Order 949313: Argumentative Literary Research Essay

MLA Essay Rubric and Checklist

Professor Tullis

Organization – 20 points

One of the major strengths in MLA is that it organizes your thoughts into clear positions and sections which will allow the reader to easily follow along. When someone reads an essay, they begin with preconceived notions of what to expect in the flow of the work. Having an essay out of order is a lot like telling a joke punch line first.

Organization Checklist:

__ – Is the thesis statement the last sentence of the first paragraph? Does it show up again (reworded) as the first sentence of the conclusion?

__ – Is your evidence always followed by an explanation about its relevance to the argument or interpretation?

__ – Do the body paragraphs contain topic sentences which let the reader know what each paragraph will be about? These usually appear as the first or second sentence.

__ – Does the essay contain an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion?

__ – Does the essay contain proper MLA formatting at the top of the page? If you're not sure, please check the template, which was uploaded at the beginning of the semester on Blackboard, to make sure everything looks right.

__ – Does the essay include parenthetical citation and a works cited page if needed?

Tone and Audience – 20 points

Whether one is writing a text to a friend or a cover letter for a job interview, understanding the audience could mean the difference between fitting in or making a complete fool of oneself. For example, showing up to a buddy's house for a late night gaming binge dressed in a tuxedo shows a misunderstanding of the mood. Similarly, appearing at a job interview in a tuxedo t-shirt probably isn't going to impress the hiring committee.

Academic essays are formal, analytical, and often argumentative. The writing must be professional and confident to achieve these goals.

Tone and Audience Checklist:

__ – Does the essay avoid first person (e.g. I, we, our)?

__ – Does the essay avoid second person language like “you?”

__ – Does the essay make sure to avoid contractions (e.g. isn't, don't, ain't)?

__ – Does the writing omit weak words like “stuff,” “things,” and so on?

__ – Does the essay read confidently by avoiding unsure phrases such as “it seems” and “it appears” unless the language must be used due to the demands of logic?

__ – Does the title hook the reader's interest while providing an idea of what the essay will be about?

Writing Mechanics –30 points

Grammar is extremely important. As a pianist, I like to compare grammar to music theory. Most people passively enjoy the benefits of music theory and grammar in their lives because both function as the building blocks of music and literature. For example, it's easy for one to tell when a friend is singing out of key even if he or she doesn't know how music is constructed. Fortunately, most of us can go our whole lives without ever having to compose a song—that's not the case with writing.

Writing Mechanics Checklist:

__ – Does the work effectively use commas?

__ – Does the writing avoid sentence fragments?

__ – Does the essay correctly separate complete thoughts in order to avoid run-on sentences and comma splices?

__ – Do the subjects agree with the verbs? (e.g. “My dog like food!” contains a subject-verb disagreement.)

__ – Are sentences and words varied and not repetitive? (For example, I went to the bank. I then went to the store. I bought a toy at the store. I like the toy. I like toys.)

__ – Do the sentences read organically?

__ – Are in-text citations properly provided and secondary sources quoted?

__ – Does the essay use active language and limit passive voice?

Analysis, Argument, and Logic – 30 points

Essays have a single purpose: support their thesis. All of the essays in this course are built around interpretations (argumentative) and arguments (definitely argumentative). Much of our lives are built around thesis statements and defending them. For a car salesman, the thesis statement is, whether stated or not, “You want to buy this car.” In a job interview, the thesis statement of the candidate is “You should hire me.” What decides whether the car is sold or the job is offered boils down to how the evidence is presented and logically explained in support of the argument.

Analysis, Argument, and Logic Checklist:

__ – Does the essay present sound and relevant evidence to support the thesis?

__ – Does the writing explain how the evidence supports the thesis?

__ – Does the argument avoid logical fallacies?

__ – Is an opposing viewpoint presented in a fair light and addressed by the essay?

__ – Does the essay integrate primary and/or secondary sources to successfully support the argument?

__ – Is the thesis statement assertive and argumentative?

__ – Do the introduction and conclusion paragraphs successfully bring the reader toward the thesis and then guide him or her back out again at the end of the essay?

Thesis Statement – Invaluable

The pieces in chess are given point values in order to represent their importance in the game. Pawns are valued at one point because they are the least powerful. Knights and bishops rank a little higher at three points, and the rook stands strong with five. The queen, the most powerful piece on the board, holds the value of nine points—triple that of knights and bishops.

However, how does chess apply value to the king? The answer is simple: he is invaluable. The purpose of chess is to checkmate the king. Despite being a slow and limited piece, the king goes beyond rank because the pieces exist to protect him.

Similarly, all of the content in an essay serves the thesis. If an essay does not have a thesis, all is lost. Regardless of any of the previously mentioned points throughout this rubric, an essay without a discernible thesis statement will automatically receive a failing grade.

Thesis Statement Checklist:

__ – Does the thesis statement appear as the last sentence of the introduction and again (reworded) as the first sentence of the conclusion?

__ – Is the thesis argumentative? Could one write a thesis arguing the opposite position?

__ – Is the thesis free of typos and other writing errors?