Paper Rubrics, Comments, and Grading
Students might be interested in what standards I use to grade papers. A good essay 1) includes a thesis point or points 2) that are clearly articulated as answers to the assigned questions and also 3) makes a compelling and insightful argument.
I use this rubric to evaluate final papers, which will give you a sense of what strong papers include. We will discuss all those elements, and how to build them, in class discussions.
Rough drafts and thesis statements are evaluated on a more generous scale. I understand that these are drafts, and therefore give some significant points for effort (as demonstrated by hitting the requirements for each assignment). Please remember that thesis statements and rough drafts are not contracts and therefore you are always welcome to change your paper topics or directions at any point.
In all documents, I write the vast majority of my comments in comment bubbles on Canvas. However, Canvas pretty much sucks, and doesn’t make it easy for you to see the comments I write on your papers. In addition to the number grade and short phrase visible to the right of the paper in Canvas, you need to click on “see feedback” and follow the prompts until you see little bubble comments targeted to specific words and phrases in your paper. The vast majority of my comments will be in these comments because I am able to respond to specific points in your work. You will likely get many of these bubbles on every assignment. If you don’t see them, let me know and I’ll try to show you how. Or, better yet, ask a friend. Please believe I do not enjoy Canvas and remain angry that we have paid to be functional beta-testers.
