UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
ESSAY WRITING GUIDE
Edition 8 (February 2011)
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1. INTRODUCTION
In writing an academic essay, you are constructing an academic argument; in other words, taking part in
academic debate. Your essay should therefore meet the same standards of production and presentation as
those which govern papers published in academic journals and books. Although you may only be starting
out, this does not mean that standards are different for you: rather, it means that you should be striving from
the outset of your academic career to produce work of the highest standard of which you are capable.
The English Department expects students to observe certain conventions when handing in written work.
These conventions exist mainly to ensure readability and clarity. Your reader needs, first and foremost, to be
able to understand clearly, and be convinced by, your argument. Secondly, your reader must be able to trace
validation of your argument backing in the primary and secondary texts used in your construction of your
essay (more about all these issues later).
2. PREPARING TO WRITE THE ESSAY: ASSESSING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ESSAY
TOPIC, READING AND RESEARCHING, NOTE-MAKING, BRAINSTORMING AND
PLANNING
As this long heading suggests, there is plenty of work to be done before you even begin writing the first draft
of your essay. It is thus a very bad idea to begin working on it the night before it is due to be handed in.
First, you need to consider the topic of the essay carefully and decide exactly what it requires of you. A
helpful way to consider your essay topic is to highlight the keywords/concepts in the question Next, you will
need to brainstorm your ideas with a spider-diagram, flowchart, rough notes etc. (Please find examples of
these in the e-Learning section of the SU English Department website). Once you are certain of the topic’s
requirements, you will be able to do the reading and research required. You may be writing an essay on a
single poem: if so, and in part depending on the topic set, it may be useful to read other poems by the same
poet, or to do research into the details of the poet’s life and the time and place in which he or she lived.
Please note, however, that these details should not be included at the expense of a proper, clear analysis of
the text. Writing an essay on a short story, novel, play or any other kind of cultural text (an advertisement or
a film, for example) will necessitate careful reading of this text, often referred to as the “primary text,”
because it is the one on which your essay is focused. You will also need to spend some time thinking about
your ideas regarding the topic and the primary text, and may find it useful to note these down on paper.
By this stage, you will be ready to formulate a writing plan or essay outline. Your plan need not be very
detailed, but should at least include a thesis statement (your central argument), and a list of points in logical
sequence showing how your argument will develop during the course of the essay. It is also a useful exercise
to formulate a short title for your essay, a title which summarises the gist of your argument rather than just
consisting of the name of the text you’re discussing. Doing this will compel you to set out, in a very few
words, what your main thesis is regarding the text or topic before you.
Once you have set out your ideas, it’s time to put them to paper. Although essay writing should push you to
think creatively and deliver a convincing argument about your topic, structure is necessary. You are probably
new to essay writing, so it would be advisable to learn to structure your argument correctly. Proper structure
will also help to strengthen your argument! Although this is not always the rule, your ideas//paragraphs
should flow in more or less the same fashion:

Introduction
Opening//introductory statement
Problem//how do we state this?
Thesis statement
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
Paragraphs
Opening statement//line of argument
Quote to justify argument
Explain//analyse//discuss

Conclusion
Opening statement
Findings//close argument
Closing statement
3. DRAFTING
You will be required to submit a draft to your tutor before your final essay submission. This will enable you
to move sections or paragraphs around to ensure that you end up with a coherent argument. Drafting also
enables you to check for (and correct!) stylistic errors, and rewrite sentences which are awkward or unclear.
This is also a time to check for obvious spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors. Usually, your draft
essay counts 30% of your overall essay mark. Your tutor will help you with your structure, argument,
spelling and grammar. You are also encouraged to arrange a meeting with your tutor to discuss your essay
draft.
NB* Your tutor will not always be able to alert you to every error or mishap in your essay, so be sure to be
apply your tutor’s advice and take responsibility for your own work.
NB* Once you have set a time and date for an essay draft meeting with your tutor, it is compulsory to attend
and to be punctual. If you are pressed to postpone your meeting, you are required to do so at least 24 hours in
advance.
