English 2000-4000 Grades and Grading Criteria

Find the overall breakdown of your semester grade on the English 2111 syllabus or the English 4430 syllabus; track your grades throughout the semester in Brightspace (D2L).

Grades on individual assignments
I assign letter grades with qualifiers—A-, B+, C-, etc.—and accordingly-scaled numerical grades expressed as fractions on all assignments, with the upper term of the fraction indicating the number of points earned and the denominator the total possible points for the assignment. For instance, a C+ 7.8/10 on an assignment indicates a grade of C+ earning 7.8 of the 10 points possible.

Your semester grade
For the course as a whole, MGA awards only letter grades without qualifiers (pluses or minuses):

A for excellent work, B for good work, C for satisfactory work, D for marginally passing or "below average" work, and F for failing work, or unsatisfactory performance.

Following instructions is crucial. Regardless of the quality of your work in other respects, often the single most important factor in grades on individual assignments is how carefully you follow instructions. It is vitally important that you read all assignment instructions with carefully focused attention. Too often low grades reflect a student's not meeting assignment requirements or not doing the work specifically intended on a particular assignment. For instance, if an exam essay's instructions say to write about four different literary works' portrayal of heroism and you skim through the instructions and address heroism in only one work, albeit brilliantly and in depth—the essay would fail because it did not follow instructions. For all assignments, large and small, in class and out of class, your grade will be impacted tremendously by how carefully you follow instructions and meet requirements. Always read instructions with painstaking care, and let me know whenever you are unsure of what you are being asked to do on any assignment.

Grading criteria for "smaller assignments"
By "smaller assignments" I mean all graded work other than formal papers and midterm and final exams.

In grading most smaller assignments, I evaluate your work with two primary criteria in mind: 1) the extent to which it meets and follows the assignment's intent by heeding instructions carefully and precisely, and 2) the level of effort indicated by your work.

With most smaller assignments, such as reading quizzes or critical responses, your grade will depend mainly on your careful attention to what the assignment asks you to do and on your level of effort. For many reading quiz questions, for instance, there will be no one "right" answer, and you will get full credit for any answer clearly indicating that you have read the material closely enough to provide a reasonable answer, whether or not yours is the specific idea I had in mind when making the quiz. With critical responses, I do not nit-pick too much on grammar and mechanics but instead focus primarily on how directly and effectively you address the given topic. Persistent or flagrant weaknesses in the writing will affect your grade on critical responses to some extent, but how well you meet assignment requirements and the effort you put into offering sincere and insightful observations on the readings will largely determine critical response grades.

Grading criteria for midterm and final exams (literature courses only)

"Short answers" (explaining the significance of specific passages):
Typically, in the short answer segment of an exam, I consider how well you explain the thematic significance of particular passages—demonstrating an understanding of the importance of each passage in conveying the entire work's most important insights on the human condition or in supporting the work's fundamental "messages" or themes. With short answers, I take for granted that you can identify the passage, so to do well on short answers, you must go beyond simply indicating that the passage comes from a particular work and is spoken by this or that character.

Your relative success on short answers often has the largest impact on exam grades overall. Students who a) do the reading initially, b) attend in class discussion and take notes, and c) study by reviewing all the passages emphasized in class, tend to do well on both this portion of the exam and on the essay section. Those who neglect items a), b), or c) tend to do poorly. You should review these sample short answers as you prepare for any of my literature exams:

Sample short answer questions:

Identify and explain the thematic significance of the passages in 2-4 sentences.  (You will have some choice on an actual exam: as in choosing 6 passages from a possible 8, e.g.)

1. "He finally come into his manhood today, didn't he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain."

An "F" answer:
This passage comes from A Raisin in the Sun. Here Mama says that Walter has become a man.

This answer would get very little credit, only 1 point out of a possible 5, because it identifies the passage without explaining thematic significance.

An "A" answer:
This passage in A Raisin in the Sun is significant because it highlights one of the play's central themes, Walter's development into manhood. One of the play's major themes is that being a man is not a matter of making lots of money, as Walter believes initially, but rather, being a man means behaving with self-respect and dignity, setting a good example for one's children, as Walter does in standing up to Mr. Lindner at the end of the play.

This answer would get full marks, 5/5 points, because it goes beyond identifying the passage and explains how the passage supports one of the play's central thematic concerns, Walter's growth into manhood.

2. "What I mean is—he thinks I'm sort of—prim and proper, you know! [She laughs out sharply.]"

An "F" answer:
Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire tells Stella how prim and proper Mitch thinks she is. She teases Mitch and leads him on when truly she is not prim and proper at all. She is in fact very promiscuous and even gets fired from her job for sleeping with a high school student.

