Rubric for the Descriptive Essay
Weight on Each Level of the Rubric = X4
High ( 2.0, 1.9, 1.8) X 4 =
a. Content:
The Descriptive Essay describes characteristics of a career specialization of high interest to the student.
• Details are provided from 4 - 5 of the following five categories --
Duties & Tasks; Skills, Training, & Continuing Education; Work Style & Conditions; Advancement & Promotion; and
Employment & Wage Outlook; And …
• Overall the Descriptive Essay is at least 6 pages (including title page, body of the essay, & annotated References).
• The minimum quantity of sources should be four different Web sites. The student uses four different domains. For example -- Only one chapter from the Occupational Outlook Handbook (bls.gov), and one report from O*Net Center (onetcenter.org) should be used.
• At least two of the chosen Internet sources should be from the list of career-related Web sites in the handout,
“wk8_descriptive_essay_content.”
• The student utilizes a relevant source, which is not listed already on the handout, “wk8_descriptive_essay_content”; And …
b. Organization:
The Essay’s content is well organized by having the following –
• Introduction and conclusion
• Paragraphs are provided under a minimum of four section headings. Examples of primary headings are:
“Duties & Tasks”; “Skills & Training,” “Lifelong Learning & Continuing Education”; and “Work Style & Conditions”; “Employment & Wage Outlook,” and “Advancement & Promotion.”
• Secondary section headings are unnecessary; And …
c. Crediting sources with citations and Annotated References:
• Four References in APA format are provided at the end of the essay; And …
• The in-text citation methods may include the use of a signal phrase and/or the use of a parenthetical citation.
• At least four corresponding in-text citations are provided at the places in the body of the essay at which the sources are used;
• All copied and/or quoted sentences and long phrases are cited in-text and in corresponding References.
• Major errors in APA format for citations, & References are 2 or fewer:
A major error in References is either of the following --
Failure to include a Reference for every fact, idea, or quote used from a source; A missing author; omission of the title of the Web
page; lack of a retrieval statement with the URL; lack of alphabetical order among the References; and a Reference to a
source for which no corresponding in-text citation is used. Failure to remove the underline for a hyperlink is an example of a minor
error in a Reference.
A major error in an in-text citation for a Web site is either of the following --
An in-text citation without a corresponding entry in the list of References; the absence of an in-text citation at the place in the text
at which a source is paraphrased; a missing author; and omission of the date or indication of no date. An example of a
minor error in an in-text citation is the omission of the paragraph number from the web page from which text is copied or a quote is
used. And ...
d. Annotations
• An annotation is provided for each of the Internet sources cited in the References. An annotation consists of a paragraph of 3 – 4
sentences. An annotation is indented under a Reference; And …
• The source is summarized in 1 – 2 sentences; And …
• The source is evaluated in 2 – 3 sentences; And …
• The sentences, which evaluate a source in each annotation, use at least two of the following five criteria --
Accuracy; Authoritativeness; Objectivity; Currency; and Coverage; And …
e. Fair Use:
• The Essay mostly paraphrases statements in a Web site. The student uses her/his own words for nearly all content.
• All copied sentences and long phrases are quoted.
• The student limits quotes or copied sentences from each site to one sentence. The student quotes no more than three items from a
list of items, which a web page describes in phrases. Note that these limits are not a legal requirement. It is a measure taken to be in
compliance with the Fair Use Guideline to use literally only an insignificant proportion of the original source. And …
• A corresponding citation and Reference is used for each quote and paraphrase. And …
e. Grammar and writing
• Grammatical and writing errors are marked in the Descriptive Essay. Corrections are indicated for many of the errors.
• The writing errors in the current essay are not scored and deducted from the total points available in the essay with the following exception –
An essay in which several sentences (3-4) on each page are difficult to comprehend due to their weak grammar and awkward construction cannot score above the Low level.
• You are expected to revise the errors and similar un-marked instances of the types of errors, when you combine this essay with the other two essays inside the Portfolio. You will combine three essays upon submission of the last, Process Essay.
• Grammatical and writing errors are evaluated in the whole Portfolio with a separate rubric, “English and Presentation.” You will not have the advantage of prior marked errors and designated corrections, when you write the Process Essay. Take the opportunity to learn from the types of errors to which you are prone, along with the instructor’s corrections, in the Narrative and Descriptive essays.
f. The 3 multiplier levels are used in accordance with:
The specificity and relevance of the content in each section; the organization into paragraphs, and under section headings; the writing’s
capability to communicate easily; and the quantity of errors in page format and citations; And …
g. The use of SmarThinking is required.
