Personal Journal on Twelve years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Book Journal Grades

Characteristics of the “A” (Superior) Paper:

1. It is well-written; each sentence is clear, fresh, and informative. It

features a variety in the choice of words. Correct word usage,

punctuation, sentence structure, and grammar pervade the paper.

There are minimal to no spelling errors and absolutely no run-on

sentences or incomplete sentences.

2. Sentences flow from one to the next smoothly and seamlessly.

Paragraphs are well organized by topic and idea. Transitional

sentences at the end or beginning of paragraphs guide the reader from

one major point to the next.

3. The “A” student demonstrates how the author’s ideas, criticisms,

arguments and major points illustrate, clarify, or otherwise relate to

topics and issues covered in the course.

4. Ideas and perspectives are fresh, original, serious, thoroughly

developed, and well thought out.

5. Analysis of every single chapter is penetrating and exhaustive in

scope. The “A” student exhibits full understanding of the author’s

point and the significance of the topic or problems addressed.

6. Having engaged deeply with the book, the “A” student develops

his/her own conclusions. The “A” student commands mastery of the

author’s ideas sufficient to offer reasoned criticism, interpretations, and

perspectives of their own.

7. The “A” student exhibits a full understanding of how the book has

transformed their understanding of American society and the history of

the country. They communicate in every entry how they have come

away changed—educated--by having grappled with the author’s ideas.

Characteristics of the “B” (Pretty Good) Paper:

1. Coverage of the chapters is comprehensive, but reactions are not.

2. Level of thought and analysis is limited, hit and miss, and only

penetrating at times.

3. A thoughtful assessment of the true significance of the book or a set

of questions that the author addressed is absent.

4. Reactions in the B paper lean toward the bland, exceedingly general,

and unsurprising.

5. Reactions leave the reader wondering why the “B” student could not

offer much more substance, support, or evidence to buttress conclusions.

6. The paper exhibits only occasional lapses in sentence structure and

grammar.

Characteristics of the “C” (Average or Mediocre) Paper:

1. Generally a “C” paper is considered average, but based upon the

generosity of the professor grading a paper, they typically fall short of a

satisfactory or “average” analysis.

2. “C” students offer a superficial, feather-duster job that just covers in

general, sweeping terms the high points of the chapters.

3. Reactions are universally bland, vague, routine, unsurprising,

exceedingly general, and perfunctory. “C” students state the obvious.

4. “C” students are inclined to write in very general terms like, “I liked

this or thought this was terrible,” but they offer little in the way of

explanation or an elaboration as why they think a certain way.

5. “C” students are inclined to “feel” one way or another about

something an author has brought up as opposed to expressing what

they “think” about something, how and why.

6. “C” papers feature excessive attention to summarizing the book

against positive instructions to the contrary. Think of summarizing in

terms of who, what, when, and where by contrast to how, why, and to

what effect which is the stuff of analysis.

7. “C” papers exhibit hardly any serious attention to developing a full

set of thoughts, reactions, and analysis. They convey that the student

read through the book as opposed to actually having read the chapters

and thought seriously about the author’s ideas with any degree of

depth.

8. Stylistically, “C” papers are written in a dull and uninteresting

fashion.

9. Minor problems in grammar and sentence structure arise.

Characteristics of the “D” (Downright Unsatisfactory) Paper:

1. Attention to chapters is far too general. A “D” paper offers remarks

here and there from a student who appears to have just glanced

through the chapters or a summary of the book.

2. It exhibits little to no effort on the student’s part to develop any

meaningful reactions.

3. The student offers no serious effort to convince the instructor that

he/she has actually read the book and thought about it.

4. The “D” paper exhibits no attention to meeting basic standards of

college writing—that is, the student ignores basic rules of writing that

are addressed in writing handbooks that are assigned in English 1301

classes.

5. Paragraphs are not indented against positive orders to the contrary.

6. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, sentence fragments are

pervasive.

7. Conversational sub-standard colloquialisms, clichés, and slang

pervade the paper. The style of writing offers no level of formality.

Characteristics of the “F” (Abysmal Failure) Paper:

The “F” paper reflects an incomplete book journal in which whole

chapters have been completely ignored or is otherwise of such poor

quality as to warrant no attention by the reader.

“F” papers often suffer from non-standard English and feature

grammatical errors that would shock even a sixth grade elementary

school teacher.

At times the instructor concludes that, for example, if a student

read approximately a third of the book, then the grade assigned would

be a thirty-three.