essay

Holistic descriptors for ELWR Essays

A distinguished essay (Dist.) is clearly competent.

· The distinguished essay represents a thoughtful response to the text. The essay provides readers with necessary contextual information. It moves beyond summary/restatement to thoughtful analysis or purpose of some kind. The essay offers sufficient, well-chosen examples and demonstrates sensible reasoning. The essay demonstrates an ability to use multiple, effective sentence structures. It reflects a solid understanding of the conventions of written English.

A passing essay (Pass) is satisfactory, occasionally marginally so.

· The passing essay represents an adequate response to the text. The essay usually provides readers with necessary contextual information. It moves beyond summary/restatement to an analysis or purpose of some kind. The essay offers appropriate examples and acceptable reasoning, though these may be somewhat limited. While the essay may contain some sentence-level weaknesses, it generally demonstrates an ability to construct clear sentences that reflect the conventions of written English.

A developing essay (NPD) is unsatisfactory in one or more ways.

· The developing essay is unsatisfactory in one or more of the following ways. It may demonstrate a limited understanding of the conventions of academic writing. It may fail to provide readers with some necessary contextual information. When discussing the text it may rely primarily on summary/restatement rather than analysis and it may lack a clear purpose. The essay may offer insufficient or inappropriate examples. It may reflect incomplete or less-than-logical reasoning. The reader’s understanding may be hindered frequent, minor errors or more occasional substantial errors.

An unsatisfactory essay (NP) shows serious weaknesses, usually of several kinds.

· The unsatisfactory essay may present a simplistic, incomplete, or incorrect understanding of the text. It may fail to provide readers with necessary contextual information. This essay is apt to rely on summary (perhaps inaccurate) or unsupported assertion, rather than engaging in analysis of some kind. It may not have a clear purpose. It may lack examples entirely or may use inappropriate examples. Its reasoning may be illogical or confused. The reader’s understanding is apt to be frequently disrupted with significant sentence-level errors.