LIT 1000
Critical Essay/Research Paper Rubric
Professor Hollis
Introduction:
Opens with a few sentences that introduce the work and the topic/issue to be discussed, providing context for the analysis and engaging the reader (in a research paper you might incorporate the views of other scholars gathered from your research to help establish context on your topic).
Proceeds from general to specific (Inverse Pyramid).
Concludes in a strong, focused thesis statement that makes a supportable claim/offers an interpretation of the text that will be argued in the essay: “In James Joyce’s short story “Eveline”, Joyce’s use of dust as a controlling symbol reinforces the reader’s understanding of Eveline’s dreary, suffocating, arid life.”
Body Paragraphs:
A topic sentence(s) (sentence or two laying out the paragraph’s main idea/major claim – alerts the reader to what the remainder of the paragraph(s) will be about/what you will prove in the paragraph(s)) that points back to the thesis as well as toward what is to come in the rest of the paragraph. In a Literary analysis, the topic sentence is usually a secondary or sub claim that works to advance the thesis focusing on one particular aspect of your interpretation.
Well integrated quotations and examples taken from either your primary or secondary source that support your topic sentence/claim (Evidence).
Sentences and examples in your body paragraph must support your topic sentence. Sentences that do not directly or indirectly support your topic sentence disrupt the unity and coherency of your paragraph and should be removed or relocated.
All quotes must be properly “framed,” introducing the quoted source to establish credibility (if using a secondary source), reestablishing the original context of the quote and providing additional background when necessary.
Your interpretation/analysis of the examples (Reasoning/analysis).
Interprets your support for the reader and explains the significance of your examples and how they support your topic sentence and thesis: the thinking process you use to connect the evidence to your claims. (How do you interpret the quoted support? What is your support’s significance to your interpretation of the text? How does your support back up your argument?)
Offers your interpretation of your support and explains its relevance to your argument.
Your analysis/interpretation should be the longest, most in-depth aspect of your body paragraphs as it highlights your critical thinking skills in linking your support to your claims.
Makes effective use of transitions to link ideas within and between paragraphs
Makes logical connections between statements and ideas and develops in a coherent fashion.
Demonstrates flow and coherency in language usage (Including proper grammar, formal diction, appropriate transition usage, etc.).
Conclusion:
Restates thesis and main points of essay
Ties together all the main points of essay
Relates your thesis to the overall theme of the text or makes a link outward to a larger issue
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