Grade Scheme for Essays (2021-22)
How well you respond to the How well you organize your
essay prompt (25%)
A The essay responds expertly to the
prompt with a clear, unified and
supported argument throughout.
The essay supports its argument with
effective examples and explicit and
effectively integrated references to
course material1.
B The essay generally responds well to
the prompt with a clear and
supported argument.
The essay supports its argument with
examples and some explicit
references to course material.
C The essay responds to the prompt
topic but may lack a unified overall
argument or clear or supportive
paragraphs or it may drift from the
precise topic.
The essay may lack enough or
effective examples or may make
minimal reference to course material.
The text requires but refutes no
counterargument.
The text disobeys the limit of 900-
1100 words.
How effectively you communicate
ideas (25%)
The whole text expertly manages
coherence and cohesion.
Every paragraph sustains a clear
focus and purpose, effective
argument and development, and
runs to an appropriate length.
The text mostly manages coherence
and cohesion without major
problems.
The body paragraphs mostly sustain
a clear focus and purpose (paragraph
unity) and a clear controlling idea
with effective connections between
ideas (argument unity).
Problems with cohesion and
coherence weaken the text, but the
reader can still follow the overall
argument.
The text achieves cohesion largely
through mechanical connectives3.
One or more body paragraphs lacks
a discernible overall focus or
argument or runs to an
inappropriate or unbalanced length.
HUMA 1000
How well you respond
your ideas (25%)
Vocabulary ranges widely and includes
academic and specialized terms that
express precise meanings with stylistic
range, suitability and expertise.
Grammar features an expert range of
appropriate and varied structures and
no systematic or debilitating errors.
Vocabulary shows an appropriate range
that expresses some precision with less-
common lexis and a style mostly
appropriate for an academic essay.
Grammar features a range of structures
with frequent complex sentences and
few systemic or debilitating errors.
The text contains no significant or
systematic punctuation problems.
Vocabulary shows a marginally adequate
range for an academic essay, which
sometimes tries to go beyond basic
meanings; but errors or infelicities in
word choice or style may often occur.
Grammar features some complex
structures; but simple sentences or
short sentence lengths may dominate,
and errors may sometimes hinder
comprehension.
to the feedback on your
draft (25%)
The revisions respond
expertly to all the
problems outlined in the
draft, or the draft was
good enough to require no
major revisions.
The revisions attempt to
respond to all the 'items
requiring major attention'2
listed in the feedback
table.
The revisions respond to
some of the 'items
requiring major attention'
listed in the feedback
table.
Student submitted a late
or an incomplete draft.
Text includes no summary
of revisions in the cover
sheet2 or no cover sheet.
 Grade Scheme for Essays (2021-22)

D The essay may not respond to the
prompt topic or may present no
overall argument or may include no
or inappropriate support.
The essay body omits to cite
required course material or cites no
course material or cites course
material in the reference list but not
in the essay body or vice versa.
F The essay topic or its argument
appears irrelevant to the prompt, or
the text contains no discernible
argument, or the text may plagiarize.
Noticeable problems with cohesion
and coherence cause the reader
noticeable difficulty.
Most body paragraphs contain
distracting problems with their
purpose or focus (paragraph unity)
or with their controlling idea or with
the connections between ideas
(argument unity).
The reader struggles to find an
obvious argument throughout the
text, or the essay lacks proper
paragraphs, or no paragraph has a
clear purpose or focus.
Vocabulary shows predominantly basic The revisions fail to
lexis with negligible ability to convey respond to significant or
academic or stylistic precision needed perhaps all 'items requiring
for an academic essay. major attention' listed in
Grammar features mostly short and the feedback table.
repetitive structures with little evidence
of variety.
Errors in accuracy and felicity appear
commonly enough to often impair
understanding and style.
The text overwhelmingly suggests the Student submitted no
writer lacks the required range and draft, or a draft received
accuracy of vocabulary and grammar too late to allow
necessary to write an academic essay. reasonable time for
feedback from the
workshop teacher.

Notes for students and teachers

1
'Reference to course material' means the essay body cites sources from the course reading list or lecture notes (or an equivalent source) and contains a
matching bibliography. See example. Citation format errors attract no penalties.
2
The final essay cover sheet should summarize how the student responded to the 'major items' that require attention listed in feedback table. See example.
3
'Mechanical cohesion' means sentences tend to refer back and forth mostly with sentence-initial adverbs, conjunctive adverbs, prepositional phrases or
dependent clauses followed by the main clause. See example.
A text cannot score above a grade ceiling if it fails to satisfy any ceiling item.
Students should contact their workshop teacher before the essay submission deadline if a legitimate reason prevents them from submitting by then.
Essays received after the deadline will incur a grade penalty of one fine grade on the 'How well you respond to the essay prompt' band for every 24 hours or
part thereof for which they are late, e.g. 'B' → 'B-'. Essays will receive an 'F' grade if they are not received within 72 hours of the deadline.

HUMA 1000