Essay Pointers Essay Grading Rubric w Composition 25

Essay Pointers

Essay Grading Rubric w Composition (25%) w Subject Knowledge (25%) w Contribution (25%) w Reference and Citation (25%)

Composition: Common Grammatical Errors w Commas w Place commas when listing a sequence of items and before conjunctions when combining two complete sentences w Correct: I bought eggs, flour, and sugar at the store. w Correct: I wanted to go to the concert, but I didn’t have enough money to buy a ticket (Notice, the two sentences could stand alone). w Incorrect: I wanted to go to the concert but didn’t have enough money to buy a ticket (Notice, the latter part of the sentence doesn’t contain a verb; therefore, you don’t have to place a comma before the conjunction).

Composition: Common Grammatical Errors w Semicolons are used to combine two complete and related thoughts. w E. g. , I bought a car; the car is silver. w Subject - verb agreement w See http: //owl. english. purdue. edu/ handouts/eslsubverb. html w Incorrect: The user has the option of downloading any CD they have onto i. Tunes. w Correct: The user has the option of downloading any CD he/she has onto i. Tunes OR Users have the option of downloading any CD they have onto i. Tunes.

Composition: Common Grammatical Errors w Abbreviations/Acronyms w Write out the full meaning of the abbreviation and/or acronym the first time you use said abbreviation/acronym, and from that point forward, only use the abbreviation/acronym w E. g. , I recently bought a personal computer (PC). I decided to purchase a PC rather than a Mac because… w Be aware of homonyms!! (e. g. , to, two, too; there, their, they’re) w Spell check and proofread!!!

Subject Knowledge w Stay on topic w Understand what you’re talking about you’re the expert!! w Use correct terminology

Contribution w Insight - Do you contribute to the reader’s understanding of the topic? w Analysis - Do you explore the topic in depth? w Argument - Are your arguments/opinions backed up with facts?

Reference and Citation: Authoritative Sources w Essay requirement: At least one authoritative/primary source w What makes an authoritative source? Reputable author (e. g. , a university professor) Reputable company (e. g. , Microsoft or Apple) Reputable journal, magazine, etc. (e. g. , Time Magazine) Date of publication/copyright date w Secondary sources permissible (but only in addition to an authoritative/primary source) w E. g. , Wikipedia w Why is Wikipedia a secondary source? w Free encyclopedia written and edited by volunteers w Like any other wiki, anyone essentially can add or delete information from the articles; therefore, you can’t be certain the information is valid. w Key - trustworthiness. You want the reader to trust what you have written. You want the reader to know that your words are valid based on your sources. w w

Reference (aka bibliography) w Why provide references? w To acknowledge and give credit to someone else’s work (i. e. , so as not to plagiarize) w So the reader can identify where you, the writer, found the given information w So the reader can further investigate the situation should he/she choose to do so w MLA style preferred (see http: //www. liu. edu/CWIS/ CWP/library/workshop/citmla. htm - link available in the syllabus on Angel)

Reference w What should be included in a reference listing? w Author (No author - authoritative source? ). w Title of the article w Publisher (if applicable - won’t always be listed on websites) w Date of publication w Alphabetize your references by the last name of the author; if there isn’t an author, then alphabetize based on the first word in the reference (usually the title). w Placement of references: Listed at the end of the paper.

Citation w What is a citation? w Information used to identify specific material listed in your references w Thus, every reference that you list should be cited at least once in your essay. w Why cite? w Same reason you provide references - see slide 9 w What should you cite? Everything that isn’t general knowledge or your opinion. w If in doubt, cite. w If you’re giving your opinion, say so… (In my opinion, I think, I believe…)

Citation w What is included in a citation? w Author’s last name (or the first 2 -4 words of the title) and page or paragraph number in which you found that information w Citations can appear mid sentence or at the end of the a sentence. w The punctuation goes outside of the parentheses if the citation ends a sentence. w E. g. , Scientists have programmed a four pound dinosaur, known as Pleo, to respond to its environment and owner as a pet might (Lee 12).