Negative and Positive Emotions or Hierarchy of Needs

An A paper

Consistently, clearly and effectively communicates its purpose to its audience in all areas of writing: consistently clear focus, sufficient development, and coherent in terms of organization and style. The ideas are also well thought out and have significance within the rhetorical context.

A B paper

Is strong in most areas but intermittently deficient in one area or contains minor problems in more than one area. For instance, the essay may be strong in all areas but have some problems with audience, portions may lose focus or be underdeveloped, or there may be some distracting inconsistencies or errors in style (coherence).

A C paper

Generally accomplishes the main job of the assignment–so it maintains its purpose. But it’s either intermittently deficient in two categories or consistently deficient in one. For instance, there may be intermittent problems with both audience and development, or the whole essay may be consistently underdeveloped.

A D paper

Is consistently deficient in two areas–for example, consistently unfocused and underdeveloped–to the degree that the deficiencies undermine the purpose of the essay. An unfocused and underdeveloped essay, for instance, would not be able to convey its message to a reader in any significant way. The essay could also have enough serious problems in a combination of areas that the purpose is undermined. It could also miss a major portion of the assignment–like an essay which has no connection to the assigned topic.

An F paper

Is an essay that either was not turned in or is severely deficient in almost all areas Or it could be an essay that completely fails to address the assignment.

Apprentice 1

Basic 2

Learned 3

Exemplary 4

* Limited awareness of audience and/or purpose

* Minimal idea development, limited and/or unrelated details

* Few references

* Random or weak organization

* Incorrect or lack of topic and/or transition sentences.

* Incorrect and/or ineffective wording and/or sentence structure

* Errors in grammar and format (e.g., spelling, punctuation, capitalization, headings)

* An attempt to establish and maintain purpose and communicate with the audience

* Unelaborated idea development; unelaborated and/or repetitious details

* Some references

* Lapses in focus and/or coherence

* Simplistic and/or awkward sentence structure

* Simplistic and/or imprecise language.

* Some errors in grammar and/or format that do not interfere with communication

* Focused on a purpose; evidence of voice and/or suitable tone

* Depth of idea development supported by elaborated, relevant details

* Use of references indicate ample research

* Logical organization

* Controlled and varied sentence structure

* Acceptable, effective language

* Few errors in grammar or format relative to length and complexity

* Establishes and maintains clear focus; evidence of distinctive voice and/or appropriate tone

* Depth and complexity of ideas supported by rich, engaging, and or pertinent details; evidence of analysis, reflection and insight.

* Use of references indicate substantial research

* Careful and/or suitable organization

* Variety of sentence structure and length

* Precise and/or rich language

* Control of surface features