NB* No handwritten drafts will be accepted. Always e-mail a copy of your essay to your tutor as an
attachment. Always save a copy of your draft to your flashdisk, desktop, or on a friend’s computer. It is
preferable to save your work in more than one place. The unthinkable can and does happen! Be prepared!
4. WRITING STYLE AND PRESENTATION IN GENERAL
Good academic style is direct and unpretentious. Aim for simplicity and clarity, and avoid wordiness (do not
use three words when one will do). You should also avoid using slang, colloquialisms, and abbreviations
wherever this is possible. Also avoid the use of sub-headings and numbering in an English essay.
Use the simple present tense for academic essay-writing in English (i.e. “the speaker suggests that…”; “this
conveys a feeling of…”). This makes your argument more immediate in tone and impact, and avoids
complicated tense changes and sequences.
It is acceptable to use the pronoun “I” when writing an academic argument, although it is preferable to use
the more formal “one,” or even to remove the first-person position from your writing altogether, and make
use of the third person. An individual tutor may have preferences in this regard too, and you can easily check
this with him or her before you begin writing your essay.
Present your written work in a professional manner. An essay which is carelessly presented may be returned
for rewriting. Essays should be neatly typed or word-processed; the line spacing should be 1.5 spaced, and
the font size should be 12 point. There should be a margin of 3 cm down the left-hand side of the page. If
you are using a word-processor, learn to use it properly: make use, for example, of the spelling checks and
word counting facilities. However, spelling checks are not always reliable and it is recommended that you
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read through your essay yourself and check spelling with a dictionary in hand. If you do not understand what
terms like “font size” (referred to above) or “indentation” (see the item on the use of long quotations from
another text in section 5 below) mean, ask for assistance. Your tutor is likely to be able to help; otherwise,
ask another appropriate person, such as someone giving assistance or training to users of the computers in the
university labs, such as HUMARGA, situated on the 3rd floor of the Arts Building.
5. QUOTATIONS FROM THE PRIMARY TEXT UNDER DISCUSSION IN YOUR ESSAY
Quote only what is needed to illustrate your point or convey the point which a writer is making. Make sure
that your quote supports your argument and does not make your argument for you. It is also essential that you
integrate quotations used into your own sentences, so that the whole reads smoothly and coherently. The
examples below show some ways to do this. Writing your own sentence, followed by a sentence consisting
only of quotation, results in disjointed writing which detracts from the smooth flow of your argument. The
fragment you quote should make sense within the context of your own sentence. One way to check this is to
read your essay aloud to yourself, listen, and make sure that your essay flows logically and coherently.
Quote accurately from the original text. Use ellipsis marks in square brackets […] to indicate any words
which you have left out. You may have to adapt the quotation to fit the grammar of your own sentence, but
you must use square brackets to enclose the altered word or words. For example:
The original, from Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall," reads: "My apple trees will never get across/ And
eat the cones under his pines, I tell him."
In your essay, you might refer to this as follows:
The speaker explains that "[his] apple trees will never get across / And eat the cones under [his neighbour's]
pines" (25-26).
Here a pronoun ("my") has been altered; "his pines" has also been altered to avoid possible confusion. Note
the use of the present tense.
Short quotations (as in the above example) should be enclosed in quotation marks and run on in the text of
your essay. An oblique stroke (/) is used to separate lines of poetry, as above. The figures in brackets (2526) refer to line numbers of the poem.
Long quotations (more than three lines of poetry or four lines of prose) should be separated from the text of
your essay by being indented and (in the case of a typed essay) single-spaced. Quotation marks are not
needed when indentation is used:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, “Good fences make good neighbors. (23-26)
Omissions should be indicated with an ellipsis in square brackets. This means that if you decide to leave out
some of your quote, you will need to show that you have altered the original version of the quote:
Frost’s poem asserts that “He is all pine and […]/ My apple trees will never […]/ eat the cones under his
pines” (23-25).
All quotations must be identified. The exception is when you are discussing a short poem where quotations
may easily be located without the use of line numbers.
