MLA grading rubric

1. Excellent Strong Fair Needs Work Does not meet
minimum
standards
Voice and
Rhetorical
Style:
Strong Rhetorical
style; Argument
persuades the reader
effectively from firm
beliefs; Very
enthusiastic delivery
Rhetorical style readily
moves audience, if beliefs
are not strong; somewhat
enthusiastic delivery
Somewhat moving; text
fails to sway a reader
with moderate beliefs;
Lackluster delivery;
awkward at times
Fails to move all but the
weakest held beliefs;
Delivery is often
Awkward
Work lacks a voice;
little, or no enthusiasm;
little effort to engage or
sway the reader
Structural
Integrity and
Organization:
Effective thesis; body
flows from thesis;
conclusion effectively
warps up the work;
transition
appropriately guide
the reader through the
reading
Appropriate thesis and
conclusion; Body supports
the thesis and conclusion;
transitions sometime a little
rough
Thesis statement and
conclusion is present;
Body lacks a clear
direction; supporting
evidence loosely tied to
theme
Thesis or conclusion
inappropriate for the
work; Supporting
evidence disconnected
to thesis or conclusion
Work lacks structure;
lacks a thesis or
conclusion; body seems
haphazard; transition
are not present
Ideas and
Concepts:
Offers a new and
insightful look at the
material; Clearly
demonstrates a lot of
thought went into the
work
Occasional insight; good
understanding of the course
concepts; occasionally
develops new ideas
Merely repeats what has
been discussed in the
text/course material;
adequately applies course
ideas, with little insight
Work show some effort,
but contains little
insight; ideas are
lacking in development
Little or no effort put
into the work; Lacks a
development of the
ideas; offers no original
content
Application of
the Material:
Superior
understanding of the
lesson/text; Clearly
demonstrates course
concepts in the work;
insightful application
of concepts
Demonstrates a clear
understanding of the
material, but does not offer
any new insights;
appropriate use of
terminology
Demonstrates some
knowledge of the course
material; Some
misapplication of the
course material;
occasional insight
Work is only loosely
relevant to the course
material; frequent
misuse of terminology
and concepts
Completely off topic,
or only an occasional
reference to course
material; severe misuse
of terminology
Sentence
Structure and
Variety:
Sentence length varies
to fit the situation,
giving the text variety
and clarity
Frequent variation in
sentence length, adding
strength to clarity
Some sentence length
variation, occasionally
adding to clarity
Infrequent sentence
length variation; Many
awkward sentences
Virtually no sentence
variation, leading to
lack of clarity; text
lacks overall

2. integration
Vocabulary
Choice and
Usage:
Word choice and
usage reflects an
expansive vocabulary;
word choice is
appropriate, and adds
depth to the writing
Word choice is consistently
interesting and expressive;
an occasional misuse of
terms
Vocabulary is
occasionally expressive
and insightful, but lacks
panache; word choice
mostly appropriate
Vocabulary is fairly
pedestrian; some
misused word choices;
Frequent use of
awkward words
Vocabulary
unintelligible, dull,
and/or non-descript;
words are frequently
misused
Mechanics,
Grammar, and
Proofing:
Virtually free from
mechanical,
grammatical,
punctuation, and
spelling errors; All of
the assignment
requirements were
met.
Occasional minor errors do
not distract the reader; the
majority of assignment
requirements were met.
Some significant errors
are present, but the
overall meaning is clear;
about half of the
assignment requirements
were met.
Errors are distracting,
but the meaning is still
clear; only some of the
assignment
requirements were met.
Errors distract the
reader, to the extent the
meaning is unclear; the
assignment
requirements were not
met.
MLA
Formatting
Requirements:
The
essay
is
formatted
in
MLA
style.
All
references
to
sources
are
accompanied
by
MLA
style
in-­‐text
citations.
Quotations
are
used
and
integrated
appropriately.
There
is
an
accurate
works
cited
page.
The
essay
is
formatted
in
MLA
style.
Most
references
to
sources
are
accompanied
by
MLA
style
in-­‐text
citations.
Quotations
are
generally
used
and
integrated
appropriately.
There
is
an
accurate
works
cited
page.
The
essay
meets
some
MLA
style
requirements.
Some
references
to
sources
are
accompanied
by
MLA
style
in-­‐text
citations.
Quotations
are
used
and
sometimes
integrated
appropriately.
There
is
a
works
cited
page,
but
it
may
have
errors
or
be
missing
sources.
The
essay
meets
some
MLA
style
requirements.
Some
references
to
sources
are
accompanied
by
MLA
style
in-­‐text
citations.
Quotations
are
used
but
rarely
integrated
appropriately.
There
is
a
works
cited
page,
but
it
may
have
errors
or
be
missing
sources.
The
essay
does
not
meet
MLA
style
requirements.
There
are
no
in-­‐text
citations.
Quotations
are
not
used
or
integrated
appropriately.
There
is
no
works
cited
page.