Grading Criteria for Paragraph

1. Is the word count included, as requested by the instructions?     yes     no

2. Is the word count within the prescribed limits?    yes   no

3. How well does the first sentence of the paragraph function to introduce the topic of the paragraph?

____very well         
____satisfactory           
____doesn’t reflect exact topic of paragraph    
____may not reflect exact topic of paragraph but it works anyway    
____too broad for paragraph
____accurately reflects paragraph, but takes on too much content for one paragraph to handle
____confusing or hard to understand
____may not even relate to the magazine(s) at all

4. Topic of paragraph

____specific enough to be handled well in this one paragraph
____too broad for one paragraph
____wanders around from topic to topic
____paragraph can’t decide what stand it is taking on the topic

5. Use of evidence/examples

____works well
____not enough evidence
____evidence is more in the form of tell rather than show --that is, it describes content but not in enough detail, or alludes to content, where it should really give quotes to really SHOW the reader and prove the point.
____evidence is presented but doesn’t seem to support the claim you are making

6. Sentence-level errors like spelling, punctuation, run-on sentences, fragments, awkward and confusing wording, etc.

____virtually error-free--pat self on back
____basically fine, though there may be a few small errors of this sort--proofread more carefully
____several errors--proofread!
____tons of errors--get a proofreader!

Overall Grade of paragraph __________

Don’t be discouraged if your grade isn’t high! The point of all this is to learn how to make beautiful paragraphs in your final paper, so try to use this as a guide to getting there! :)