600 words 8 hrs
ENG 350 Scoring Guide: Summary – “Rites of Passage” or “Stirring Up Trouble”

Essay Writer’s name: _______________________________________________

Peer Review student’s name: _________________________________________

Key

5 = Outstanding

4 = Good (effective but not quite exemplary)

3 = Average (adequate but needs improvement)

2 = Weak (deficient and needs substantial improvement)

1 = Poor (severely deficient)

0 = Missing/Omitted

• The essay is scored holistically. The numbers above are used to indicate the relative

strengths and weaknesses in each area below.

______ 1. Format: The essay is typed using size 12 Times New Roman font; it is properly

formatted according to MLA requirements (see Rules for Writers or Purdue Online Writing Lab),

with last name and page number at the top right of each page, and an appropriate heading (name,

professor’s name, course title, and date – e.g., 6 February 2020) at the upper left of the first page.

______ 2. Title: The essay has an appropriate title. Examples: “Stirring Up Trouble”: A

Summary; A Recapitulation of Stephen S. Morse’s “Stirring Up Trouble”.

______ 3. Introduction: The opening paragraph establishes the basics, identifying the name of

the author and his profession (virologist, professor of anthropology), the title of the article (in

quotation marks), the title of the textbook (in italics), the thesis, and the writer’s purpose in

communicating this informational material (What is the writer trying to do? What questions or

problems is he addressing? What are the major conclusions he reaches?)

______ 4. Body Paragraphs: These paragraphs abstract central ideas, definitions, and arguments,

including detailed information only when essential, and the writer does not make a judgment of

the source material. The essay defines terms (e.g., “aggregation” in Kottack) that the reader

cannot be expected to know, paraphrasing and summarizing accurately, responsibly. The essay is

organized into several body paragraphs – not one seemingly endless paragraph.

______ 5. Embedding quotes: The essay embeds quotes from the text skillfully. The selected

quotes are appropriate and effectively introduced. The writer uses a variety of methods to embed

quotes (and demonstrates at least two of these methods): set-off quotes, built-in quotes, and

quotes introduced with a colon. (See the handout Embedding Quotes on Blackboard.)

______ 6. Verbs: The essay summarizes text using present-tense verbs. The writer uses a rich

variety of verbs (e.g., argues, asserts, questions, contends, disparages, etc.), rather than

pedestrian verbs (e.g., writes, says, states, etc.) (See the Verbs Reference Sheet on Blackboard.)

______ 7. In-text Citations: The writer documents source material within the text in proper MLA

format. Example: Morse explains that “germs do not discriminate” (102). Second example:

According to Kottack, Van Gennep’s liminal phase is accepted by most experts (99).

______ 8. The Works Cited at the end of the essay has one entry that is modeled like the

following:

Kottack, Conrad P. “Rites of Passage.” Critical Strategies. 3rd ed. Malcolm Kiniry and Mike Rose. Boston: St. Martin’s, 1998. 99-100.

Note: The article “Stirring Up Trouble” also appears in Critical Strategies, so copy the same

documentation that appears in the example above.

______ 9. Writing quality: The essay is composed in formal academic English. There are no

comma splices, run-on sentences, or sentence fragments. The essay is free of errors in grammar,

usage, and mechanics. The writer has carefully proofread the essay and has eliminated “typos”

and other careless errors.

______ 10. The writer submitted a completed draft and brought a hard copy to class on the

designated date for in-class peer review session. Peer review forms are attached. Finally, the

writer submitted the finalized essay on time and posted a copy in Blackboard Assignments.

_____________ Overall grade