The English Department has established a number of goals and expectations for student writing, whereby students will be able to enter the discourse community of literary analysis by

• analyzing, interpreting, and critiquing literary texts clearly, employing a range of reading strategies;
• writing interactive responses to literary texts and engaging in different kinds of literary analysis;
• demonstrating the ability to use writing for a variety of purposes, including exploring one's thinking, expressing one's original thoughts, and explaining what one understands about a variety of written texts;
• addressing assignments with a focused controlling idea, a sense of purpose, and audience awareness;
• demonstrating coherent and rhetorically sophisticated organization and sustaining an argument of some length and complexity;
• providing clear generalizations with specific textual support and analysis, citing and analyzing relevant sources;
• demonstrating consistent control of grammar, sentence variety, and diction and the ability to analyze and articulate the sentence-level grammatical structures contained in their own and others' writing.

A EXCELLENT--a paper in this category

Addresses assignment thoughtfully, setting a challenging task.
Demonstrates critical reading and clear analysis, interpretation, and/or critique of literary texts. Establishes a clearly focused controlling idea.
Displays awareness of and a sense of purpose in communicating to an audience.
Demonstrates coherent, sophisticated organization; makes effective connections between ideas.
Provides compelling support for and cogent analysis of generalizations.
Cites relevant sources and effectively integrates them into text where appropriate.
Displays superior control of syntax, sentence variety, diction, and conventions of Standard English.

B STRONG--a paper in this category

Addresses assignment clearly, setting a meaningful task.
Demonstrates critical reading and clear analysis, interpretation, and/or critique of literary texts.
Establishes a clearly focused controlling idea.
Addresses audience needs and expectations.
Demonstrates clear and coherent organization.
Provides clear generalizations and effective support and analysis.
Cites relevant sources, effectively integrating them into text when appropriate.
Shows consistent control of syntax, sentence variety, diction, and conventions of Standard English.

C ADEQUATE--a paper in this category

Addresses the assignment with some analysis.
Demonstrates close reading and some analysis of literary texts.
Establishes a controlling idea.
Demonstrates adequate organization.
Provides support for and some analysis of generalizations.
Cites appropriate sources, adequately integrating them into text.
Displays adequate control of syntax, sentence variety, diction and conventions of Standard English; errors do not slow the reader, impede understanding, or seriously undermine authority of the writer.

D SERIOUSLY FLAWED--a paper in this category

Addresses the assignment inadequately.
Shows insufficient close reading and/or a lack of analysis of the literary text.
Shows insufficient audience awareness.
Strays from the controlling idea, or the idea is unclear.
Displays formulaic, random, or confusing organization.
Lacks generalizations, or provides generalizations with inadequate support or analysis.
Fails to cite sources or cites and/or integrates them inappropriately.
Shows deficient control of syntax, diction, and conventions of Standard English; errors impede understanding.

F FUNDAMENTALLY DEFICIENT--a paper in this category

Fails to address assignment.
Shows inadequate close reading and/or analysis of literary text.
Demonstrates a lack of audience awareness.
Lacks a controlling idea.
Lacks organization or organizes illogically.
Displays inability to generalize, analyze, or support ideas.
Fails to use outside sources or misuses the texts of others.
Shows inadequate control of syntax, word choice, and conventions of Standard English.