History 1301/1302
Explanations of the
Criteria for Assessing Student Writing
Below are explanations for each of the criteria used by
faculty in the Del Mar College history program to assess student writing in
History 1301 and History 1302. These
explanations were developed by instructors in the program who hope that they
will help students better understand what is expected of them in the writing
assignments that they complete.
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1.
Responds to
the assignment
Your work should show clearly that
you have read and understood the assignment itself, so that your writing does
what the instructor wants it to do and explores the things that the instructor
wants it to explore. Often, instructors
and students have different expectations about assignments. It is your responsibility to make sure that
your expectations match those of your instructor.
If your instructor provides an assignment sheet that details what he/she wants you to do with the writing assignment, use that sheet. If your instructor provides no such sheet make sure you discuss the assignment with him/her so that you understand what is expected of you.
2.
Expresses its
purpose clearly and persuasively and is directed toward and meets the needs of
a defined audience.
Everything that you write in your
History class–an essay on an exam, a
summary of an article or a chapter, a book review, a family history, or a
research paper–must have a central idea
(or thesis). That central idea must be very clear and
obvious to the person who grades your writing.
If you are unsure about the accuracy of your central idea, discuss it
with your instructor.
Everything you include in your
written work should be related to the central idea, support the central idea,
and demonstrate the validity of the central idea. This sort of pulling together of supporting information is how
you persuade your reader of the accuracy of your central idea.
Finally, most formal writing
assignments expect you to address a specific audience. That audience will always include your
instructor (who will grade your written work).
Sometimes, however, your instructor may also ask you to use your
“historical imagination” and write for some other audience (for instance,
Americans who were opposed to the United States’ entry into World War I or
unemployed men and women who demanded government relief during the 1930s). It is your responsibility to be sure that
you understand the audience that your assignment asks you to address. If you are unsure of this, ask your
instructor for clarification.
3.
Begins and
ends effectively and is well-organized and unified
Remember the old saying, “first impressions count?” It applies to written work even more than to personal relationships. Last impressions count, too. Your writing must begin and end well.
Far too often, students put little
thought or effort into the introduction to their written work. Do not make this mistake. Plan your introduction and provide helpful
background and/or related information that makes the writing more meaningful to
the reader; makes it coherent and unified, creative and interesting, so that
your reader wants to read what you have written.
In your conclusion you will want to summarize and remind your reader of your central idea and some of the information that you have used to support that central idea. Beyond this, however, the conclusion provides you an opportunity that students rarely take: an opportunity to be creative. Make connections – between your topic and others, between history and literature or economics or philosophy or psychology, etc. – include your own views, your own opinions. Make judgments, evaluate, and criticize. In other words, unless your instructor tells you not to do so, put some of yourself into the conclusion. You may not have a chance to do it elsewhere in the assignment, and your instructor will likely appreciate your willingness to think beyond the boundaries of this one particular assignment.
4.
Is free of
errors in grammar, punctuation, word choice, spelling and format.
Do these things really matter in
writing for a history class? Yes they
do, because too many errors in these areas can ruin any writing, no matter how
creative, inventive, accurate, or original it is. Your instructor expects you to have a good command of the basic
elements of writing and to demonstrate that command in the words that you
choose, the sentences that you create, and the paragraphs that you write.
How can you avoid problems in these
areas?
·
First, plan on writing at least two rough drafts. Ask your instructor to review the drafts and
return them with suggestions for improvement.
(Your instructor will likely be grateful to you for doing this.)
·
Second, proofread everything that you write before you
turn it in
·
Third, schedule an appointment with a tutor in the
Writing Center. While the tutor may not
be able to comment on the content of your work, he/she can certainly comment on
its grammar, punctuation, word choice, spelling and format. The tutor is liable to catch a number of
errors that you may have missed.
5.
Provides
supporting arguments, evidence, examples, and details.
While the study of the past is
about large, important ideas and developments (often called themes), those
things are revealed in many smaller things. These smaller things – evidence, examples, details – provide the
“proof” of the accuracy of the larger ideas that you will explore in your
written work.
It is very important that any significant
statements made about the subject be based on accurate historical information
and that the writer use that historical information to “back up” his/her
general statements. Use evidence,
examples, details, not simply because they are interesting in themselves, but
because these sorts of “little” things help “prove” the accuracy of the
“bigger” things that should be at the center of your writing. For example, if you write that in your
opinion (or the opinion of an author whose article you are summarizing) the
Civil War was caused by the existence of and growing debate over the practice
of slavery in the United States, you must be able to support that
statement with appropriate information from American History. In most history classes, it is impossible to
provide too much supporting information, but you will want to discuss this with
your instructor.
Some students find this sort of writing difficult because it involves attention to detail and careful reading. If you have trouble finding the type of supporting arguments, evidence, examples, and details that you need for your writing assignment, talk to your instructor.
6.
Correctly
acknowledges and documents sources
When you write about someone else’s ideas, interpretations, and opinions, you must give credit to that person. In other words, you must document the sources of the material that you use in your writing. The great majority of the writing that you will do in your history course will be based on the use of other people’s ideas. You need to acknowledge and document those ideas appropriately and consistently throughout your work.
There are various methods of
documenting sources, including footnotes, endnotes, and textual citations. Graduate students in history, as well as
historians themselves, usually use the Chicago
Manual of Style as their guide for documentation. However, your instructor may well ask you to use another style
manual for a particular assignment.
He/she will make that clear to you in the instructions for the writing
assignment that you are to complete. Remember:
you should always document the sources of the information that you include in
your writing, you should document frequently, and you should use the style of
documentation requested by your instructor.
7.
Maintains a
level of competence throughout
This criterion pulls all of the previous six criteria together. It deals with the overall excellence of the writing that you have submitted. Has your work:
·
responded to the assignment?
·
expressed its purpose clearly and consistently?
·
been written for a specific audience?
·
begun and ended strongly and been well-organized
throughout?
·
avoided too many errors of grammar, punctuation,
spelling, etc.?
·
provided sufficient, clear, factual evidence to support
the purpose of the work?
·
acknowledged the sources of its ideas regularly and
correctly?
If your work has done these things, then it has maintained a level of competence throughout. It is the kind of high-quality, thoughtful, well-planned, and well-written work that your instructor expects from you and that, with sufficient effort, you are very capable of producing.