The Case for the Grade

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I put a great deal of effort into my diagnostic essay The Case for the Grade. I had some anxiety about writing it, as this was my first essay for my first online class. However, I studied the Rubric and the subject essay thoroughly. I followed the prompt explicitly. The prompt states, “Your job is to read the course rubric (under ‘course content’) together with the piece below. Once you’ve done this, you will write a two-to-three page essay which argues what letter grade the work below should receive”(Westrope). Based on my performance and adherence to the instructions I believe the grade my essay should receive is a B.

After reading all of the rubric, I believe my essay adhered most closely to the criterion under the “B—STRONG—A Clearly Above Average Essay” heading (Grading Rubric). Under that heading there were three areas. The first was “Organization and Development” which touched on addressing the assignment clearly and analytically, and addressing the needs of the audience by providing adequate context. This area also mentioned the need for a clearly focused controlling idea or thesis (Grading Rubric). The second area was “Presentation of Research” which touched on providing effective support and analysis through examples or facts and the need to make distinctions between the student’s ideas and the ideas of others (Grading Rubric). This area also mentioned the need for a student to develop their own ideas and not to depend on sources as a substitute. The need for adherence to MLA guidelines and citing sources effectively is also touched on (Grading Rubric). The last area was “Mechanics” which focuses on punctuation, spelling, grammar, syntax and diction (Grading Rubric). The Rubric Professor Westrope provided...

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...art of hearts I know that the first essay I wrote for this class could have been an A paper with just a little more work. As the character Polonius said, “This above all: to thine ownself be true” (Shakespeare, Act I, Scene III). So I must be true to myself. I believe my organization and development were excellent. My presentation of research was superior and my mechanics were clearly above average. Because of all of this my diagnostic essay deserves a B.

Works Cited

Grading Rubric for English 101/103.

Rottenberg, Annette T., and Donna Haisty. Winchell. The Structure of Argument. Boston:

Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. Print.

Shakespeare, William, Burton Raffel, and Harold Bloom. Hamlet. New Haven: Yale UP, 2003.

Print.

Speake, Maria. The Case for the Grade. 11 January 2011.

Westrope, Theron

You are in America Now – Speak Spanish. 29 March 2010.

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