Simply identifies the passage and explains its context in the play, doesn't explain how the passage is significant in relation to a specifically identified theme because it doesn't indicate what any of the play's central themes actually are. 2/5 points.

An "A" answer:
Here Blanche tells Stella what Mitch thinks of her (Blanche) in Streetcar. The passage is significant because the conflict of illusion vs. reality is one of the play's central concerns: the play presents the theme that lying has a way of coming back to hurt the liar. When Mitch discovers that Blanche is full of crap with her "prim and proper" Southern belle act, her entire world crumbles because she has been counting on Mitch's marrying her.

Great answer, 5/5 pts. credit, because it ties the passage to central thematic concerns of the play directly: Blanche as a Southern belle, illusion vs. reality, and the consequences of lying.

3. "She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

An "A" answer:
This passage is from Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," and the Misfit is talking about the grandmother after killing her. The passage is significant because it supports the story's theme of God extending grace in surprising and sometimes violent ways. The Misfit highlights the ironic point that the grandmother, who has been a dingbat throughout the story, actually behaves like a good Christian when he is about to kill her. She shows sympathy for her murderer when she reaches out to comfort him just as Jesus would—the implication is that she would have been a truly good woman if she had had such moments of stress all the time, and she behaves in Christlike fashion just as she is about to meet her Maker.

Very effective answer, 5/5 pts. credit since it ties the passage to the story's central-most theme of God extending grace in surprising ways, even to those who don't seem to deserve it.

An "almost D" answer:
The Misfit says this.  I don't remember the story too well, but I think it involves Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña, and of course, its central theme is that the Atlanta Braves are the baddest freakin' team in baseball.

Not a bad idea, 2/5 pts.: mentioning the Atlanta Braves is always smart whether or not you know the correct answer, and so is effective use of the highly underrated word "freakin'."

Exam essays:
I try to be understanding about examination pressure and time constraints with exam essays, but I do still expect essays on exams to be effective in overall focus, structure and development. Typically, I do not expect introductions and conclusions to be so thoroughly developed in exam essays as in formal papers outside of class, and I tend not to stress grammar and mechanics too much. But by and large I expect your exam essays to meet the most important criteria for formal out-of-class essays outlined below, with the notable difference that I would not typically expect exam essays to include quotations or to meet specific word counts.

Grading criteria for threaded online discussions
The most essential factors in grades for threaded online discussions are how carefully you follow posting instructions and the level of thoughtful engagement with the readings indicated through your contributions. In online courses, "threaded discussions" are the primary vehicle of instruction, approximating the real-time discussion in a traditional face-to-face class, so it is crucially important that you post and view the postings of others at different points throughout each unit's discussion period. I understand that flexibility in participation is a key benefit of online courses, but students learn relatively little when all of their discussion participation comes in only one session per unit and they do not read posts by their classmates and instructor. As I explain in the "instruments of evaluation" portion of the syllabus for each online class, "just as students in traditional classrooms cannot simply share their contributions and leave the classroom without hearing and benefiting from what others say in discussion, you should not merely post your ideas without attending to what everyone else has to say. Students who post only on the last day of a unit will receive no higher grade for that unit's discussion than a B-; students who fail to read at least 75% of classmates' postings each unit will receive no higher grade than C+" (or 60% in a class with more than 30 students). Note that you can always read the posts of others in the day or two following the close of actual discussion.

Grading criteria for formal essays
Here are the general standards by which I evaluate formal writing.

Matters of course: the bedrock basics.
In order to receive a passing grade:

An essay must first and foremost address a viable topic, meaning that if you are given a specific assignment for the essay, your paper must address the assigned topic squarely and fully. In the absence of a specific assigned topic, the essay must set up and address a topic genuinely worthy of exploration at the college level. We will deal with this issue later in the semester, but here's one quick illustration: a beautifully written paper proving that Hester Prynne is treated harshly in The Scarlet Letter for her sin of adultery would fail because the point is too obvious to need elaboration: any reader of the novel would know simply from reading the book that Hester is treated harshly. Your essay should develop a thesis that enlightens your readers: you should present significant argument or analysis that goes beyond simply stating the obvious.

Secondly, every essay must meet all specified assignment requirements. For instance, if an assignment says to incorporate a personal anecdote from your own life and you do not include one, the essay will not pass even if it is brilliant in all other respects. Or if you are asked to incorporate four quotations from our readings and you include only three? No chance to pass.

An essay must be adequately developed in order to receive a passing grade. At the very least, essays must meet the minimum word count—in the text of the essay itself, excluding the title, header, works cited page, etc. If you are asked to write an essay of 500-750 words, 498 words will receive an automatic F. The word minimum means absolute minimum in this class.