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6. USE OF SECONDARY (CRITICAL AND THEORETICAL) MATERIAL IN YOUR ESSAY
Reading other critics’ analyses of the text you are discussing may help you to define your own response to
the work in question, but should not replace your analysis. Research done about the author or text will
provide you with helpful background information, and theoretical material may also assist you in the
formulation of your own position regarding both the primary and other secondary texts. However, no essay
should be a mere tissue of quotations. What we are primarily interested in is your own response to and
analysis of the work, and the ideas of other critics should never be used as a substitute for this. On the other
hand, you should not ignore the existence of scholarly discussion of the text or topic about which you are also
writing: aim to enter into debate with other commentators on its meaning(s).
ACKNOWLEDGING THE SOURCES OF YOUR IDEAS WHEN THEY COME FROM
SECONDARY MATERIAL
Any and all ideas from a critic or theorist which you use in constructing your own argument must be
acknowledged by means of a reference in brackets in the text of your essay. (This form of reference is
now used in preference to footnotes or endnotes; see below.) Indebtedness to a critic must be acknowledged,
even when you have not quoted word for word from the critic. Failure to do this is a form of plagiarism and
may result in your receiving no marks for your essay, or even in your exclusion from the course: see the
separate section on plagiarism at the end of this brochure.
Notes in the text
When you submit an essay to the English Department, you are required to reference according to the MLA
system. References to works which you have consulted or from which you are quoting should be given in
parentheses (brackets) within the text of your essay. Works should be referred to by author, short title, and
page number, but any or all of these elements should be omitted if they are mentioned in the text of your
essay. The short title should be omitted if only one work by the author in question is cited in your essay.
Please refer to the e-Learning section on the English Department website for more examples.
7.1 The following example indicates how references are given in the text of an essay:
According to one view, "poetry differs from prose and everyday speech mainly because it says so much more
in the same number of words" (Bateson 31).
Here only one work by Bateson is cited in the essay, hence there is no need for the use of a short title. If
another work by Bateson had been cited, then the parenthetical reference would look like this: (Bateson,
English Poetry 31). If Bateson had been referred to previously in the sentence ("According to Bateson, …")
then the parenthetical reference would contain only the page number (31). For the sake of simplicity and
clarity, it is preferable to cite the author's name in the text of your essay ("According to Bateson …") rather
than in the parenthetical reference. All references should be kept as concise as possible.
To avoid interrupting the flow of your writing, place the parenthetical reference where a pause would
naturally occur (preferably at the end of a sentence), and as near as possible to the material it refers to. For
example:
In his Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin states that he prepared a list of thirteen virtues (135-37).
Note that full details of works referred to in this way must be given in a bibliography at the end of your essay,
otherwise your reference is meaningless (see Section 8).
7.2 Citing literary works
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Reference to a poem should give line numbers (except in the case of a short poem); references to a novel
should give page numbers and those to a play the act, scene and line numbers. Nowadays Arabic numerals
are preferred to roman numerals, as follows: Macbeth 1.7.12 (this is a reference to line 12 of scene 7 of act 1
of Shakespeare's Macbeth).
For example:
It is difficult to believe Antony when he describes himself as "a plain blunt man" (3.2.219).
The abbreviations "l." or "ll." should not be used when referring to lines of poetry. (See the example in
section 5.) You should use the word “line” or “lines” for the first reference, and thereafter simply use the
numbers alone.
7.3 Use of footnotes or endnotes
Content notes may be used to offer the reader comment, explanation, or information that the text cannot
accommodate. You should avoid using such notes if possible, as they distract attention from the primary
text. Bibliographical notes may also be used, containing either references to several sources or comments on
sources. Notes may be placed either at the end of the text (as endnotes) or at the bottom of the page
(footnotes), although the former convention (endnotes) is preferred.
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY/WORKS CITED
All essays, even those which explore only the primary text under discussion, are required to have a
bibliography. The bibliography should include all the works which have contributed ideas or information to
your essay. The list should be in alphabetical order of authors' surnames. Each entry normally consists of
three main parts: author, title, and details of publication. Each part is followed by a full stop. Additional
information, such as the names of editors, translators, or compilers, the edition used, the number of volumes,
or the name of the series, should follow the title of the book and precede the place of publication, name of
publisher and date of publication. The second line of each entry should be indented. Do not number your
bibliography or present it in point form.
