AN "A" GRADE IS GIVEN FOR WORK WHICH IS OUTSTANDING.
• Content - the subject treatment shows superior intelligence, careful workmanship, and originality; it is interesting to read, not shallow.
• Organization - the work is organized clearly and forcefully so that the reader knows at all times the writer's purpose and intention.
• Paragraphs - coherent, full, and with emphasis.
• Sentences - precise, forceful, and interesting, always contributing to the writer's central purpose.
• Words & Images - exact and appropriate to their context; idioms are correct.
• Grammar, Spelling & Punctuation - free from error.
A "B" GRADE IS GIVEN FOR WORK WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE AVERAGE.
• Content - shows strong expressive competence and above average ability to relate ideas intelligently; lacks some originality of thought.
• Organization - clear, but without the full clarity and tight coherence of the "A" paper; reader understands clearly the writer's intentions.
• Paragraphs - unified, coherent, and fairly well developed.
• Sentences - fluent and sufficiently varied in type and length to make for an easy, natural style.
• Words & Images - precise and with some concern for their connotative value.
• Grammar, Spelling & Punctuation - more or less free from error (1-2).
A "C" GRADE IS GIVEN FOR WORK WHICH IS GENERALLY SATISFACTORY AND ACCEPTABLE.
• Content - subject treatment is acceptable, but without distinction; it reveals some thinking but nothing in particular commends it.
• Organization - work has a relatively clear structure (the central idea is systematically developed, perhaps a bit mechanically).
• Paragraphs - while unified and developed, the development shows little originality.
• Sentences - correct and linked to one another, making for basic fluency; however, stylistically wooden or repetitious, and not forceful.
• Words & Images - generally correct but without much evocative power.
• Grammar, Spelling & Punctuation - generally correct, with a few slips (3-4).
A "D" GRADE IS GIVEN FOR WORK WHICH FAILS IN SOME WAY TO ACHIEVE SATISFACTORY STATUS.
• Content - subject treatment is thin; no central idea developed.
• Organization - while the work may be divided into subtopics, the organization is not wholly clear or effective.
• Paragraphs - present but not fully developed or coherently focused.
• Sentences - awkward, ambiguous, or overly simple in structure.
• Words & Images - often imprecise or inappropriate.
• Grammar, Spelling & Punctuation - faulty (5-6).
AN "F" GRADE IS GIVEN FOR WORK WHICH IS INADEQUATE OR UNACCEPTABLE.
• Content - treatment is highly superficial or thoughtless.
• Organization - not divided, or illogically divided, into subtopics indicated by systematic paragraphing.
• Paragraphs - lack unity or are almost completely undeveloped.
• Sentences - so confused that they obscure the meaning or are constructed in a primer-like style.
• Words & Images - too frequently inexact or inept.
• Grammar, Spelling & Punctuation - botched (7 or more).