Rubric
for Scoring Biography Essay
|
Unsatisfactory (0-11) |
Fair (12-15) |
Decent (16-18) |
Excellent (19-20) |
Revealing
the subject 40% |
Leaves the reader with only a vague sense of the
subject, without much understanding of his or her uniqueness and/or his/her
and influence on the author; fails to explore formative experiences or inner
qualities; neglects to explain the subject’s environment or does
so inadequately; minimal or awkward use of quotes; reports facts but adds nothing narrative or descriptive;
neglects to report essential facts; does not demonstrate impact on writer. |
Gives the reader a clear picture of the person and
his/her influence on the author; shows
uniqueness but does not offer a deep
understanding; fails to explore thoroughly the inner qualities of a
person or neglects to recount their formative experiences; minimal or awkward use of quotes; fails to describe the person’s environment and
relationships with enough detail; reports essential facts in a perfunctory
way; may not clearly show impact on writer. |
Gives the reader a vivid picture and deep understanding of the person and
his/her influence on the author; explores inner qualities and formative experiences; quotes the person, and others speaking about
the person; describes the person’s environment and relationships; weaves in
essential facts (including dates and places) in a creative way; shows how
person influenced writer. |
Gives reader a dynamic impression and profound
understanding of the person and his/her influence on the author; explores
inner qualities and formative experiences; aptly quotes the person, and others speaking about the
person; describes the person’s environment and relationships
with rich and telling details; weaves in essential facts (such as dates and places) in
an artful way; artfully shows how person influenced writer. |
Approach
to biography as a literary form 20% |
Does not craft the facts into a story; uses a predictable chronological order; reports
countless sundry facts without building any sort of focus or theme. |
Recounts the life as a story, but does so in a
predictable or awkward way; relies to heavily on the chronological sequences, using
repetitive or awkward transitions such as “and then…so then…later…and then…”;
sometimes allows unrelated facts to
clutter paragraphs. |
Resists all three demons of biography! Finds a story within the facts subject’s life; develops
a structure for the life story that is not strictly chronological; prudently
selects content and does not succumb to the temptation to report every
single little fact known about the person. |
Conquers all three demons of biography! Finds a
compelling story within the facts subject’s life; develops a creative and entertaining structure for the
life story that is not strictly chronological; wisely selects content and does not succumb to the
temptation to report every single little fact known about the person. |
Vocabulary
and mechanics 20% |
Student misuses or misspells basic vocabulary. Essay is
difficult to read due to the number of distracting errors. |
Student uses simple words and takes few risks. The
paper is legible but contains multiple errors. Vocabulary choices may be
repetitive. Errors in punctuation or
grammar may cause confusion. |
Student takes risks with vocabulary. Most words are
sophisticated and used properly. No
more than three mechanical errors. |
Precise and colorful words are selected deliberately.
No more than one mechanical error in the entire paper. Varied sentence
structure, smooth transitions. |
Process,
effort, presentation 20% |
Student wasted
class time; One or more stages skipped or hastily executed
(preliminary exercises, rough draft, revision to final version); sloppy presentation; one or two required materials
missing. |
Student wasted some portion of class time; effort lacking in one of the three stages (preliminary
exercises, rough draft, revision to final version); minimal improvement from rough draft to final; avoided conference with teacher; neat
presentation all required materials submitted (photos, written exercises,
rough draft, final). |
Student uses class time wisely; adequate effort shown in all three stages (preliminary
exercises, rough draft, revision to final version); noticeable improvement from rough draft to final; held
conferences with teacher and peers in or out of class; all required materials
submitted (photos, written exercises, rough draft, final). |
Student uses class time wisely; sustained intense effort throughout all three stages of project (preliminary
exercises, rough draft, revision to final version); marked improvement from rough draft to final; held conferences with teacher and peers in
or out of class; all required materials submitted (photos, written exercises,
rough draft, final). |