Text Production: Constructed Response

Guidelines for Passing

The Argumentative and Informative/Explanatory (source-based) essays should effectively communicate a whole message to the specified audience for the stated purpose. You will be assessed on your ability to express, organize, and support opinions and ideas.

The Argumentative essay will be scored on a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being the best. A response that receives a score point of 1 is an undeveloped written response, while a score point of 6 is assigned to a response that is very well developed. The table below provides guidelines as to how your essay will be scored.

Argumentative Essay Scoring Guide
Score
Description
6

A 6 essay demonstrates a high degree of competence in response to the assignment but may have a few minor errors. An essay in this category:

states or clearly implies the writer’s position or thesis

organizes and develops ideas logically, making insightful connections between them
clearly explains key ideas, supporting them with well-chosen reasons, examples, or details
displays effective sentence variety
clearly displays facility in the use of language
is generally free from errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics
 
5

A 5 essay demonstrates clear competence in response to the assignment but may have minor errors. An essay in this category:

states or clearly implies the writer’s position or thesis
organizes and develops ideas clearly, making connections between them
explains key ideas, supporting them with relevant reasons, examples, or details
displays some sentence variety
displays facility in the use of language
is generally free from errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics
 
4

A 4 essay demonstrates competence in response to the assignment. An essay in this category:

states or implies the writer’s position or thesis

shows control in the organization and development of ideas
explains some key ideas, supporting them with adequate reasons, examples, or details
displays adequate use of language
shows control of grammar, usage, and mechanics, but may display errors
 
3

A 3 essay demonstrates some competence in response to the assignment but is obviously flawed. An essay in this category reveals one or more of the following weaknesses:

limited in stating or implying a position or thesis

limited control in the organization and development of ideas

inadequate reasons, examples, or details to explain key ideas
an accumulation of errors in the use of language
an accumulation of errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics
 
2

A 2 essay is seriously flawed. An essay in this category reveals one or more of the following weaknesses:

no clear position or thesis
weak organization or very little development
few or no relevant reasons, examples, or details
frequent serious errors in the use of language
frequent serious errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics
 
1

A 1 essay demonstrates fundamental deficiencies in writing skills. An essay in this category:

contains serious and persistent writing errors, or
is incoherent
is undeveloped