ENG 112 Essay #2 Rubric ENG 112 Essay #2 Write an analytical essay of at least 750 words in response to one of the following prompts. · Theme: If tragedy is meant to be morally instructive, as the ancient Greeks believed, what is the message the audience is supposed to take away from Fences? Why is this tale told, and why is it told the way it is? Be sure to demonstrate how Wilson uses specific literary techniques to convey this theme to the reader. Incorporate support from at least one weighty and credible academic secondary source to back up your argument. · Character: Does Troy Maxson deserve the bad things that happen to him? Does he bring on those negative consequences through his own actions, or is he a sympathetic victim of external forces? [It’s perfectly acceptable to argue something in between these extreme positions, but your overall argument should put forth a firm claim about how Wilson wants readers to view Troy.] Be sure to provide detailed textual support for your argument. Incorporate support from at least one weighty and credible academic secondary source to back up your argument. Purpose and audience Your purpose is to present an analytical argument about the selected topic that provides supporting textual evidence from both a primary and secondary text, and your audience is the academic community. Because academic writing should be as objective and impersonal as possible, avoid personal statements (“I,” “me,” “my,” etc.) and uses of the second person (“you”). Format The final essay must be at least 750 words in length (not counting headers, Works Cited pages, etc.) and must be submitted electronically (on the course website) as a Microsoft Word document. All essays must follow the conventions of formal academic writing: double spacing, a standard font, 12 pt font size, and standard margins. Students must include the following information in the upper left-hand corner of the first page: Name, Date, Course Number and Section, and Assignment Number. For example: John Smith February 15, 2019 ENG112-789 Essay #2 Document all source material according to MLA guidelines, providing both in-text citations and a Works Cited page. NOTE: Proper documentation is one of the main skills that will be evaluated in this essay. Schedule See the course calendar for specific due dates for the following steps: Peer review: Submit a complete draft of the essay by the date specified in the course. When drafts are submitted, follow the course instructions for peer review, in which students will read each other’s drafts and make helpful suggestions for revision. Your performance in peer review is evaluated and is part of your participation grade. Final submission: Submit your final essay in the appropriate place on the due date. Any papers received after midnight on that day will be penalized for lateness. Essays are docked seven points for each day they are late, and essays more than a week late will not be a.

1. ENG 112 Essay #2 Rubric ENG 112
Essay #2
Write an analytical essay of at least 750 words in response to
one of the following prompts.
· Theme: If tragedy is meant to be morally instructive, as the
ancient Greeks believed, what is the message the audience is
supposed to take away from Fences? Why is this tale told, and
why is it told the way it is? Be sure to demonstrate how Wilson
uses specific literary techniques to convey this theme to the
reader. Incorporate support from at least one weighty and
credible academic secondary source to back up your argument.
· Character: Does Troy Maxson deserve the bad things that
happen to him? Does he bring on those negative consequences
through his own actions, or is he a sympathetic victim of
external forces? [It’s perfectly acceptable to argue something in
between these extreme positions, but your overall argument
should put forth a firm claim about how Wilson wants readers to
view Troy.] Be sure to provide detailed textual support for your
argument. Incorporate support from at least one weighty and
credible academic secondary source to back up your argument.
Purpose and audience
Your purpose is to present an analytical argument about the
selected topic that provides supporting textual evidence from
both a primary and secondary text, and your audience is the
academic community. Because academic writing should be as
objective and impersonal as possible, avoid personal statements
(“I,” “me,” “my,” etc.) and uses of the second person (“you”).
Format

2. The final essay must be at least 750 words in length (not
counting headers, Works Cited pages, etc.) and must be
submitted electronically (on the course website) as a Microsoft
Word document. All essays must follow the conventions of
formal academic writing: double spacing, a standard font, 12 pt
font size, and standard margins. Students must include the
following information in the upper left-hand corner of the first
page: Name, Date, Course Number and Section, and Assignment
Number. For example:
John Smith
February 15, 2019
ENG112-789
Essay #2
Document all source material according to MLA guidelines,
providing both in-text citations and a Works Cited page. NOTE:
Proper documentation is one of the main skills that will be
evaluated in this essay.
Schedule
See the course calendar for specific due dates for the following
steps:
Peer review: Submit a complete draft of the essay by the date
specified in the course. When drafts are submitted, follow the
course instructions for peer review, in which students will read
each other’s drafts and make helpful suggestions for revision.
Your performance in peer review is evaluated and is part of
your participation grade.
Final submission: Submit your final essay in the appropriate
place on the due date. Any papers received after midnight on
that day will be penalized for lateness. Essays are docked seven
points for each day they are late, and essays more than a week
late will not be accepted.
Assessment

3. The essay is worth 100 points and will be graded according to
the attached rubric.
Name:
An A paper
A B paper
A C paper
A D paper
An F paper
Content
assignment requirements
fulfills the requirements laid out in the prompt (topic, length,
format, etc.)
does not fulfill the requirements laid out in the prompt (topic,
length, format, etc.)
thesis statement
puts forth a clear thesis statement that is specific, manageable,
and arguable
puts forth a mostly clear thesis statement that is specific,
manageable, and arguable
puts forth a fairly clear thesis statement that has some problems
with being specific, manageable, and arguable
puts forth a thesis statement that is not clear and/or is not
specific manageable, and arguable
fails to put forth an identifiable thesis statement
argument
lays out a logical argument that thoroughly develops the thesis
statement
lays out a logical argument that adequately develops the thesis
statement

