This document provides a grading guide for a public argument essay assignment. It outlines four levels (A, B, C, D) for evaluating various components of the essay, including the central idea/focus, evidence and analysis, writing style, and mechanics. For each component, it describes the characteristics of an A, B, C, or D level response. The document also provides additional guidance on drafting, revising, and structuring the public argument essay.

1. adapted from Erec Toso
FREY 102 1.11.16Grading Guide – Public Argument
Essay
your name:______________
Content: Focusing Idea
A: Central idea is independent, complex, intellectually and/or
emotionally challenging, showing that the writer thoroughly
engaged with his or her chosen topic and a context that
increases understanding of some aspect of that topic. Content
has been divided into logical and comprehensible order that
contributes to the evolution of the central idea.
B: Central idea is clear, precise, and engaging. Understanding
of some aspect of the chosen topic and a context is above
average. Main idea has been divided and arranged into a logical,
meaningful order.
C: Central idea is clear. It runs through the essay but is not
narrow enough or developed enough to fully teach something
about what the writer sees at work in his or her chosen topic.
Central idea has been broken into arbitrary parts.
D: Very little of writer’s thoughts about the chosen topic and
how it is better understood through some context. The writer
may argue some idea or fail to focus the discussion around some
aspect of that topic. Essay rambles with little sense of order to
the discussion of the main idea.
Development: Evidence and Analysis
A: Writer supports ideas with numerous texts and uses them to
support his or her thinking about the topic. There is plenty of

2. cogent commentary, explanation, analysis and inferential
discussion that seamlessly connect quotes and/or paraphrases
with controlling ideas.
B: Writer controls numerous texts to illustrate ideas through
paraphrase, summary and direct quotes. Citations are skillfully
incorporated.
C: Writer uses quotes and/or paraphrases correctly to support
ideas. Quotes and/or paraphrases may be awkwardly
incorporated, under-explained or followed up on, sometimes
disrupting the flow of ideas.
D: Quotes and/or paraphrases used but sometimes incorrectly,
awkwardly, or not incorporated. They sometimes stand by
themselves.
Expression/Mechanics: Style, Active Prose, Readability, MLA
format, Works Cited
A: Ideas are expressed in a way that reveals a thoughtful,
independent discussion. Explanations are thorough, polished,
and eminently reader-friendly. Word choice shows attention to
precision and smooth progress. Sentences are varied and used
for rhetorical effect.
B: Sentence structure and progression of ideas is correct, even
sophisticated, but are not yet fully reader-based. Moments of
clarity, even brilliance, mix with gaps and/or abrupt shifts from
one idea to the next.
C: Wording is adequately precise and grammatically correct but
wanders or falls short of elaborating on the specifics of
controlling idea. Sentence structure tends to be repetitive and
simple.
D: Wording is imprecise and doesn’t name concepts accurately.

3. Sentences are overly simple or incorrect in ways that interfere
with the conveyance of ideas.
Reflection Writing Exercise #3
1) What did you learn about applying the rhetorical situation to
your academic writing?
(appeals of ethos/pathos/logos/varying)
2) If you had one more draft, what is most needed/what would
you do differently?
3) If, in the final unit, you were asked to dramatically revise the
genre and form of your Public Argument, what choices would
be most interesting for you as the author, and most effective for
your focused/chosen audience?
Frey, Writing the Public Argument, 4/18/2017, 1/2
Writing the Public Argument on a subtopic pertaining to your
Annotated Bibliography and Synthesis Analysis. Your audience
is college-educated essay readers who know little of your
chosen subtopic, and who are interested in learning more, and
who agree with some of your ideas but not completely (yet).
Goal:create a 7-8 page research paper that educates your reader
on the different aspects of a current controversy of your chosen
topic, and argues for a specific solution.
Due: Tuesday April 18
Student Example 1
MLA format:
heading and header

4. Student Example 2
7-8 pages, double-spaced
1” margins all around
Times New Roman, 12-point font
a Works Cited page
Drafting: You have been in the process of drafting the Public
Argumentthis whole semester. Every reading and writing
exercise support your analysis, research, and writing of the
Public Argument. These include the rhetorical language study of
the first unit, the Summary and Critique assignments, the
interest inventories, the Annotated Bibliography and its
synthesizing into your Synthesis Analysis, the library research
… for the Public Argument, review our course of study, decide
what rhetorical strategies are best for you to incorporate, and
write a Public Argument encompassing the rhetorical analysis
and research skills you have learned thus far.
Note: The “introduction” of the Public Argumentincludes the
topic and the subtopic(s) of your choice, the main points of your
argument, and directly states your thesis. Take as long as
needed on the page to introduce your audience to the topic (and
the subtopics) your Public Argumentwill take on.
Revising: You’ll spend much time over the next two weeks
independently revisiting your writing and your research to make
sure your Public Argumentis 1) accurate, 2) written in your own
words, and 3) connects ideas smoothly. You will most likely
find your section’s email list and small group meetings (that
you set up yourself with your peers) most helpful. We will, of
course, do in-class workshopping of global and specific writing

5. issues. Good research + good revising = good persuasion.
Oh, and … here’s our three sheets of rhetorical appeals. At a
minimum, think about your own ethical appeal.
Some Step-by-Step Direction: In creating your Public
Argument, consider that most of the strongest essays I grade
implement the classical argument style. If interested, here are
some strong, clear guidelines for how to properly structure your
argument in the classical style.
Also, especially for those of you tackling an emotionally
charged topic, you may benefit from implementing all of or
some aspects of the Rogerian argumentation as well.
Remember the free writing help via the Writing Center at the
Think Tank …
And the organizational tools to ease your research and writing:
--- the web plug-in citation managerZotero
--- the library’s online citation managerRefWorks/Write-N-Cite
Some Evaluation Criteria
The Public Argument
- identifies the thesis and main points of the original sources
- identifies the genre and the author and title of the original
sources
- directly states your thesis, which while focusing on a topic of
your choice and uncovering controversy from your
body of research, may also focus on the strengths and
weaknesses of the rhetorical strategies found in the original
sources
- has a style and organization that are easy to follow
- reads smoothly with transitions connecting ideas
- paraphrases the important ideas of the original sources without

6. using the author’s phrasing
- “quotes” as often as needed to accurately incorporate sources
- makes effective use of specific detail from original sources to
support analysis
- makes effective use of specific detail-of-place to increase
rhetorical effect of your writing
- makes rhetorically significant judgments about the original
sources
- avoids errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling and MLA
formatting
Grading Reminder: Specific requirements of individual
assignments may vary, but in all cases my evaluation of your
Public Arguments will consider content, organization,
development of ideas, expression, mechanics, and maturity of
thought. From the Syllabus:
"C" work is competent, adequate work for college level writing,
and not to be ashamed of.
"B" work shows some original, complex thought about your
topic and has the expressive mastery to convey those thoughts
to an interested, educated reader. "B" work goes beyond self-
evident, general ideas that only summarize, and it focuses the
discussion on a topic narrow enough to discuss in a short paper.
"B" work makes an original, debatable, important claim that
teaches something, creates new meaning, work that you can be
proud of.
"A" work is this and more: It is eminently readable, engaging,
and interesting as a piece of writing. It fulfills the assignment
by becoming more than the sum of its parts. It is complex,
important, developed, organized, rhetorically appropriate, and
mechanically flawless. To get an "A" in this course, all work
will have to be superbly thought through and presented; you
will have to hit the ground running and keep running throughout
the semester.

7. If you ever have a question about my comments or a grade you
have received, be sure to talk to me about it.