A Novice…
A Developing Learner…
A Practitioner…
An Expert / Specialist…
Ideas /
Interpretations
* offers a summary of the
work as a whole and/or
personal response to the
work.
* offers clear observations about
specific details or features of the
work and/or summarizes the work
in some detail.
does all of practitioner plus…
* compares and contrasts
ideas/interpretations with other
claims made about the work.
* makes and argument as to why the
claim matters in larger contexts.
Support /
Evidence
* offers personal opinion as
a support for ideas.
* offers summary of parts of
the work as support.
* offers a few pieces of support and
generalizations of outside
knowledge that the audience might
not understand or disagree with.
* makes fleeting references to other
details in the work.
* summarizes key details from the
work.
* quotes directly from the original
work.
* quotes from a “reviewer/critic”
Context for the
audience
(exposition)
* needs to fill in details
orally in order for writing to
make sense.
* offers some general exposition
about the work.
Word
Choice/Voice
Subject-Specific
Terminology
* uses general vocabulary
and correctly employs
existential verbs
* is clear and concise
* uses subject-specific terminology
with some slight errors in meaning.
* offers a clear, complex idea/interpretation of specific
details or features of the work (poem, painting, book,
etc.)
* offers an interesting idea(s) about the overall “projects”
of the work.
* explains how the individual details inform and help
create the overall project.
* Tries out competing theories to arrive at the best
possible claim. (thesis / antithesis / synthesis) (theory of
parsimony)
* accounts for a wide range of evidence from the work,
outside knowledge, and/or research in the most elegant
way.
* acknowledges and deals with potential
counterarguments and questions.
* includes healthy exploration of both big, obvious details
(e.g. title), and smaller, seemingly insignificant details.
* connects multiple pieces of evidence in support of the
idea.
* SQUAATs for evidence, quoting directly from the
original work as well as paraphrasing. Takes the “right”
amount of the original subject in its quoting and
integrates quotations efficiently. Analyzes specific
details in more than one way.
* Quotes an interesting idea from a reviewer/critic and
then connects that person’s idea to the idea you are
working with.
* uses exposition so that without the work in front of it
the audience will have no difficulty understanding it or
the specific details being analyzed.
* on occasion, adds “pop” to the exposition by using
figurative language, imagery, surprising word choice,
and/or syntax variation.
* makes a case, implied or otherwise, as to why the
particular detail(s) being analyzed demand critical
attention.
* is concise
* favors action verbs
* uses verbs and adverbs to clarify for the audience when
it is discussing facts from the work and when ideas.
* correctly utilizes subject-specific vocabulary, defining
and clarifying terms where appropriate for a general
audience. Usage indicates a clear understanding of how
the particular vocabulary is used in discussing the
does all of practitioner plus…
* connects seemingly unrelated pieces
of evidence and bring them “into
concert” with each other.
* uses other sources, particularly “ideabased” academic ones, to help support
and complicate claims.
* uses logic and analogy to build
surprising pieces of original support.
does all of practitioner plus…
* studies how professional writers
integrate exposition and analysis.
* finds a few objective readers to get
feedback on the piece prior to
submitting.
does all of practitioner plus…
* consults with a subject-specialist or
subject-journal to better understand
how terminology is used.
* look up and work with new
terminology not covered in class.
* on occasion, experiments with
imagery, figurative language, and
subject.
Syntax /
Mechanics
* correctly uses
capitalization and end
punctuation, with a few
occasional errors.
* employs simple and
compound sentences.
* employs simple, complex, and
compound sentences.
* correctly and effectively uses
commas.
* correctly and effectively uses a
range of end punctuation.
* correctly punctuates titles and uses
correct capitalization.
Organization
* uses and correctly formats
paragraphs.
* includes an introduction that
clearly sets up the subject of the
paper.
* includes a conclusion that wraps
up the paper by restating the
essential idea.
