Department of Plant Agriculture- Rubric for Term Papers
Name:___________________________ Grade:___________________________
Essay Component	A (80-100%)
Excellent	B (70-79%)
Good	C (60-69%)
Acceptable	D (50-59%)
Minimally Acceptable	F (0-49%)
Fail	Comments	

Thesis - subject of your paper to be proven or disproved by use of evidence and analysis.	•	clear, precise, thorough, and well-defined
•	insightful and elegantly stated
•	plausible and persuasive
•	well-proven through evidence and analysis
•	may present novel ideas	•	clear and specific
•	some minor terms left undefined
•	some aspects of argument left unconsidered
•	little originality
	•	thesis rather general or too broad
•	many important terms left undefined
•	unclear statement of position
•	lacks originality (repeating questions already answered)	•	thesis difficult to identify
•	vague thesis unrelated to argument
•	central terms are undefined
•	thesis presents only the obvious	•	no evident thesis		
Analysis	•	isolates and defines most pressing questions
•	identifies the scope and complexity of the issues
•	relates existing arguments to evidence supporting thesis
•	evaluates and judges evidence
•	draws conclusions that unveil deep, novel implications of the questions and issues	•	analysis is sound and thorough
•	interpretation of evidence demonstrates an understanding of both sides of an argument
•	all relevant concepts are noted, examined and related to thesis
•	superficial evaluation or judgment of evidence  and may not look at future implications of findings	•	little analysis
•	interpretation fails to grasp full relevance of issues
•	relationship between evidence and thesis is not always clearly defined	•	analysis characterized by generalizations and statement of the obvious
•	fails to include or relate evidence to main position (thesis)
•	narration or description rather than analysis
•	frequently off-topic
•	weak relationship between position and evidence	•	no evidence of analysis
•	reliance on disconnected lists and inventories of data without interpretation
•	anecdotal evidence
•	conclusions not connected to the thesis		
Use of Evidence	•	evidence of strong familiarity with relevant research and concepts
•	rich use of primary and secondary sources that supports position
•	references are correctly cited
•	precise and appropriate scientific language used
•	deals convincingly with opposing evidence	•	evidence of an appreciation for the relevant research and concepts
•	use of suitable primary and secondary sources
•	more persuasive supporting evidence available for use but not integrated
•	some minor errors in referencing
•	some passages where logic unclear	•	basic understanding of some core ideas evident
•	use of primary and secondary sources superficial or incorrect
•	incorrect or missing references, inconsistent citation style but conventions largely observed
	•	inadequate understanding of key concepts
•	factual or conceptual errors
•	confused or ineffectual use of source material as evidence
•	citations are not included or structured in accordance with conventions
•	imprecise use of scientific terms	•	lacks understanding of key concepts
•	minimal or no use of relevant source materials
•	evidence does not support argument
•	lack of referencing		
Organization and Structure	•	transitions between ideas are clear and smooth
•	each paragraph contains distinct units of thought and are clearly introduced
•	paragraph arrangements are logical and conducive to a persuasive argument	•	definable paragraphs
•	logical flow
•	weak or absent introductions and/or transitions	•	awkward or abrupt transitions
•	some paragraphs too weak or undeveloped
•	some underdeveloped ideas
•	many paragraphs without introductions or transitions
•	more than one idea in a paragraph	•	topics are not arranged logically into paragraphs
•	the position wanders back and forth
•	transitions are confused or absent
•	paragraphs lack clearly defined ideas	•	no transitions
•	incoherent paragraphs
•	jumbled structure
•	lack of planning and revision clearly evident		
Grammar and Style	•	all writing conventions are observed (margins, font size, spacing, citations style)
•	very few or no errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation
•	sophisticated and persuasive sentences in active voice, where possible
•	appropriate use of primary and secondary references
•	appropriate report structure with headings and sub-headings	•	word choice is occasionally problematic
•	some problems with punctuation, grammar or style
•	not much variety in sentence structure
•	Headings and sub-heading used but organization can be improved	•	wordy or emotional
•	unclear or awkward sentences
•	some imprecise use of words
•	some major grammatical errors 
•	Minimal use of headings and sub-headings	•	major grammatical errors that should have been apparent during proofreading 
•	use of clichés and colloquialisms
•	imprecise use of words
•	inappropriate or irrelevant use of argumentation
•	No use of headings and sub-headings.	•	wordy, non-academic style
•	poor sentence structure
•	frequent grammatical errors
•	inappropriate word choice
•	poor grammar
•	frequent typos