Content & Organization

no attention to opening or closing; no focus; no organization of ideas

minimal attention to opening or closing; some details but no elaboration; no transitions; unable to focus

limited attention to opening and/or closing; progression of ideas but flawed or uneven; may attempt to use transitions

general attention to opening and closing; sense of focus; some use of transitions, but uneven development may be overlooked

consistent attention to opening and closing; single, distinct focus; organization and elaboration of ideas; logical and cohesive use of transitions

Sentence Construction

incomplete/incorrect sentences

some sentence construction but marked by monotony and/or awkward syntax; no sense of rhetorical modes

some control of syntax; simple sentence structure, but little or no variety

control of syntax; eliminates excessive monotony; varied sentence structure

syntactic and rhetorical sophistication; subordination and coordination; avoids wordiness

Usage

numerous and/or serious errors ignored; inability to apply rules

some errors corrected but generally inconsistent application of rules

inconsistent in correcting errors; knowledge of rules but inability to utilize them effectively or consistently

errors corrected, but some may be overlooked; general knowledge and application of rules

knowledge and application of rules, leaving few, if any, errors

numerous and serious errors are ignored; inability to apply rules

inability to apply rules; errors, but inconsistently corrected; may create some errors where none existed

knowledge of rules, but some inconsistency in application; patterns of errors remain

errors, though some may be overlooked; knowledge and application of rules

errors, leaving few, if any; knowledge and application of rules