A/A- [Excellent]	B+/B [Good]
Thesis	crystal clear, persuasive, insightful, original	understandable or promising, yet rather unclear or unoriginal
Structure	evident, solid and smooth, appropriate to the topic/thesis	largely identifiable despite a few orphaned sentences or paragraphs
Use of Evidence	present when required, seamlessly & creatively integrated into topic and supportive sentences, accurately documented [MLA or Chicago]	occasionally insufficient, inaccurate or inappropriate, yet largely reasonable
Analysis	interpretative labor of thinking, fresh, incisive, to the point	mini-theses broadly supported despite occasional loss of focus
Logical Steps	mini-theses solidly and fluidly constructed, counter-arguments and/or immediately relevant points considered and/or mentioned	usually and generally reasonable, yet weak due to lack of dialectical reasoning and/or explorative thinking
Mechanics	flawless grammar, precise diction, (near-)perfect punctuations	occasional lapses in grammar and diction, minor copy-editing issues (10%)
	B-/C+ [Borderline/Mediocre]	C/C- [Needs Help]
Thesis	generally unclear, vague or unoriginal despite some visible attempts	difficult or too bland to identify, nearly absent
Structure	generally unclear with too many orphaned sentences or paragraphs	unclear or confusing, in need of more topic sentences
Use of Evidence	generally insufficient or inappropriate, poorly integrated external source	very few or weak, unintegrated citations
Analysis	weak, uninterpreted, irrelevant or contradictory citations and/or authorial thoughts that require more analytic attention	very little or weak attempt to relate evidence or thoughts to argument
Logical Steps	often weak or fallacious, counter-arguments or alternatives unrepresented	no visible flow of ideas, no effort to grasp alternative views
Mechanics	Notable problems in grammar and diction (30%)	Critical problems in grammar and diction (50%)
	D/D- [Poor/Disastrous]
Thesis	extremely weak; unsupported by the rest of the paper
Structure	evidently unorganized, almost nonexistent
Use of Evidence	weak or incorrect or nonexistent
Analysis	absent
Logical Steps	no discernable argument made
Mechanics	Almost unreadable grammar and diction, major rewriting required (70%)