Project

Research Project Assessment Criteria

SELF-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND CONTRACT TERMS FOR PROJECTS

Given my own sense of the criteria appropriate to graduate level work, I ask you to accept the following guidelines for grading contracts on the project.

A Level

Annotated Bibliography:

Annotations on 30 items (article, chapter of book or potion of novel, short story, film or other media source, interview, collection of poetry, etc)

Annotations reflect careful reading and analysis of each text and the use of writing to assist in your analysis

Annotations use writing effectively in ways other than analysis of an individual text: to begin the work of synthesizing the mass of material read, to speculate about where the readings are taking you, to integrate your thinking on a number of readings, to think about where you are at given moments in your study, to wonder about where the readings are taking you, to expand and develop your own thought based on the reading. (You may have done this as part of annotations on individual texts or as separate freewrite reflections on your reading.)

Annotations take care so that correct MLA form and page numbers are used to indicate the exact location of material.

Working Bibliography:

Bibliography suggests a very extensive compilation of carefully selected entries chosen for their potential usefulness in your project (about 8 pages).

Bibliography reflects a thoughtful determination of the primary texts, secondary criticism or commentary, contextual or collateral areas, and theoretical texts pertinent to your study.

Bibliography conforms to proper MLA form throughout.

Scholarly Essay:

Given the constraints of space (conference paper or journal article), the essay offers an excellent review of the scholarship that indicates how the essay offers a new slant or slightly different angle on the subject, or how it builds upon earlier criticism. The essay does an excellent job of incorporating the work of other critics and scholars into its own argument.

The essay explores a clear central thesis on the subject. The thesis remains in focus throughout the essay.

The essay offers plenty of specific evidence from the primary text or texts under consideration in order to support the thesis. The argument is reasonable and persuasive, supporting its claims with evidence, considering any major objections that might cut against the thesis, and avoiding unsupported generalizations or interpretations.

MLA format is flawless.

Grammar and mechanics are flawless.

Style is effective: clear, concise, and graceful. Both the logic and the language are powerful and compelling.

B Level

Annotated Bibliography:

Annotations on 25 items

Annotations reflect careful reading and analysis of each text and the use of writing to assist in your analysis.

Annotations occasionally attempt to use writing in ways other than analysis of an individual text: to begin the work of synthesizing the mass of material read, to speculate about where the readings are taking you, to integrate your thinking on a number of readings, to think about where you are at given moments in your study, to wonder about where the readings are taking you, to expand and develop your own thought based on the reading. (You may have done this as part of annotations on individual texts or as separate freewrite reflections on your reading.)

Annotations take care so that correct MLA form and page numbers are used to indicate the exact location of material.

Working Bibliography:

Bibliography suggests an adequate compilation of entries selected for their potential usefulness in your project (about 6 pages).

Bibliography makes some attempt to select the primary texts, secondary criticism or commentary, contextual or collateral areas, and theoretical texts pertinent to your study, but needs more work in determining the contexts within which the study will be undertaken.

Bibliography conforms to proper MLA form throughout.

Scholarly Essay:

Given the constraints of space (conference paper or journal article), the essay offers some review of the scholarship and attempts to indicate how the essay offers a new slant or slightly different angle on the subject, or how it builds upon earlier criticism. The essay could benefit from a fuller inclusion of prior criticism and scholarship on the subject.

The essay explores a clear central thesis on the subject. For the most part, the thesis remains in focus, but the piece could be more successfully focused, so that all the parts are explicitly related to the thesis and help to advance it in a clear way.

The essay offers some specific evidence from the primary text or texts under consideration in order to support the thesis. The argument is, for the most part, reasonable. More supporting evidence is needed to make the argument more persuasive. The essay needs to consider some obvious objections that cut against the thesis. Most of the generalizations and interpretations are supported by specific evidence, though more evidence would make the piece more persuasive

MLA format has only a couple of minor flaws.

Grammar and mechanics are almost flawless.

Style is usually effective, but occasionally needs revision for clarity or economy.

C Level

Annotated Bibliography:

Annotations on 20 readings.

Annotations suggest the need for fuller analysis of texts.

Annotations very rarely use writing to synthesize the material or to integrate it into thinking about the subject either in occasional freewrites or as part of the annotations on individual texts.

Annotations usually take care so that correct MLA form and page numbers are used to indicate the exact location of material. MLA format is occasionally incorrect.

Working Bibliography:

Bibliography offers a rudimentary, though not yet adequate, compilation of entries selected for their potential usefulness in your project (about 5 pages).

Bibliography does not reflect a clear sense of the primary, secondary, collateral, or theoretical areas that comprise the context within which the study needs to be completed.

Bibliography usually conforms to proper MLA form though there are occasional errors.

Scholarly Essay:

Given the constraints of space (conference paper or journal article), the essay offers very little review of the scholarship and does not adequately indicate how the essay offers a new slant or slightly different angle on the subject, or how it builds upon earlier criticism. The essay does not adequately incorporate the work of other critics and scholars in its own argument.

The essay has a thesis idea, but it needs to be more clearly articulated; the thesis does not always stay in sharp focus. Parts of the essay need to be more sharply focused on the thesis.

The essay offers some evidence from the primary text or texts under consideration in order to support the thesis, but more evidenced is needed. Because of this, the argument is not as persuasive as it needs to be. More evidence is needed to support the essay’s assertions, generalizations, and interpretations. The essay does not consider some obvious objections to its thesis or supporting ideas.

MLA format has quite a few errors, but at least sources are documented.

Grammar and mechanics need repair occasionally, but do not impede comprehension of the essay’s ideas.

Style needs work so that language is clearer, more concise, and more graceful.

D LEVEL

Does not meet the minimum standards for C-level work as stated above. Specifically, there are fewer than 20 annotations, but more than 15. Bibliography is inadequate (3-4 pages). Essay lacks coherence, but at least it has a central idea, though it strays from it at times. Grammar and mechanics are flawed and impede the reading noticeably. MLA format is not correct but sources are documented.

F LEVEL

Does not meet the minimum standards for D-level work as stated above. Specifically, there are 15 or fewer annotations. Bibliography is inadequate (3 pages or fewer). Essay lacks coherence and a central idea. Grammar and mechanics seriously impede the reading. MLA format is not correct and documentation is flawed.