STUDENT NAME: _______________________________________________________________

DATE: _____________________

ESSAY FOCUS: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11th GRADE COMMON WRITING RUBRIC
MLA FORMAT AND INTRO PARAGRAPH
10 POINTS
8 POINTS
Heading is
One of the
present, on the
following is
CORRECT MLA
left
side,
in
missing: heading
HEADING
correct
order,
is present, on the
FORMAT
double-spaced
left side, in correct
and all parts are order, doublewritten out
spaced and all
correctly
parts are written
out correctly

MLA FORMAT
NAME AND PAGE
NUMBER

THESIS
STATEMENT

10 POINTS
Last name only
and page
number in
(Name #)
format on top
right heading of
every page
20 POINTS
Thesis
statement is last
sentence of
intro paragraph,
answers
questions, and
has 3
supporting
reasons with 1
modifier each.

7 POINTS
Last name and
page number are
missing from first
page OR name and
page number
format is
incorrect.
15 POINTS
One of the
following is
missing: thesis
statement is last
sentence of intro
paragraph,
answers
questions, and has
3 supporting
reasons with 1
modifier each.

6 POINTS
Two of the
following are
missing: heading
is present, on the
left side, in correct
order, doublespaced and all
parts are written
out correctly

4 POINTS
Three of the
following are
missing: heading
is present, on the
left side, in correct
order, doublespaced and all
parts are written
out correctly

2 POINTS
Four of the
following are
missing: heading
is present, on
the left side, in
correct order,
double-spaced
and all parts are
written out
correctly

5 POINTS
Name OR page
number are on all
pages, but not
both

2 POINTS
Name OR page
number are on
same pages, but
not all.

0 POINTS
No name or page
number on any
pages.

10 POINTS
Two of the
following are
missing: thesis
statement is last
sentence of intro
paragraph,
answers
questions, and has
3 supporting
reasons with 1
modifier each.

5 POINTS
Three of the
following are
missing: thesis
statement is last
sentence of intro
paragraph,
answers
questions, and has
3 supporting
reasons with 1
modifier each.

0 POINTS
No thesis
statement
present

TEXTUAL EVIDENCE AND MLA CITATIONS

10 POINTS
8 POINTS
Piece of relevant
Piece of relevant textual
textual evidence is
evidence is embedded
TEXTUAL
embedded
and
cited
and cited, but citation is
EVIDENCE #1
with proper MLA
incorrect OR punctuation
format.
is incorrect.
10 POINTS
8 POINTS
Piece of relevant
Piece of relevant textual
textual evidence is
evidence is embedded
TEXTUAL
embedded
and
cited
and cited, but citation is
EVIDENCE #2
with proper MLA
incorrect OR punctuation
format.
is incorrect.
10 POINTS
8 POINTS
Piece of relevant
Piece of relevant textual
textual evidence is
evidence is embedded
TEXTUAL
embedded
and
cited
and cited, but citation is
EVIDENCE #3
with proper MLA
incorrect OR punctuation
format.
is incorrect.

GRAMMAR

10 POINTS

8 POINTS

5 POINTS
Piece of relevant textual
evidence is present but
it not embedded OR is
not cited properly.
5 POINTS
Piece of relevant textual
evidence is present but
it not embedded OR is
not cited properly.
5 POINTS
Piece of relevant textual
evidence is present but
it not embedded OR is
not cited properly.

5 POINTS

0
POINT
S
Only a
name is
present
.

3 POINTS
Piece of relevant
textual evidence is
present, but not
embedded and not
cited properly
3 POINTS
Piece of relevant
textual evidence is
present, but not
embedded and not
cited properly
3 POINTS
Piece of relevant
textual evidence is
present, but not
embedded and not
cited properly

0 POINTS
No piece of
relevant
textual
evidence
present.
0 POINTS
No piece of
relevant
textual
evidence
present.
0 POINTS
No piece of
relevant
textual
evidence
present.

3 POINTS

0 POINTS

Author makes no
errors in grammar
or spelling that
distract the reader
from the content.

Author makes 1-2 errors

in grammar or spelling
that distract the reader
from the content.

BODY PARAGRAPHS, STYLE & ORGANIZATION

BODY
4 POINTS
3 POINTS
PARAGRAPH #1 Body paragraph is One of the following
present with 1
is missing: body
main focus and at
paragraph is present
least 2
with 1 main focus and
transitional
at least 2 transitional
words used.
words used.
4 POINTS
3 POINTS
Body
paragraph
is
One
of
the following
BODY
present
with
1
is
missing:
body
PARAGRAPH #2
main focus and at
paragraph is present
least 2
with 1 main focus and
transitional
at least 2 transitional
words used.
words used.
4 POINTS
3 POINTS
Body paragraph is One of the following
BODY
is missing: body
PARAGRAPH #3 present with 1
main focus and at
paragraph is present
least 2
with 1 main focus and
transitional
at least 2 transitional
words used.
words used.
4 POINTS
3 POINTS
The conclusion is
The conclusion is
strong and leaves
recognizable. The
the reader solidly
author\'s position is
CONCLUSION
understanding
restated within the
the writer\'s
first two sentences of
position. Effective
the closing
restatement of
paragraph.
the position
statement begins
the closing
paragraph.

FINAL
GRADE

COMMENTS:

Author makes 3-4

errors in grammar or
spelling that distract the
reader from the content.

2 POINTS
Two of the following
are missing: body
paragraph is present
with 1 main focus and
at least 2 transitional
words used.
2 POINTS
Two of the following
are missing: body
paragraph is present
with 1 main focus and
at least 2 transitional
words used.
2 POINTS
Two of the following
are missing: body
paragraph is present
with 1 main focus and
at least 2 transitional
words used.
2 POINTS
The author\'s
position is restated
within the closing
paragraph, but not
near the beginning.

Author 5-6 errors

in grammar or
spelling that
distract the reader
from the content.

1 POINT
Three of the following
are missing: body
paragraph is present
with 1 main focus and
at least 2 transitional
words used.
1 POINT
Three of the following
are missing: body
paragraph is present
with 1 main focus and
at least 2 transitional
words used.
1 POINT
Three of the following
are missing: body
paragraph is present
with 1 main focus and
at least 2 transitional
words used.
1 POINTS
The conclusion is
unrelated or simply
repeats the thesis
verbatim.

Author
makes more
than 6
errors in
grammar or
spelling that
distract the
reader from
content.

0 POINTS
No body
paragraph
is present.

0 POINTS
No body
paragraph
is present.

0 POINTS
No body
paragraph
is present.

0 POINTS
No
conclusion
present