Pea Rubric 134v2r

ANALYTICAL WRITING RUBRIC Skill Level Points Earned POINT The paragraph or whole essay makes an argument, claim, or point. The point is the driving force of the piece of writing: all of the evidence in the writing should your one main point. The point you make should be something people could agree or disagree with; it is your interpretation, not a fact. If you are being asked to answer a question, the point is your main answer to that question. If you are writing a paragraph, the point is typically a topic sentence that begins the paragraph. If you are writing a whole essay, the point typically comes at the end of the introduction in the form of a thesis.

NAME: __________________________________ASSIGNMENT:___________________________ GRADE: _____________ 1 2 3 4 5 0 2.5 3 3.5 4

The point is missing or misinterprets the prompt or text. The paragraph begins with summary information or evidence rather than a point.

There is an attempt at a point, but it is not specific enough or not relevant to the full writing prompt. The point may be more fact than argument, partially incomplete, partially inaccurate or only connected to some of the evidence in the paragraph, rather than all of it.

The point is only partially relevant to the writing prompt, only partially addresses the writing prompt, or merely restates the writing prompt. The point may be mixed with a statement of evidence rather than being only an argument.

The point is relevant to the main concepts from the writing prompt, but it may not explain the larger importance or consequences of the argument being made.

The point demonstrates critical thinking about the larger importance or consequences of the argument being made.

Common Areas of Difficulty for POINT: • There is no argument. The statement is factual, not interpretive. • The argument is suggested throughout the paragraph or essay, but it is not directly stated. • An argument is present but it is simple or general, hard to understand. • The point is really a cliché or commonly heard saying, not the individual writer’s interpretation.   EVIDENCE Each body paragraph uses examples (in the form of quotation, description, or paraphrase) from a text, experience, or other appropriate source to the validity of the point. Each example is very specific, not a vague reference to the text, and s your point.

No evidence is used.

In an essay, several pieces of evidence are necessary to fully your point/thesis and convince the reader.

Common Areas of Difficulty for EVIDENCE: • The presentation of the evidence contains too much or too little elaboration, text, or detail. • The use of evidence reveals a misunderstanding of the subject material or text. • There is not enough evidence used to the point. • Material used as evidence is really simply summarizing the text. • Evidence needs to be ONE specific incident, event, action, choice, or moment in the text – not a trend from the whole story. • Provide context/background information to help the reader understand the evidence. • Include a page citation in parentheses after the evidence.

The evidence used does not clearly or thoroughly all parts of the point or all parts of the prompt.

Some of the evidence used s the point, but some of it does not. OR the evidence used s the point, but there is not enough evidence.

The evidence used adequately s the point.

The evidence used is effectively selected, thoroughly ing and developing the precise point being explored in the writing.

  Skill Level Points Earned ANALYSIS The analysis explains how the evidence proves the point and why the evidence is important or significant. In the analysis, you need to show HOW the evidence demonstrates a certain concept that relates to the point your paragraph or essay is making: a key character trait, a choice, a pattern, an action, a theme, etc – AND WHY that concept is important to your overall point. To write the HOW, you need to point back to something specific within the evidence (a key word in a quotation, for example), and to explain the WHY, you need to show why the evidence matters.

1 0

2 2.5

3 3

4 3.5

5 4

No explanation is given or the paragraph merely summarizes or gives the writer’s personal opinions about the topic or text without connecting to evidence or the point.

The explanation restates the point; it does not show how the evidence relates to the point or why the evidence is important to the point. It offers an interpretation of a part of the point or prompt, but it does not show a relationship between the point and evidence.

The explanation tells why the evidence is important, but it does not show how the evidence relates to the point (or it shows how but not why). A part of the explanation may merely restate the evidence or point, but it offers a limited interpretation of the relationship between the point and evidence.

The explanation describes how the evidence proves the point and why the evidence is important. It offers an adequate interpretation of the relationship between the point and evidence.

The explanation thoroughly and effectively describes how the evidence proves the point and why the evidence is important. The analysis extends the discussion to consider the larger significance or consequences of the argument.

Common Areas of Difficulty for ANALYSIS: • Analysis does not connect back to the paragraph’s main point or essay’s main point. • Analysis does not point back to parts of the evidence to show the connection between the evidence and the point. • Analysis does not comment on why the evidence is important. • Analysis mainly restates/repeats the point rather than applying the evidence to the point.