A passing essay must have some apparent structure at the paragraph level: the introductory paragraph establishing the essay's central focus, body paragraphs exploring that focus with distinctly separate main points in separate paragraphs, and the concluding paragraph bringing the discussion to an obvious close.

The writing must be intelligible standard English, without a pronounced excess of "major" errors in grammar—subject-verb agreement problems, sentence fragments, comma splices, fused sentences, pronoun agreement problems, etc. We will discuss "major errors" early in the semester.

The "A" paper: My expectations for "A" work on formal essays are high. It is not unusual early in the semester for me to award A's on fewer than 10% of the papers I grade. The percentage tends to rise as the semester progresses, but often not much beyond the 15-20% range. I believe A essays should be truly exceptional work. Beyond satisfying each of the "bedrock basics" listed above, an A essay should do the following:

• present and develop a viable thesis in thoughtful and convincing fashion
• show exceptionally impressive critical thinking, including thoughtful consideration of audience, especially of opposing perspectives for topics calling for argumentation
• maintain tight focus on the stated central topic throughout
• support each primary claim with effective and convincing evidence
• have unified, coherent, and well-developed paragraphs throughout, including the introduction and conclusion
• be engaging and interesting
• communicate at both the paragraph and sentence level with coherence, precision, clarity, and correctness in grammar, diction, and mechanics, following the established conventions for formal academic writing indicated on the "Simple Stuff," "Nuggets," and "Quotations" pages.

The "B" paper: Essays in the "B" range generally satisfy most of the requirements for "A" work outlined above—for me, a "B" essay is very strong work, definitely above average. What usually distinguishes B papers from A papers is one or more of the following:

• minor problems in maintaining tight focus on the stated central topic or thesis
• notable but not overly damaging lapses or weaknesses in critical thinking or logic
• minor problems in paragraph unity or development, including the introduction and conclusion
• minor problems in supporting major claims with effective evidence in body paragraphs
• persistent problems in minor matters of grammar, mechanics, convention, or diction
• some significant problems with "major" errors in grammar.

The "C" paper: "C" essays typically present and develop a viable thesis in reasonably convincing fashion, with generally solid writing at the local level of grammar, mechanics, diction, and convention. A "C" paper is usually acceptable work in the main, with one or more of the following weaknesses:

• structural problems, including
• minor problems in overall focus—e.g. paragraph(s) that stray slightly from the stated central topic or thesis
• relatively minor problems in paragraph unity (sticking closely to one main point per paragraph)
• only marginally effective development of any paragraph(s), including the introduction or conclusion
• significant weaknesses in logic or critical thinking, including weak or unconvincing primary claims and obvious weaknesses in considering audience or opposing perspectives in argumentation
• inadequate or significantly faulty evidence for primary claims in body paragraphs
• significant, persistent problems in diction, grammar, style, mechanics, or convention
• substantial patterns of "major" errors in grammar.

The "D" paper: Essays in the "D" range are only marginally acceptable. They usually have significant, extensive weaknesses in one or more of the following areas:

• major but not fatal problems addressing the assigned topic squarely or fully, or establishing a viable central focus when the topic is of your own invention
• major but not fatal problems meeting assignment requirements or instructions
• significant and damaging flaws in logic or critical thinking, in the thesis or central focus or in individual points of analysis or argumentation
• structural problems at the global or paragraph level, including:
• problems in coherence between the introduction and/or conclusion and the body of the essay
• significant troubles in paragraph unity and coherence
• significant troubles in paragraph development, including introductions and conclusions
• damaging and persistent problems at the local level of the writing, especially persistent "major" errors in grammar
• glaring and substantial neglect of guidelines and conventions indicated on the "Simple Stuff," "Nuggets," and/or "Quotations" pages.

The "F" paper: An "F" indicates clearly unacceptable work. Most often I assign "F's" on essays that fail to satisfy all of the "bedrock basics" listed above: in viability of topic or overall focus, meeting assignment requirements, adequate development, minimally effective paragraph structure, or minimally acceptable grammar and mechanics. Additionally, the following can result in failure:

• grossly flawed logic or critical thinking—such that the essay as a whole is weakened to the point of having no legitimate shot at being convincing
• grossly inadequate support or evidence for primary claims—to the extent that the essay has no chance at being even minimally persuasive
• flagrant and egregious neglect of guidelines and conventions indicated on the "Simple Stuff," "Nuggets," and/or "Quotations" pages
• major problems in syntax and sentence structure, beyond the "major errors," of such glaring nature as to make the writing unacceptable as intelligible college-level English prose
• plagiarism of any sort, intentional or unintentional, and to any extent—in the most flagrant and comprehensive cases, and also in isolated minor instances.