Evaluation

Scorers will evaluate your essay for the following:

1. Appropriateness:

• Have you addressed the topic?
• Have you stated a position on the issue?
• Do you argue the stated position?
• Is the language appropriate? Do not use awkward, artificial phrasing. Do not overuse slang and “street talk.” Do not use profanity.

2. Unity and focus:

• Do you state and maintain your position throughout the essay?
• Do you make your point clear to the readers?
• Do your examples clearly develop the point?

3. Development:

• Do you support your point with specific detail?
• Is there a sufficient amount of support?
• Is there depth to the support?

4. Organization:

• Is the information organized logically?
• Does each paragraph relate to the thesis?

5. Sentence structure:

• Are the majority of your sentences error free? Avoid fragments, run-ons, comma splices, subject-verb agreement errors, pronoun agreement errors, unnecessary repetition, and wordy sentences.

6. Usage:

• Is the writing free of word errors?
• Do you use precise word choice?

7. Mechanical conventions:

• Do you spell common words correctly?
• Do you use capitalization and punctuation correctly?

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