Rubric: The Oh the Places You’ll Go Scholarship Essay
Category
Exceeds
Meets
Partially Meets
Does Not Meet
Organization:
The writer clearly
draws connections
between the Dr.
Seuss’ book and
his or her own
experiences.
Connections are
conveyed through
a cohesive
structure.
Connections between the book
and the author’s life are richly
developed, but subtly added
throughout the essay.
The connections
between the text
and the author’s life
a clearly developed.
There are some
connections made
between the text and
the author’s life.
There is little
connection made
between the text and the
author’s life.
Transitions are used
meaningfully and not forced;
transitions within paragraphs
and between paragraphs to
preserve the logical flow of the
essay.
Transitions are used
effectively and help
move the reader
through the essay.
Transitions are present
but are not effective in
moving the reader
through the essay.
Transitions are absent or
are ineffective in
moving the reader
through the essay.
Sentences are
varied through out
the essay.
Some sentence
variation present, but
structure is overused in
some areas.
Sentences are simple in
structure or one
structure is overused.
The writer uses
vivid, concrete
language that is
found in most of
essay. The guiding
question of this
essay is answered.
Writing is concrete and
vivid in some areas of
writing, but more
development is needed
because question is not
completely answered.
Writing lacks vivid
language and/ or is not
concrete.
Writing is somewhat
predictable.
Writing is predictable
and lacks original
thought and/ or
perspective.
Development:
Central question is
developed in such
way that the entire
question is
answered in a
creative,
meaningful way.
A variety of sentence lengths
and structures are mixed within
any given paragraph.
The writer uses concrete, vivid
language to completely the
guiding question of this contest.
Presentation is thoughtful or
insightful (e.g., an unusual
perspective, a particularly
unique experience).
The writing shows depth and
complexity of thought.
Elaboration in each paragraph is
of sufficient depth and detail.
Voice:
Language
engages the
reader with
astrong, clear
voice and a
thoughtful,
creative, and
original presence
throughout the
writing.
Writer focuses on verbs and uses
adjectives to craft richly
descriptive passages.
Writer employs active voice;
passive sentence constructions
are avoided.
Writing sounds authentic and
original—word choice doesn’t
appear contrived.
Writer avoids slang terms,
clichés, contractions, and an
excessively casual tone.
Conventions:
Complex ideas
are
communicated
through
sophisticated
forms of
expression.
Writing represents consistent
command of spelling,
capitalization, punctuation,
grammar,
usage, and syntax.
Minor errors result from the
attempt to communicate
complex ideas through
sophisticated
forms of expression.
Words, phrases, and sentence
structure enhance the overall
effectiveness of the
communication of ideas.
The writing shows
depth and
complexity of
thought.
More detail and/ or
depth is needed in
some areas of essay.
Writer uses verbs
and adjectives
effectively and
appropriately.
Writer needs to use
more verbs and/ or
adjectives to add to
description.
Writer employs
active voice
through out most of
essay.
Writer mostly
avoids slang terms,
clichés,
contractions, and an
excessively casual
tone.
Writer uses some
active voice but relies
on passive voice too
frequently.
Writing represents
command of
spelling,
capitalization,
punctuation,
grammar,
usage, and syntax.
Writing needs
correction in areas of
spelling, capitalization,
punctuation, grammar,
usage and/ or syntax.
Writing is mostly
error-free.
Words, phrases, and
sentence structure
add to the overall
effectiveness of the
communication of
ideas.
Writer uses slang
terms, clichés,
contractions, and an
excessively casual tone
in some areas.
Writing has some
errors that interfere
with overall meaning.
Question is not
answered.
Details and/ or depth is
missing throughout
essay.
Writer does not use
adjectives and verbs to
add to description.
Passive voice is
pervasive.
Clichés make writing
appear lazy, ideas
ordinary, and
experiences typical.
Writing has serious
errors in areas of
spelling, capitalization,
punctuation, grammar,
usage, and/ or syntax.
These errors interfere
with communication of
ideas.
Writing has serious
errors in sentence
structure and/ or
phrasing that interfere
with communication of
ideas.