Name:
Date:
Period:
Civilization Essay Rubric
Element
√ or x
(I fill this out.)
The essay is written using small, neat handwriting.
The essay is organized into paragraphs, and the paragraphs are indented.
ALL SPACE IS USED! There are no empty lines between paragraphs or at the end of
the paper.
The introductory paragraph has no more than two sentences, and the last sentence is
the thesis.
The first body paragraph is a real-world example (NOT A HYPOTHETICAL! NOT
AN IMAGINARY SITUATION THAT YOU MADE UP IN YOUR HEAD!) –
something from history, the news, a piece of literature that we read, etc.
The second body paragraph is an example from your own life (NOT A
HYPOTHETICAL! NOT AN IMAGINARY SITUATION THAT YOU MADE
UP IN YOUR HEAD!) – something that you experienced personally.
The concluding paragraph has no more than two sentences, which recap the thesis
without exactly restating it.
There are five high-impact words (precise, uncommon) that you have purposefully
selected to make your essay more interesting and effectively, and those words have
been HIGHLIGHTED.1
8 √’s = 100
7 √’s = 90
6 √’s = 80
5 √’s = 70
4 √’s = 60
3 √’s = 50
2 √’s = 40
1 √ = 30
So, could you just blow this part off during the writing of your essay and then highlight five random words from your
essay in the seconds before you turn it in, and then throw a tantrum when I question your understanding of “highimpact” words by arguing that that’s subjective? Yes. Will you grow as a writer and a person? No. At some point, you
need to decide to do things because there are incentives that are more important than grades.
1