Examples:
 A novel:
Coetzee, J.M. Disgrace. London: Secker and Warburg,1999.
For a republished novel, the original publication date, followed by a full-stop, is given before the publication
information for the book you are quoting from:
Atwood, Margaret. Surfacing. 1972. New York: Doubleday, 1998.
 A book of criticism:
Bateson, F.W. English Poetry: A Critical Introduction. 2nd ed. London: Longmans, 1966.
 A short story in an anthology:
Vladislavic, Ivan. “The Whites Only Bench.” Short Story Collection. Ed. Rob Gaylard. Stellenbosch: Van
Schaik Content Solutions, 2003.
 An essay in a collection:
Gordimer, Nadine. "English-Language Literature and Politics in South Africa." Aspects of South African
Literature. Ed. Christopher Heywood. London: Heinemann, 1976. 99-120.
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Note: The essay by Nadine Gordimer appeared in a collection edited by Christopher Heywood. Here the title
of the published collection is in italics.
 An article in a periodical:
Hope, Christopher. "The Political Novelist in South Africa." English in Africa 12.1 (1985): 41-46.
Note: the article by Christopher Hope appeared in a journal entitled English in Africa, and the figures 12.1
refer to volume 12, number 1 of the journal, published in 1985. The title of the journal is in italics, not the
title of the article. The page numbers at the end of these references refer to the pages in the book or periodical
taken up by the essay or article in question.
 An edition of a Shakespeare play:
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Ed. Norman Sanders. New Penguin Shakespeare. Harmondsworth:
Penguin, 1967.
As a general rule, remember that the titles of journals, books, periodicals and magazines should be italicised,
while components of texts such as titles of individual essays, articles, interviews and chapters within these
works are placed in inverted commas.
 A film:
A citation for a film usually includes the title (in italics), the director, distributor and the year of release.
Other relevant information, such as the names of the writer, performers and producer, may be included
between the title and the distributor.
Example:
Fight Club. Dir David Fincher. Screenplay Jim Uhls, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Perf. Brad Pitt,
Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter. Twentieth Century Fox, 1999.
 Internet Sources
It is essential to acknowledge in full all material or insights taken from the Internet. The aim of this, as
for the citation of printed sources, is to enable your reader to locate your source, and the information you give
should make this possible.
As a general rule, a bibliographic entry for this type of research material should contain at least the following
information:
 the name of the author, editor or compiler of the source being referred to,
 the title of what is being referred to (in inverted commas),
 publication information for any print version of the source,
 the title (in italics) of the site at which the information or article appeared (or for a site with no title, a
description such as “Home page”),
 the date of electronic publication, of the latest update, or of posting,
 date when the researcher accessed the source, and
 the electronic address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the source, in angle brackets (see example
below).
i.e.:
Author(s). Name of Page. Date of Posting/Revision. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site. Date of Access
<electronic address>.
Here is one possible example of what a bibliography entry like this should look like. This is a reference to a
review article which deals with the film I Shot Andy Warhol and its director, Mary Harron. It was written by
Gary Susman, and appeared on the Rough Cut website, where the article’s last update was on 7 December
1997. The researcher who accessed the source did so on 6 June 1998. Note the correct format (in angle
brackets, beginning with “http://”) of the electronic address or URL.
Susman, Gary. “Mary Harron: I Shot Andy Warhol.” Rough Cut: Your Own Private Hollywood. 7 December
1997. 6 June 1998. <http://www.roughcut.com/reviews/movies/vault/ishotandy.html>
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9. FURTHER REFERENCE
This guide is based on the fifth edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, by Joseph
Gibaldi and Walter S. Achtert (New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1999). Students
should consult this if further help is needed: it is available in the reference section of the JSG library (at shelf
number R808.02 GIB). There are many useful sites available on the Internet as well, e.g.
http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/mla.html
http://www.library.cornell.edu/newhelp/res_strategy/citing/mla.html
http://sun025.sun.ac.za/portal/page/portal/Arts/Departments/english/e-learning
Finally, remember that you may always consult your tutor on any points in this guide about which you need
further explanation or clarification.
