Content — The essay outlines at least three specific and distinct types of knowledge the writer has. Each type of knowledge is explained: how the writer gained it, how it is expressed in his/her own life, how it will play out in the future, etc.
The writer has created an introduction that hooks the reader. The introduction begins very generally and works toward the end to include a well crafted thesis.
A strong conclusion extends the thought beyond the essay. Why is it important that we obtain and seek to gain mulitple types of intelligence?
All effective essays include well-defined introduction, body, and conclusion sections. Within these sections are paragraphs that fit well together and advance the thesis statement.
Paragraphs have a structure as well. Each is introduced by the point the paragraph will make. After this topic sentence come several example sentences. These sentences answer the questions: why, or how, or for example. After several comments that answer these questions have been addressed, the writer pulls the essay to a close with a summary sentence that is broader in nature. Transition words are used throughout a paragraph that is structured well. The writer uses the different sentence types to aid in flow of the paragraph as well as to add variety and style.
Even the strongest essay will suffer if riddled with grammatical errors, short, choppy sentences and weak writer’s voice. At this level of writing, most errors fall into these categories: punctuation, pronoun agreement, weak word choice, and misuse of gendered/first-person language. Formal and standard English is expected for all submissions in this class.
Remember not to use “you.”
This is probably a category that you may have never seen on a rubric before. I like to include it because good writing costs the writer something: time, thought, work, and critical thinking. Writing is our opportunity to share ourselves to the world (or at least to our immediate audiences.) Most humans have a strong desire to be heard; at the same time, if we want people to listen, we must say something worthwhile — something pondered, something developed . . . not our first musings at the last minute. Granted, some folks have the gift — they can sit down and write deeply and passionately without a good deal of effort. Most of us can’t ,and when we try to, our writing is weak. Investment is demonstrated by thought beyond those first thoughts. Investment in development. Investment is a genuine desire to improve. Investment is demonstrated from one essay to the next when the writer learns to avoid errors that have been noted in prior essays. Use the annotations and feedback I provide you on each and every submission to make corrections and change your error patterns.
