Gatekeeping Criteria for Papers
These criteria are conditions that must be present so that I may evaluate your papers. These conditions apply to all papers unless specified otherwise. If these conditions are not present, I reserve the right to refuse to read the paper, or the paper may receive a D or E grade..
| Category | A Range | B Range | C Range | D Range |
| Organization | Highly effective thesis, well developed and supported; cohesive; very logical reasoning | Clear thesis, developed and supported well, transitions
throughout most of the paper;
sound reasoning while developing paper |
Adequate thesis, some problem with development and examples; some transitions; reasoning may not always be logical |
Thesis is unclear, major problems with development and examples, few if any transitions; lacking logical reasoning |
| Thesis | Appears in paragraph 1; clearly stated; focused; not generalized | Clear, but may be too generalized | Very general thesis; may not appear in paragraph one | Vague thesis, or none apparent |
| Introduction | Exciting, informative, and descriptive; good lead in | Attracts reader's attention as it leads in to the paper | General, not specifically informative, uninteresting | Dull, uninformative; provides no lead in to the paper |
| Body (support and examples) | Shows strong evidence, logical reasoning; highly appropriate, and relevant examples | Good evidence with logical reasoning; appropriate, and relevant, examples | Evidence or support is present, but it is irrelevant, inappropriate, or illogical | Few, or no, support is present; use of highly irrelevant, inappropriate, or illogical examples |
| Conclusion | Summarizes and closes with highly thoughtful, and logical, insights; restates thesis | Provides good summary and close with some insights; restates thesis | Adequately summarizes paper/essay; may not restate thesis | Lacks clear closure to essay; does not restate thesis; "drops off" abruptly |
| Transitions | Utilizes excellent transitional devices between paragraphs, sentences, and ideas | Good transitional devices used between sentence, paragraphs, and ideas; may be redundant | Adequately uses transitions, but not consistently; artificially contrived at times, by repeating | Transitions are lacking throughout the paper; little effort made to unify paragraphs, etc. |
| Grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation | Conventions of English used correctly; easy to read | Very few errors; overall, easy to read | Some errors, occasionally multiple; some distraction for the reader | Excessive errors which make reading and understanding difficult |
| Spelling | Accurate without fault | Mostly accurate | Some errors | Excessive errors |
| MLA Citations | Accurate; quoted, and paraphrased, material correctly cited; correct number of sources and quotes | Fairly accurate; material, quoted or paraphrased, done in fairly consistent format; few errors; number of quotes and sources near perfect | Some errors with quoted, or paraphrased, material; format may be wrong or inconsistent; some inaccuracies may occur; some quotes and sources, but not required amount | Multiple or excessive problems with quoted, or paraphrased, material either in format, inaccuracies, or inconsistencies; few or no quotes or sources included |
CHECK YOUR DUE DATE IN THE "ASSIGNMENTS" SECTION! NO LATE PAPERS!
Last updated: July, 2006
Patricia A. Hutchins
http://www.delta.edu/pahutchi/113proposal.html