Writing Center

Writing Proficiency Evaluation Criteria

Papers must meet the following criteria in order to pass the WPE:

1.  Content

Does the essay

• answer (and stick to) the question in the prompt? 
• make sense as whole and at all points along the way? 
• make points that are logical and reasonably intelligent in the claims they make? 
• develop points suitably through examples or logical explanation? 
• attribute to the article, but not let source quoting take over the paper?

2. Organization

Does the essay

• have a clear, discernable overall pattern of arrangement that helps a reader  navigate easily through its contents? 
• maintain organizational clarity at lower levels of text as well:  paragraph-to-paragraph, within paragraphs, between sentences?

3. Style

Does the essay

• contain sentences that are clear, readable, and idiomatic? 
• contain sentences that are largely free of gross syntactic errors: 
  • run-together sentences,
  • sentence fragments,
  • “garbled” structure?
• contain word-choice that is both idiomatic and appropriate?

Is the tone appropriate for the academic reader?       

4.  Mechanics

Does the essay

• maintain a suitable level of control over conventions of punctuation, spelling, grammar, and usage?