10. ESSAY FORMAT
Once all your hard work comes to an end and you are ready to print and submit your essay make sure that
you don’t forget the following documents in this order:
1. Cover page – should include your name, surname, student number, tutorial group number, essay
title, date of submission, tutor’s name and surname.
2. Essay
3. Plagiarism Declaration – with the date and your signature.
4. Turnitin similarity report
5. Essay writing checklist – make sure all items are ticked off before you submit.
6. English 178 marking grid
NB* Items 3-6 can be accessed on Webstudies
Once your document is complete, print it out and make sure you staple it before you attend class.
11. DUE DATE
You will be given a date for handing in your essay. Keep to this date; late essays are penalised by 5% per
day. The essay should be handed to your tutor personally, and you must keep a copy in case of a mishap.
It is compulsory for you to submit an electronic copy of your essay to your tutor and to submit your essay via
Turnitin on Webstudies. You will be given an "incomplete" class mark if you fail to hand in an essay, which
means that you will have to re-do English 178 next year.
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APPENDIX: PLAGIARISM.
Please read the following very carefully, and refer to it each time you have an essay or assignment to do. The
department assumes that you have read and assimilated the information given below. Ignorance is no
defence.
1. What is plagiarism?
Most students understand that it is not acceptable to pass someone else’s work off as their own. However,
many students do not realise all of the practices that constitute plagiarism. These include:
 Incorporating into your work any words (including a phrase, or sentence, and in some cases, even a word)
that you found elsewhere. If the text you have taken is not from a book – if it is from the Internet, or from
class notes, or from a conversation you have had with another scholar – you are still plagiarising if you do
not acknowledge your source.
 Using an idea that you have got from someone else – whether a critic, a teacher, or a friend, and not
acknowledging the source of that idea.
 Acknowledging a source by including a reference to that source, but not making it clear that you have used
text word-for-word from that source. Every time you copy out the words of someone else, you must put
inverted commas around the entire utterance (see point 5 [i] and [ii]).
 Using a sentence or a paragraph that you have found elsewhere, and changing or editing it slightly.
 Using quotation marks to indicate that the words are not your own, but failing to include the source of the
words in a properly referenced manner.
2. Why is it so bad to plagiarise?
The currency in which we trade at university is ideas. That is why using the words and/ or ideas of another
person without acknowledgment constitutes theft. Similarly, if you attempt to take credit for arriving at your
own idea without demonstrating how you got there, you are ignoring the scholarly community and the due
process that constitutes academic work.
3. Why do people plagiarise?
Some students plagiarise because they want to avoid doing the work themselves. However, some students
plagiarise because they do not have the confidence to tackle the task at hand. Feeling unsure of where to start
is not an acceptable excuse for plagiarism. If you feel overwhelmed or uncertain you must approach your
tutor for help. If you plagiarise in order to find a solution to these feelings the full penalties will apply to you.
There is a third reason why some first year students plagiarise. At school you are sometimes encouraged to
copy material, or to cut and paste from the Internet. At university, this does not constitute research. You have
to be aware of the difference in the nature of the work you are now doing. If you simply copy, or cut and
paste, or do any of the other things mentioned above in point 1, you will be guilty of committing theft (see
point 2). You will also be held accountable if work has been copied from you. You are not allowed to lend
your work to anybody, even if they claim to want to see how the essay should be done. You are responsible
for guarding your own work.
4.Turnitin
Turnitin is a clever programme employed by the University of Stellenbosch that compares all students’
electronic work with any and all data on the internet. Once you have uploaded your essay onto Turnitin,
you will need to wait to print your electronic receipt. Your receipt is proof that your essay has been
submitted. You must attach this to your essay.
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After all students’ essays have been submitted to this programme, tutors individually check their classes’
similarity reports online. Please remember that this site is active, so if your similarity report at the time of
submission was 4% and somebody submits an identical copy, the similarity percentage will rise to 100%.
