writer used
language to
communicate
the ideas.
Convention
s and MLA
Format
This category
reflects how
well the writer
followed rules
for standard
written
English.
Distinguished
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Support uses appropriate patterns of
development and style.
Each aspect relates to thesis,
providing coherence and continuity.
Writing is smooth and skillful
throughout the essay.
Sentences are well built with strong
and varied structure that invites
smooth reading.
Proficient
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Diction is at the appropriate level for
the audience. Indicators of
sophistication include artful sentence
construction, eloquent word choice
appropriate for the task, and masterful
command of the English language.
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The essay is virtually error-free.
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Punctuation, spelling, grammar,
and capitalization are correct.
No errors interfere with the
reader’s understanding of the
essay.
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Essay is properly MLA
formatted.
All source material is smoothly
woven into the text.
Unit 4 The Rhetoric of Drama
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Patterns of development used for support
and the style are not necessarily
appropriate for the audience or the topic.
Emerging
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Writing is smooth and coherent throughout
most of the essay.
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Most sentences are varied in length and
style, with an occasional (2 or 3) repetition
of sentence beginnings or a number of
consecutive sentences of the same length
or type. The sentence structure is
generally correct, though some awkward
sentences do appear.
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Diction is mostly at the appropriate level
for the audience, but may have some
examples of unsophisticated (vague,
overused, overly simplistic) or poor/
incorrect word choices.
The essay contains few errors in
the conventions of the English
language.
Errors do not interfere with the
reader’s understanding of the
essay.
Essay is MLA formatted with a few
minor, non-distracting errors.
All source material is adequately
woven into text, although the writer
may rely too heavily on stock
transitional phrases.
Rogerian Essay Rubric
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Pattern of development and style are
simplistic and are not necessarily
appropriate for the audience or the
topic.
Writing lacks flow to achieve coherence
throughout the essay.
Many consecutive sentences begin
with the same words, are of the same
length or the same sentence
construction; the sentences hang
together, and get the job done in a
routine fashion.
Incomplete
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Exhibits little or no style.
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Writing lacks coherence.
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Work contains multiple incorrect
sentence structures (more than 3).
Diction is elementary and/or
inappropriate, and often writing is
awkward due to many examples of
poor/incorrect word choice.
Diction is elementary and lacks flair.
The essay contains numerous
errors in the conventions of the
English language.
Errors may interfere with the
understanding of the paper,
although the reader can follow
the basic intent.
Essay has multiple lapses in
MLA formatting, but an attempt
to follow the format is obvious.
Embedding of source material is
awkward.
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The essay contains serious
errors in the conventions of
the English language.
Errors interfere with the
reader’s understanding of the
paper.
MLA formatting was not
attempted.
Source material lacks
embedding.