What Does an A Paper Look Like?
One of the common misconceptions about English papers—or literary interpretation in general—is the idea that anything goes. “I can just write how I feel about this poem and the professor can’t mark me down for anything, because interpretation is all subjective anyway, right?”
Well, yes and no.
Although the essay grading process is by nature somewhat subjective, and you will undoubtedly have different professors with very different expectations during your time at DePauw, there are definitely clear criteria for strong or weak interpretations of literature. Notice I said “strong” or “weak,” NOT “right” or “wrong.”
A strong interpretation of literature is creative, meaning it demonstrates a new and interesting way of thinking about a text; logical, meaning it includes strong evidence (in the form of close reading of a text) and there is a clear connection between evidence and claims; and clearly articulated, meaning the writing itself is clear and readers have no difficulty understanding the ideas presented by the author. If you want to think of it as a percentage-based rubric, my approach to the letter grade can be broken down into three categories (each worth roughly one third of the total grade of the essay), which I inherited from a professor of my own, Dr. Julia Walker. I’ve made some changes to her rubric and added some of my own criteria to produce this useful breakdown:
Quality of idea, e.g., is the thesis original, clear, and coherent? Is it worth arguing? Does it demonstrate intellectual inventiveness and creativity? Does it generate new insights into the text or subject? Does it answer questions about the text that have previously gone unanswered? Does it have a clear answer to the question so what, who cares?
Quality of argument, e.g., is the thesis well-argued? Is sufficient evidence presented? Is the evidence relevant to the argument? Are the selected passages/data from the text/subject thoroughly analyzed? Did each section of the essay follow logically from the previous sections? Did the author address complicating evidence or respond to valid points of dispute?
Quality of writing, e.g., is the writing clear and error-free? Did I have any issues understanding the author at the literal or conceptual levels? Was the writing a pleasure to read or a struggle? This category can range anywhere from basic command of spelling, grammar, and sentence- and paragraph-construction to stylistic issues such as the author’s sensitivity to word choice and tone. Most of the time, clarity is the top priority.
In general, A papers demonstrate excellence in all three categories, B papers usually range from demonstrating excellence in two categories to a good showing in all three, C papers typically demonstrate significant weakness in two categories or a basic competence in all three, D papers tend to demonstrate significant weakness in all three categories, while F papers (yes, it does happen) show very little thought or effort on the author’s part whatsoever.
Professor Amity Reading / August 2019