Grading Criteria for writing in Sociology 110

These criteria (or a subset of them) will be assessed for your graded writing assignments.  You will receive a grade of 1 – 5 for each element

• Distinction between opinion and empirical evidence
• Quality of logical reasoning
• Clear identification of individual factors
• Clear identification of supra-individual factors
• Discussion of inter-play between individual and social factors
• Appropriate use of empirical evidence
• Appropriate use of course concepts
• Appropriate use of course readings
• Readability (top-down organization, good use of headings, clear sentences, no confusing passages)
• Grammar and syntactical correctness   

Basis for assessment

1:  Not enough sense of this category to be functional at the college level

2:  Some sense of what this category is, but not much

3:  Functional success with the category, but not yet showing full control

4:  Functional success with the category, with only minor problems

5:  Full success with the category (a paper with truly insightful, careful, and extensive analysis that demonstrates an active and informed sociological imagination).