Topic: Evaluation Criteria for a Writing Assignment

Question: What are criteria for the best and poorest student writing?

Answer.

Highest:

Focus. Focus is perfect: no scenes or paragraphs could be deleted without significantly damaging the story, and any additions would be distracting

Concreteness. Contains an astonishing amount of effective detail and no excess detail.

Tension. Sustains significant narrative tension through choices that are highly original and even daring.

Pace. Contains several places where the pace picks up or slows down dramatically and effectively.

Style/correctness. Contains no errors in grammar, mechanics, or MLA format and the sentences are delightfully graceful and clear.

Poorest:

Focus. It is difficult to tell what the real story is because the essay contains either far too many events or far too few.

Concreteness. Contains no significant concrete details.

Tension. Sustains no real tension and/or is very difficult to follow.

Pace. The pace consistently speeds up and slows down in inappropriate places.

Style/Correctness. Contains so many errors as to make the text practically or completely unreadable.

Comment: Hard to tell what exactly this assignment consists of. Is it a story? Or an essay? Or research  paper? Still, the categories are useful. RayS.

Title: “Here We Go ‘Round and ‘Round: A Process of Peer Evaluation.” SK Engbers. Teaching English in the Two-Year College (May 2009), 394-401.