Thoughts on Grading

Here is an brief description of what each letter grade may mean to give you a little better idea about what messages are contained in the letter grades attached to your essays. Please bear in mind that this is a brief description; there may be other reasons, having to do specifically with your paper, for the grade it received. Please talk with me about your grade and how it fits the paper to which it is attached. There's no substitute for conversation about a paper---grades can't really tell you much about what's good and what's lacking in a particular essay.

E: The paper was not handed in, was incomplete in some way, did something unrelated to the assignment, or was an obvious attempt to hand in something—anything—without doing the necessary work involved.

D: Near-failure to communicate despite a good-faith effort to do so. The paper exists, but it is often incoherent or incomprehensible and is couched in language that fails to communicate its subject and controlling ideas. It could consist of understandable sentences that do not connect or make up a whole; it may also lack any controlling idea.

C: Acceptable but not distinguished. It begins to communicate some recognizable idea, but it doesn't surprise, doesn't invite the reader to more than passing thought. It proposes to argue something that is obvious or is vaguely defined. It doesn't consider opposing evidence, doesn't make subtle distinctions, is predictable and safe.

C-: The above, but only grudgingly, usually because of significant problems with grammar, mechanics, proofreading.

—Type one is an extremely competent version of a C paper—i.e., the smoothest, mechanically perfect paper that is still obvious and safe.
—Type two is far better than type one. It is an attempt to carry out a truly intriguing idea of design which gets into serious trouble and doesn't work. The writer had a great intention which is detectable, but was unsuccessful in its "execution" and got all tangled up. This type may be an A paper in its early form.

B: Good. The writer has something interesting to say, shows some individual clarity of perception. A controlling idea is proposed that stimulates the reader's thinking. The structure serves to develop thought.

A: Excellent. Exceptional, unusual. Makes me think in a new way, see something differently,understand the subject from a new angle. Extremely interesting thinking, extremely well-executed.