Grading

Generally speaking, students hate getting graded and professors hate grading them. Grades come with a lot of psychological baggage, which can often distract from learning. Nonetheless, grades provide a helpful way to chart one’s progress through a class, and they force both professors and students to be honest about the quality of completed work. In that context, I have adopted a grading scale that, I hope, will help provide the benefits of grades without the psychological baggage. Every paper is given a score from 0-10. The meanings of these scores are described below. For most students, I have found this system to work very well. For some students, grades are sufficiently important that these students want or need to know their grades, not just their scores, on papers. If you are one of these students, let me know and I will convert your number to a letter grade. For other students, even the scores are a distraction from learning. If you are one of those students, let me know and I will leave your papers unscored in the future.

Attributes of the various levels:

0-3 (Unsatisfactory): A score of 0-3 on a paper is a sign that you have failed to write a Whitman quality paper. This grade is appropriate for papers that fail to advance a thesis or for a thesis that is so broad as to be unprovable, or so uninteresting that its proof is insignificant. For papers that are supposed to answer a specific question, this level is appropriate for a paper that fails to address the question. This level is also appropriate for a failure to advance evidence from the text, poor organization, and/or gross mechanical incorrectness. Writing that shows evidence of a lack of basic comprehension of the main points of a text also falls within this range.

4 (Minimally satisfactory): A paper that gets a 4 is the bare minimum level that I expect from a Whitman student. This paper will have a thesis. Its ideas don’t develop well, but they are organized into coherent paragraphs. The evidence adduced from the text does work to prove the thesis, but the evidence is not handled in a compelling way. Brilliant insights couched in a mechanically sloppy paper merit a score of 4. A mechanically correct paper that lacks substance similarly merits a 4.

5-6 (Meets expectations): Most Whitman papers will fall into the 5-6 range. Getting a 5 on a paper is a fine score, and it suggests that you have not made major errors in writing your paper, but you have not gone above and beyond the call. A paper in this range advances a clear thesis, adduces evidence from the text, is organized into well-unified paragraphs and shows general mechanical correctness throughout. A paper in this range is itself a unified whole, always advancing a single argument and always moving the reader forward through it.

7-8 (Exceeds expecatations): A paper in this range is an excellent paper. All the attributes of the 5-6 level paper must be present here, but a paper that gets a 7-8 is exceptional in its clarity, conciseness, and elegance. Its thesis is insightful and important. The evidence it adduces compels the reader to accept its thesis. This paper is original, and is written in a way that is clear, concise, and pleasant to read.

9-10: Papers that score a 9-10 are truly exceptional. The qualities of an excellent paper are present to a degree that surpasses what can reasonably be expected from most Whitman students. These papers go beyond the call of duty in terms of clarity and elegance, thoroughness in dealing with the issues relevant to the thesis, and scholarly rigor. If you get a 10 on a paper, I consider that paper of sufficient quality to be published in an academic journal.

Some general criteria for writing a good essay:

A successful paper advances an argument with clarity, momentum and the force of compelling evidence from the text. Good papers must include:

1) A Thesis. This is the claim that the author is advancing. It should be stated clearly and fully at the outset of the paper. Note the difference between a topic, the subject upon which you are writing, and a thesis, what you are claiming about that subject. An example of a topic might be, “The heroism of Achilles.” An example of a thesis might be, “The heroism of Achilles lies in his rage.” A thesis should be controversial enough to make your defense of it interesting. (If you cannot imagine how anyone could disagree with your thesis, it is a bad thesis. If you cannot imagine how anyone could agree with it, you are going to have a very hard time writing your paper!)

2) Clear use of evidence and argument. Advance no assertion which you do not ground clearly in a specific passage of the text or in a well-reasoned argument of your own. (You need not always quote a passage, but you must at least give a specific reference to where support for your claim can be found.) Avoid statements that cannot be supported by evidence or argument, such as “Throughout history Love has been a powerful force.” You should not use passages from the text in isolation from their context, and you should not use quotations as substitutes for giving your own analysis of the author’s argument.

3) Clear organization. State a thesis at the outset of the paper and then organize your paragraphs to prove that thesis. A paragraph is your fundamental organizational unit. Each paragraph should have its own “paragraph thesis” which that paragraph addresses. One paragraph should equal one idea. The paragraph is not a typographical unit but an intellectual unit.

4) Mechanical correctness. I expect you to use proper grammar and spelling in your papers. Proofread your papers carefully before turning them in. It is also worth giving your papers to a friend or roommate to proofread for you. (Pet peeves of mine: misusing “however” as “but”; use of the non-word “thusly”; sentence fragments and run-on sentences; using “it’s” as a possessive; saying “Kant feels” when you mean “Kant claims”.)

Beyond that, excellent papers will include a depth of argument, attention to relevant objections, and a sufficiently nuanced thesis that they stand out. There is no “formula” for writing an excellent paper, though I aim, in my comments, to guide you towards the sorts of concerns that you should take into account.