* uses a few conjunctive adverbs and
prepositional phrases to make
transitions.
* writes concluding sentences that
wrap up essential idea.
Title and
Epigraph
* includes either a title or
epigraph.
* includes a title that clearly
connects to the subject of the paper.
* chooses an epigraph that clearly
connects to the thesis of the paper.
* uses non-restrictive clauses and phrases to create a
“background” and “foreground.”
* varies syntax for effect and can explain reasons for
certain choices.
* employs simple, complex, and compound sentences.
* correctly and effectively uses commas.
* correctly and effectively uses a range of end
punctuation.
* correctly and effectively uses colons, semi-colons, and
em-dashes.
* correctly punctuates titles and uses correct
capitalization.
* includes an introduction that clearly sets up the subject
of the paper; establishes that you know your subject;
demonstrates an understanding of your audience, which
includes both academic teachers like me, your peers, and
the people in your life who are thinkers you respect;
grabs that audience’s attention; and offers a clear focus
or thesis for the paper. First sentence has been
thoughtfully crafted.
* includes a conclusion that follows from the evidence
presented and has some movement (zooming out or
panning over), offering the audience new ways to think
about your argument. Final sentence is dynamic and
leaves a reverberating impression.
* uses a range of conjunctive adverbs (SLIDER)and
prepositional phrases to make transitions.
* crafts a title (and subtitle, if applicable) that grabs the
audience’s attention, relates to the subject and thesis of
the paper, and grows in meaning when we finish reading
the paper.
* chooses an epigraph that comes from an unexpected
source and deepens and complicates the poem’s thesis.
sound effects that reinforce and do not
distract from the ideas.
completes everything in the
practitioner column, plus…
* employs cumulative and periodic
style sentences for effect.
* handles multi-clause
compound/complex sentences.
* employs parallel structure for effect
and transition.
does all of practitioner, plus…
* uses parallel construction to make
transitions between ideas.
* knowingly breaks from conventional
organizational patterns in order to
emphasize an idea.
does all of practitioner, plus…
* uses title and/or epigraph to
establish ethos
* studies other titles and epigraphs
used by professional writers
Originality and
interaction
Form
Novice
* creates a story pitch that
retells a previous story told
by the director or an original
story with surface
connections to the work of
the director
* includes some visual
images taken from other
films by the director
* offers some facts about the
film
Pitch
Developing
* creates a story pitch that
successfully imitates or parodies the
director’s major
interests/projects/subject matter
* includes story art that gives us a
feel for the story.
* summarizes the key elements of
the story.
* includes a logline that concisely
summarizes the story.
* includes a working title that gives a
clear sense of the subject.
Practitioner
* creates a story pitch that fits within the director’s areas
of interest/projects while expanding the box of his/her
subject matter.
* uses research into their own lives or the world around
to produce a story that is fresh, original, and specific
* triangulates!
* creates/includes intriguing story art that captures the
spirit and tone of the story.
* succinctly (and with powerful action verbs, sentence
variation, and powerful word choice) sets up the
essential characters, conflicts, and shape of the story in
the summary paragraph.
* crafts an even more powerful (dare we say, poetic)
logline, which is the story in one sentence.
* create a working title that grabs our attention and hints
at the subject and tone of the story.
Expert
All of practitioner plus…
* finds agents address and sends off
pitch to director
All of practitioner plus…
* in summary works in connections to
other works of art and/or the films
that inspired your pitch
Transitions
- uses paragraph breaks to
indicate that a transition
has occurred.
- correctly uses at least three
different S.L.I.D.E.R. transitions.
- correctly uses at least six different S.L.I.D.E.R.
transitions.
- uses at least one complex sentence with a
subordinate clause to create a recursive transition.
- each new topic is thoughtfully connected to the
one that came before it.
All of the practitioner column, plus one
or more of the following…
* use of parallel construction to hint at
connections.
* “extent” transitions
* use of a variety of subordinate
clauses.