Prof. Francia - ENG 101 - Fall 2025: Home

Excellent 

Good  

Okay  

Needs Improvement  

Knowledge and Understanding/ 

Hooks Reader 

• Shows personal knowledge and connection to the topic 

• Engaging, shows interest in the topic  

• Uses emotion and pathos to engage the reader to care about the topic 

• Shows good knowledge of the topic and some personal investment 

• Reasonably persuasive 

• Reader feels some engagement in the topic 

• Shows some knowledge of the topic, but is not as personally invested 

• Tries to engage reader but needs more emotion 

• Does not show interest or knowledge of the topic 

• Does not engage reader’s emotions in the topic 

Sources and Analysis of Sources 

• Has multiple quotes from good sources to back up claim with depth 

• Has at least four reliable scholarly sources as re 

• Explanations of quotes show analysis and your own thoughts, not just summary 

• Quotes are cited correctly using MLA in text citations 

• Has an MLA formatted works cited at the end 

• Has quotes from relevant sources 

• Explanations of quotes show some analysis  

• Quotes are cited with minor errors 

• Has an MLA works cited but it may have some small  errors 

• Has quotes, but quotes may lack relevance  

• Mostly summary of sources without analysis 

• Attempts to cite sources but may have major errors 

• Works cited page is not in MLA (for example, is just links) 

• No sources, or sources aren’t relevant 

• Sources not cited 

Organization and Clarity of Argument 

• Strong thesis statement and topic sentences, makes a clear argument and sticks to it throughout 

• Stays on track for the whole essay; each paragraph clearly connects 

• Ends strong and restates thesis at the end 

• Good thesis and topic sentences, makes a somewhat clear argument 

• Mostly stays on track, each paragraph mostly connects 

• Has a conclusion 

• Has a thesis and topic sentences but these may need work or be unclear 

• Some paragraphs may not seem to connect 

• Needs stronger conclusion 

• Lacks clear thesis and topic sentences 

• Hard to follow, changes topic or skips around 

Presentation 

• Coherent writing with excellent punctuation and grammar 

• Sophisticated word choice 

• Looks professional and polished 

• Reader can comprehend the writing 

• Clear word choice 

• Punctuation and grammar mostly correct 

• Punctuation and grammar mistakes make it sometimes hard to understand 

• Very hard to follow due to punctuation, grammar, and formatting mistakes