PERSONAL SCORE TRACKING SHEET DIRECTIONS: Each time you receive a PEA writing rubric, write the DATE in the box to show the score you achieved on that assessment. For example, if I earned skill level 2 for POINT, I would write 9/12/14 in the box under skill level 2. I would repeat the date for the score I earned for EVIDENCE and for ANALYIS. Skill Level 1 2 3 4 5 Points Earned 0 2.5 3 3.5 4 POINT The paragraph or whole essay makes an argument, claim, or point. The point is the driving force of the piece of writing: all of the evidence in the writing should your one main point. The point you make should be something people could agree or disagree with; it is your interpretation, not a fact. If you are being asked to answer a question, the point is your main answer to that question. If you are writing a paragraph, the point is typically a topic sentence that begins the paragraph. If you are writing a whole essay, the point typically comes at the end of the introduction in the form of a thesis.

EVIDENCE Each body paragraph uses examples (in the form of quotation, description, or paraphrase) from a text, experience, or other appropriate source to the validity of the point. Each example is very specific, not a vague reference to the text, and s your point.

The point is missing or misinterprets the prompt or text. The paragraph begins with summary information or evidence rather than a point.

There is an attempt at a point, but it is not specific enough or not relevant to the full writing prompt. The point may be more fact than argument, partially incomplete, partially inaccurate or only connected to some of the evidence in the paragraph, rather than all of it.

The point is only partially relevant to the writing prompt, only partially addresses the writing prompt, or merely restates the writing prompt. The point may be mixed with a statement of evidence rather than being only an argument.

The point is relevant to the main concepts from the writing prompt, but it may not explain the larger importance or consequences of the argument being made.

Common Areas of Difficulty for POINT: • There is no argument. The statement is factual, not interpretive. • The argument is suggested throughout the paragraph or essay, but it is not directly stated. • An argument is present but it is simple or general, hard to understand. • The point is really a cliché or commonly heard saying, not the individual writer’s interpretation. No evidence is used. The evidence used does Some of the evidence used The evidence used not clearly or thoroughly s the point, but adequately s the all parts of the some of it does not. point. point or all parts of the OR the evidence used prompt. s the point, but there is not enough evidence.

The point demonstrates critical thinking about the larger importance or consequences of the argument being made.

The evidence used is effectively selected, thoroughly ing and developing the precise point being explored in the writing.

In an essay, several pieces of evidence are necessary to fully your point/thesis and convince the reader. Common Areas of Difficulty for EVIDENCE: • The presentation of the evidence contains too much or too little elaboration, text, or detail. • The use of evidence reveals a misunderstanding of the subject material or text. • There is not enough evidence used to the point. • Material used as evidence is really simply summarizing the text. • Evidence needs to be ONE specific incident, event, action, choice, or moment in the text – not a trend from the whole story. • Provide context/background information to help the reader understand the evidence. • Include a page citation in parentheses after the evidence.

Skill Level Points Earned ANALYSIS The analysis explains how the evidence proves the point and why the evidence is important or significant. In the analysis, you need to show HOW the evidence demonstrates a certain concept that relates to the point your paragraph or essay is making: a key character trait, a choice, a pattern, an action, a theme, etc – AND WHY that concept is important to your overall point. To write the HOW, you need to point back to something specific within the evidence (a key word in a quotation, for example), and to explain the WHY, you need to show why the evidence matters.

1 0 No explanation is given or the paragraph merely summarizes or gives the writer’s personal opinions about the topic or text without connecting to evidence or the point.

2 2.5 The explanation restates the point; it does not show how the evidence relates to the point or why the evidence is important to the point. It offers an interpretation of a part of the point or prompt, but it does not show a relationship between the point and evidence.

3 3 The explanation tells why the evidence is important, but it does not show how the evidence relates to the point (or it shows how but not why). A part of the explanation may merely restate the evidence or point, but it offers a limited interpretation of the relationship between the point and evidence.

4 3.5 The explanation describes how the evidence proves the point and why the evidence is important. It offers an adequate interpretation of the relationship between the point and evidence.

5 4 The explanation thoroughly and effectively describes how the evidence proves the point and why the evidence is important. The analysis extends the discussion to consider the larger significance or consequences of the argument.

Common Areas of Difficulty for ANALYSIS: • Analysis does not connect back to the paragraph’s main point or essay’s main point. • Analysis does not point back to parts of the evidence to show the connection between the evidence and the point. • Analysis does not comment on why the evidence is important. • Analysis mainly restates/repeats the point rather than applying the evidence to the point.