IDEA DEVELOPMENT
Ideas are the heart of the message, the main thesis,
impression, or story line of the piece, together with the documented support,
elaboration, anecdotes, images, or carefully selected details that build
understanding or hold a reader's attention.
· Score 5 - The paper is clear, focused, purposeful, and enhanced
by significant detail that captures a reader's interest.
· Score 3 - The writer has made a solid beginning in defining a
key issue, making a point, creating an impression, or sketching out a story
line. More focus and detail will
breathe life into this writing.
· Score 1 - The writing is sketchy or loosely focused.
The reader must make inferences in order to grasp the point or place
together the story.
ORGANIZATION
Organization is the internal structure of the piece. It is both skeleton and glue. Strong
organization begins with a purposeful, engaging lead and wraps up with a
thought-provoking close. In
between, the writer takes care to link each detail or new development to a
larger picture, building to a turning point or key revelation and always
including strong transitions that form a kind of safety net for the reader, who
never feels lost.
· Score 5 - The order, presentation, or internal structure of the
place is compelling and moves the reader purposefully through the text.
· Score 3 - The organizational structure guides the reader through
the text without too much confusion.
· Score 1 - Ideas, details, or events seem loosely strung together. The reader struggles to discover a clear direction or purpose.
VOICE
Voice is the presence of the writer on the page. When the writer's passion for the topic and concern for the audience
are strong, the text virtually dances with life and energy, and the reader feels
a strong connection to both writing and writer.
· Score 5 - The writer's energy and passion for the subject
drive the writing, making the text lively, expressive, and engaging.
· Score 3 - The writer seems sincere and willing to communicate
with the reader on a functional, if somewhat distant, level.
· Score 1 - The writer seems significantly distanced from topic,
audience, or both; as a result, the text may lack life, spirit, or energy.
WORD CHOICE
Word choice is precision in the use of words - wordsmithery. It is the love of
language, a passion for words, combined with a skill in choosing words that
create just the mood, impression, or word picture the writer wants to instill in
the heart and mind of the reader.
· Score 5 - Precise, vivid, natural language paints a strong,
clear, and complete picture in the reader's mind.
· Score 3 - The language communicates for the most part; it gets
the job done.
· Score 1 - The writer struggles with a limited vocabulary,
searching for words or phrases to convey meaning-or overwrites as if trying to
impress.
SENTENCE FLUENCY
Sentence fluency is finely crafted construction combined
with a sense of rhythm and grace. It
is achieved through logic, creative phrasing, parallel construction,
alliteration, absence of redundancy, variety in sentence length and structure,
and a true effort to create language that literally cries out to be spoken
aloud.
· Score 5 - An easy flow and rhythm combines with sentence sense
and clarity make this text a delight to read aloud.
· Score 3 - The text hums along with a steady beat.
· Score 1 - A fair interpretive oral reading of this text takes
practice.
CONVENTIONS
Almost anything a copy editor would attend to fall under
the heading of conventions. This
includes punctuation, spelling, grammar and usage, capitalization, and
paragraphing - the spit-and-polish phase of preparing a document for
publication. It does not (in this
scoring guide) include layout, formatting, or handwriting.
· Score 5 - The writer shows excellent control over a wide range
of standard writing conventions and uses them with accuracy and (when
appropriate) creativity and style to enhance meaning.
· Score 3 - The writer shows reasonable control over the most
widely used writing conventions and applies them with fair consistency to create
text that is adequately readable.
· Score 1 - The writer demonstrates limited control even over
widely used writing conventions.