Turnitin scans for student-on-student plagiarism and any internet plagiarism. It also identifies plagiarism
where you may not have referenced correctly. So please make sure you reference correctly, avoid copying
a peer’s work or anything from the internet. There is really nothing Turnitin cannot find!
5. What will happen to me if I plagiarise?
You will get 0% for the piece of work you have submitted. In addition: your name will be added to a
database of students who have been found to plagiarise; you may be sent to the Dean for a disciplinary
enquiry; you may be excluded from the English course; you may be expelled from the university.
Remember that pleading ignorance will not protect you from these consequences. Furthermore, if your tutor
suspects you have plagiarised it is your responsibility to demonstrate that you have not (see point 7).
6. So what must I do?
(i) Make careful note of your sources when you prepare for your essay, as you go along. If you write out
word-for-word a point from one of your sources, and forget to mark it as such in your rough notes, you
may end up incorporating this plagiarised piece of work into your essay accidentally.
(ii) Think carefully about each quotation before you insert it into your essay. A string of long paragraphs
quoted from elsewhere does not constitute an essay, even if you reference properly. If you are going to
use a quote you need to explain in your argument why you are including that quote. A general rule of
thumb to follow is: the longer the quote, the longer your explanation needs to be. Quotes, especially long
quotes, need to be analysed and/ or commented upon in your essay. Remember to indent long quotes.
(iii) You must acknowledge every idea that is not wholly your own.
Commonly accepted facts do not need to be referenced in this manner, e.g. you can assume that William
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet without having to quote the source of that information.
(iv) You MUST refer to the Essay Writing Guide every time you write an essay. There you will find
guidelines for how to quote correctly, and how to reference correctly. It is imperative that you follow
these rules. Part of what you are learning at university is how to construct an academic essay. This means
you have to pay attention to the details of how to quote and reference. There is no excuse for not getting
this right.
(v) Ask your tutor if you are in any doubt. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are fulfilling the task
you have been set.
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Plagiarism declaration:
All essays submitted must contain a signed version of the following declaration:
1. I know that using another person’s ideas and pretending that they are one’s own constitute
plagiarism. I am aware of the potential penalties for this misdemeanour.
2. I have used the MLA* system for citation and referencing. Each significant contribution to, and
quotation in, this essay from the work, or works, of other people has been acknowledged through
citation and reference in the text and bibliography.
3. This essay is my own work.
4. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off
as his or her own work.
Signature:
Date:
We do not assume that you are born knowing how to write an academic essay. We know that it isn’t easy at
first to get used to constructing the kind of argument we require. This is why we are here to teach you. Your
tutor will do everything s/he can to help you learn how to write an academic essay. We also make allowances
for the fact that this learning is a process, and that you will learn through trial and error. However, if you
plagiarise you will not meet with any sympathy. You must be prepared to engage in the process of learning,
and to take responsibility for your own needs. Ask if you need help. Make use of the resources offered by the
department. We wish you a stimulating and successful year!
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ESSAY WRITING CHECKLIST
IDEAS AND ESSAY ORGANIZATION:
1.
2.
3.
4.*
1. Have the requirements of the essay topic all been met?




















LANGUAGE:
1.
2.
3.
4.*
1. Does the essay use the appropriate academic register? (no colloquialisms,
















2. Does the essay provide enough evidence to persuade the reader?
3. Does the essay present an argument, which is stated in its introduction with
a thesis statement? Is the argument presented in a logical and understandable
way?
4. Does each paragraph flow into the next and are there clear linking words
and sentences between the paragraphs?
5. Does each paragraph have a clear main idea and a topic sentence? Are all
supporting statements relevant to the topic? Do all the supporting statements
have evidence from the text which is convincing and logical?
slang, or contractions, e.g. ‘don’t’ should be ‘do not’)
2. Is the writing concise and clear? (not long-winded, repetitive; no
euphemisms, clichés or exaggeration)
3. Has the third person voice been used appropriately and consistently?
4. Have you checked: Spelling, complete sentences, concord, punctuation,
present tense, etc.?
