What I Emphasize In Grading

By Trish Roberts-Miller

As I keep saying in class, different readers emphasize different criteria, so you always have to think carefully about your particular rhetorical situation. There are some generalizations that one can make about categories of writing (e.g., how high school writing is different from college writing), disciplines (e.g., the different things that English literature teachers tend to value as opposed to what Government teachers tend to value), and contexts (e.g., exams versus researched papers). But, unfortunately, many of the differences are hard to predict—some readers break out in hives when they see a sentence that begins with a coordinating conjunction (e.g., “But,…”), and some have odd quirks (e.g, me and the “dawn of time” introduction). On the whole, though, I think the following criteria will tend to help you in most situations. The one major difference is that many readers put some emphasis on “format;” for me, that’s part of “ethos.”

Thesis

The thesis is appropriate to the assignment (it’s amazing how often this is the major problem). In this class, that means it’s an interpretive argument (an argument putting forward a disputed or unexpected interpretation of a text or set of texts). It responds to one of the assignment prompts (again, this is often a major problem for students in college generally) through formulating a more specific and narrow version of the question.

Organization

Readers often describe this criterion as “flow” (a completely useless, when not actively harmful, term). The basic issue is whether the ideas seem to move sensibly from one to another. That reader perception is shaped by two things: the order of ideas; the degree and quality of “sign-posting” (or “metadiscourse”).

Order

As explained in “Advice on Writing,” there are lots of different ways of structuring your paper. Some disciplines have the structure specified (e.g., lab reports in experimental sciences). In general, the best structure is to move from “known to new”—that is, from what your audience already knows and is willing to grant to what is new. Or, as I keep saying, imagine that you are giving directions to your audience—start with where they are, and move them through the intervening areas to where you are.

Proportion

Order actively affects readability; proportion is more important for how persuasive your argument is. The basic principle is simple: make sure that you spend the most time on whatever most needs proving. In practice, that can be tricky to figure out, but ensuring that you explore your major claims pretty thoroughly will usually work well.

Proof

It seems to me that the major difference between high school and college writing (and exam and paper writing) is the latter require proof, and the former do not. In “display” writing, or anytime one is writing to an “in” audience, proof is not really necessary. But, it’s tremendously important for persuading an intelligent and informed audience.

Evidence

In this class, almost all of your evidence will be quotes from the text. In other writing situations, you might use analogy, argument from authority, argument from consequences, example, or reasoning from the rules of logic. The relevant kind of evidence varies from discipline to discipline.

Analysis

Some teachers call this “explanation,” and that’s also a useful way to think about it. For most kinds of writing (newspaper writing being one exception), readers need you to tell them what your evidence is and also how you think they should interpret it. Simply quoting the text, especially in the form of “hanging quotes” (quotes that are separate sentences, not incorporated into the text), is not persuasive.

Introduction

A good introduction establishes certain clear expectations with the reader—specifically the topic (which is most usefully thought of as the specific question your paper answers), genre, and your ethos. When the reader finishes the introduction (which may or may not be one paragraph) s/he should be clear just what the paper will be about, what kind of paper it will be (e.g., a policy proposal, a history, a literary interpretation, a comparison of various theories), and your ethos (well-read, fair-minded, closed-minded, sloppy, careful, dishonest). The introduction should persuade your reader that there is a real question that the reader should want answered, and that you are the person to answer it. It does not have to have your thesis, unless you have a lazy reader.

Conclusion

A good conclusion is often two paragraphs: one that summarizes your argument, and one that points toward additional speculations. The summary part of your conclusion can be written by having a sentence the paraphrases each part of your paper. If you’re good at writing summary introductions, moving it to your conclusion will often work well. When you engage in speculation, make sure to signal that to your reader through your word choice (“one might conclude this might suggest…”).

Ethos

This term simply means your credibility. Your credibility is affected by how careful you appear to have been—what sources you used (hence whether you have a Works Cited page that is useful), whether you seem to have looked over your work (hence spelling specifically and proofreading generally), whether you are clear (hence style), and whether you have looked at all the evidence.

Audience

A persuasive paper (that is, one that actually persuades an intelligent and informed reader) uses relevant evidence, considers alternative interpretations, and takes into consideration special concerns the audience might have. This criterion is closely connected to evidence and ethos (and, in fact, one that goes wrong with evidence will usually go wrong with all three).