Rubric for Analyzing Dream Job assignment
adapted from A.T. Langendorfer
Introduction:
What themes and issues does the introduction set up?
Does it give the essay some work to do, and indicate where the analysis is headed? Or
does the essay suggest a narrative arc?
What questions am I asking after reading this first paragraph?
How can the author improve the introduction?
Thesis:
Does the author have a thesis (or main claim)?
Or does the author hint at the values associated with his/her dream job?
Does it seem that the author will explain these values in more detail?
Analysis and Support or Narrative and Narrative Development
Does the essay live up to the promise made by the thesis statement and introduction? Or,
does the essay begin to answer some of the questions elicited in the introduction?
Does the essay begin to tell a narrative?
Does the writer back up analytical claims with examples? Or does the writer give details
to tell a compelling narrative?
What are the essay's main strengths?
What are the essay's weak points?
Clarity and Coherence
How is the essay structured?
What are the main ideas of each paragraph?
Does the essay provide a logical progression of ideas and smooth transitions indicating
connections between ideas?
Does the essay fully address the question: "how do you imagine achieving your dream
job and what does your dream job say about you"?
Conclusion
Does the conclusion shed further light on the thesis? Is the conclusion more than a
restatement or summary of the main arguments?
Or, if this is a narrative assignment, does the conclusion provide satisfactory closure to
the narrative?
Mechanics
Is the paper clearly written with effective sentence structure, word choice, grammar,
spelling, and punctuation?
What patterns of error do you notice?