PRESENTATION:
1. Are all sources adequately acknowledged? (It is expected that a copy of
internet sources is attached to the essay)
YES
NO


2. Are quotes clearly indicated by inverted commas and followed by the MLA
reference?




4. Is the plagiarism declaration attached?


5. Does the essay have a cover page with the relevant information on it?


6. Does the essay format use font size 12 and 1.5 to double-line spacing?


7. Have you submitted an electronic copy of your essay?


3. Is there a complete bibliography at the end of the essay?
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ENGLISH STUDIES 178 MARKING GRID
The different components assessed below do not carry equal weight in calculating your final mark. Your final mark is an
assessment of the overall strength of your essay, generally taking into account all of the marks for the various components,
with logic and clarity carrying the greatest weight. A low score in any single category can greatly affect your final mark.
Submitted
____ days late = ____%
on due date?
YES
-
NO:
NO: - ____ %
Some attempt
at introduction, but no
clear argument
Adequate.
Contains a
thesis
statement, but
might be weak
& not specific
Good. Thesis
statement clear
and specific.
Overview of
argument and
delivery
lacking.
Very good.
Context, thesis
statement and
overview of
argument
present, but
delivery might
need work
Excellent.
Context of
essay, thesis
statement &
overview of
argument well
delivered,
engaging.
Severe spelling
and grammar
problems
detract from
delivery of
argument
Frequent
spelling
mistakes.
Grammar
problems.
A few mistakes
persist, does
not detract
from argument.
Good spelling
and grammar
overall, few
mistakes
No spelling or
grammar
mistakes
Sophisticated
and varied
sentence
structure and
appropriate
word selection
adds interest
Incomprehensible,
colloquialisms
employed,
informal,
clumsy/
incomplete
sentences
Poor language
use, but
readable.
Informal at
times. Clumsy
sentences.
Contractions
Adequately
formal and
readable.
Sentence
structure
sometimes
needs work.
Mostly formal,
academic
register.
Good use of
language to
convey ideas.
Few language
errors.
Very good.
Consistently
formal and
engaging.
Shows strong
command of
language
Excellent use of
idiom,
engaging and
interesting
language use.
Always formal
and easily
readable
No coherence
or flow,
frequent
repetition.
More than one
idea per
paragraph. No
topic sentence
Some sense of
coherence, but
ideas are still
scattered and
do not flow.
Some repetition
Adequate
paragraphing
One idea per
paragraph.
Infrequent
repetition.
Flow needs
much work
Good. Ideas
organised. No
repetition.
Some problems
with flow.
Problems with
coherence.
Very good.
Ideas all flow
into one
another and are
grouped
logically into
paragraphs.
Coherence.
Excellent.
Paragraphs are
refined, clear
and flow
compellingly to
expand and
strengthen
argument.
Ideas not
supported from
text. Severe
problems with
referencing.
No bibliography
Some textual
support, but
mostly
inadequate to
strengthen
argument.
Poor
referencing
Textual support
for most points.
Referencing
good.
Bibliography
provided with
some errors.
Good. Ideas
might need
more
development
and support.
Referencing/
bibliography
good.
Very good.
Close
engagement
with text.
Referencing
and
bibliography
correct
Excellent
support for
each point.
Secondary
sources used
effectively.
Bibliography
correct.
Irrelevant
ideas,
generalisation
Weak argument
and very
unclear ideas
Some logical
flow, mostly
the argument is
very weak,
some
generalization&
vagueness
Adequate
logical flow.
Ideas are
mostly clear
and tied to
argument.
Superficial
reading
Good logical
flow. Ideas all
support
argument, but
need more
elaboration and
clarity
Good, logical
argument with
clear points.
Might suffer
from over- or
understatement
All ideas
logically tied to
argument,
refined,
relevant, &
clearly stated.
Argument
strong and
considered
Overall strength of
argument and success at
answering the question
Logic &
Clarity
Quoting &
Referencing
Spelling &
Grammar
Introduction
No
introduction.
No thesis
statement
Language
use
YES
Additional
Comments
Paragraphin
g
Plagiarism declaration and MLA
referencing?
Comments
Students/deptessayguide6
12
Final
Mark