4. lays out an argument with some issues with logical development
of the thesis statement
lays out an argument that barely develops the thesis statement
fails to lay out an argument that develops the thesis statement
support
backs up all claims with sufficient and appropriate evidence
from the primary source and at least one weighty and credible
academic secondary source
backs up most claims with sufficient and appropriate evidence
from the primary source and at least one weighty and credible
academic secondary source
backs up some claims with sufficient and appropriate evidence
from the primary source, but there are issues with the use of the
secondary source
backs up only a few claims with sufficient and appropriate
evidence, and does not use a weighty and credible secondary
source
fails to back up claims with sufficient and appropriate evidence
from the primary source and at least one weighty and credible
secondary source
audience
shows a strong sense of the expectations and standards of the
audience
shows a solid sense of the expectations and standards of the
audience
shows an adequate sense of the expectations and standards of
the audience
shows a faulty sense of the expectations and standards of the
audience
fails to show any sense of the expectations and standards of the
audience
Organization

5. structure
is logically structured, with supporting points tied to the main
idea clearly
is logically structured, with supporting points tied to the main
idea mostly clearly
is logically structured, with supporting points tied to the main
idea fairly clearly
has significant issues with logical structure
fails to convey a sense of logical structure
unity
strongly displays unity by maintaining focus on a single
argument
solidly displays unity by maintaining focus on a single
argument
displays unity by maintaining focus on a single idea or
argument
has significant issues with maintaining focus on a single idea or
argument
fails to maintain focus on a single argument
coherence
provides a strong sense of logical flow, using transitions to
connect ideas
provides a solid sense of logical flow, using transitions to
connect ideas
provides an adequate sense of logical flow, using transitions to
connect most ideas
provides an often unclear sense of logical flow
fails to provide a sense of logical connection from idea to idea
introduction
presents a very clear introduction that strongly engages the
reader and offers a blueprint
presents a clear introduction that solidly engages the reader and
offers a blueprint
presents a clear introduction that adequately engages the reader
and offers a blueprint

6. presents a somewhat unclear introduction that hardly engages
the reader and does not offer a blueprint
presents an unclear introduction that fails to engage the reader
or offer a blueprint
conclusion
presents a conclusion that indicates what has been gained and
provides a strong sense of closure
presents a conclusion that neatly ties up the argument and
provides a solid sense of closure
presents a conclusion that recaps the argument and provides an
adequate sense of closure
presents a conclusion that provides a minimal sense of closure
fails to present a clear conclusion
Style/Expression
tone
always uses a tone and diction level appropriate for academic
writing
usually uses a tone and diction level appropriate for academic
writing
adequately uses a tone and diction level appropriate for
academic writing
often does not use a tone and diction level appropriate for
academic writing
fails to use a tone and diction level appropriate for academic
writing
clarity
expresses ideas extremely clearly and concisely
expresses ideas mostly clearly and concisely
expresses ideas fairly clearly and concisely
displays a lack of clarity and conciseness that hurts the
argument

7. fails to convey ideas effectively
variety
varies sentence structure very effectively, helping readers move
through the argument smoothly
varies sentence structure solidly, avoiding repetition and
choppiness
varies sentence structure adequately, mostly avoiding repetition
and choppiness
uses repetitive sentence structure that hurts the flow of the
argument somewhat
fails to vary sentence structure, significantly interfering with
the flow of the argument
Grammar/Mechanics
spelling
contains no errors in terms of spelling, capitalization, italics,
etc.
contains an error that does not interfere with the presentation of
ideas
contains a few errors that hardly interfere with the presentation
of ideas
contains several errors that somewhat interfere with the
presentation of ideas
contains frequent errors that significantly interfere with the
presentation of ideas
punctuation
contains minimal punctuation errors
contains punctuation errors that do not interfere with the
presentation of ideas
contains punctuation errors that hardly interfere with the
presentation of ideas
contains punctuation errors that somewhat interfere with the

8. presentation of ideas
contains punctuation errors that significantly interfere with the
presentation of ideas
sentence construction
contains no fragments, fused sentences, or comma splices
contains a sentence error that does not interfere with the
presentation of ideas
contains sentence errors that hardly interfere with the
presentation of ideas
contains several sentence errors that somewhat interfere with
the presentation of ideas
contains sentence errors that significantly interfere with the
presentation of ideas
tense
contains no errors in terms of verb tense
contains a verb tense error that does not interfere with the
presentation of ideas
contains verb tense errors that hardly interfere with the
presentation of ideas
contains several verb tense errors that somewhat interfere with
the presentation of ideas
contains verb tense errors that significantly interfere with the
presentation of ideas
agreement
contains no agreement or parallelism errors
contains an agreement or parallelism error that does not
interfere with the presentation of ideas
contains agreement and parallelism errors that hardly interfere
with the presentation of ideas
contains several agreement or parallelism errors that somewhat
interfere with the presentation of ideas
contains agreement or parallelism errors that significantly
interfere with the presentation of ideas
quotation
presents and incorporates all source material properly and
smoothly

9. displays a minor issue with the presentation and incorporation
of source material
displays a few minor issues with the presentation and
incorporation of source material
displays several issues with the presentation and incorporation
of source material
entirely fails to present and incorporate source material
properly
documentation
follows MLA documentation guidelines perfectly
displays a minor issue with MLA documentation
displays a few minor issues with MLA documentation
displays several issues with MLA documentation
entirely fails to follow MLA documentation guidelines
Draftwork/Review: