Research Paper Rubric

	Clarity	Effectiveness	Organization	Technical
A	Essay is written with few or no grammatical errors. Sentences are not over-packed or too short. The writer has a variety of sentence structures that he/she uses in presenting ideas.	The essay has an excellent thesis statement that clearly lays out the purpose of the paper. The essay is effective in staying on topic and discussing the importance of the issue at hand. The content in the body paragraphs build off of this thesis statement	The essay has an effective opening paragraph followed by subsequent body paragraphs, each with effective topic sentences that give the body paragraphs structure and organization. The essay has a strong conclusion that wraps up the thoughts on the topic	The essay is written in MLA format with little to no errors with in-text citations or the work’s cited page. The paraphrasing and summarizing of outside sources completely avoids unintentional plagiarism.
B	Essay has some grammatical and structural errors but they do not deeply impact the clarity of the writing. Minor issues remain on writing effective sentences.	The thesis statement is mostly effective in introducing the topic, purpose, and direction of the essay. The content in the body paragraphs sometimes strays from the thesis, but comes back to the writer’s original intentions for a majority of the essay. The essay contains good substance on the topic at hand.	The essay has a good opening paragraph followed by subsequent body paragraphs, each with topic sentences that give the body paragraphs structure and organization. The essay has a conclusion that wraps up the essay.	The essay is written in MLA format with little a few errors with in-text citations and the work’s cited page. The paraphrasing and summarizing of outside sources mostly avoids unintentional plagiarism.
C	Essay has a noticeable amount of grammatical and structural errors which at times takes away from the clarity of the writing. Sentences may be over-packed or too short with little structural variety.	The thesis statement is somewhat flawed in introducing the topic, purpose, and direction of the essay. The content in the body paragraphs often stray from the thesis, The essay contains some substance on the topic at hand.	The essay has a somewhat flawed opening paragraph or body paragraphs. Although body paragraphs are present, they contain some organizational issues possibly due to weak or missing topic sentences.	The essay uses MLA formatting as a guide but strays from it at times. There are errors with citing texts in the essay. The essay might have some issues with unintentional plagiarism. Non-reputable sources may be cited at times.
D and below	Essay has an abundance of grammatical and structural errors which makes the writing very difficult to understand	The thesis statement is either confusing or is seriously flawed in introducing the essay’s purpose and topic. The content of the essay is inconsistent with the thesis. The substance of the body paragraphs is seriously flawed.	The essay is seriously flawed in its organization of the body paragraphs. Topic sentences are absent, and the ideas discussed are not presented in a logical manner.	The writer does not understand MLA formatting nor correct citations. Unintentional plagiarism might be a looming issue. Wikipedia or other non-reputable sources are cited for a considerable portion of the essay.

Technical- 20 points: Does your essay have the appropriate number of pages (at least 4)? Are in text citations used properly? Does the essay follow MLA formatting? Is there a Works Cited Page?

Clarity- 20 points- Do grammatical errors disrupt the clarity of the essay? Does the writer avoid redundancy? Are sentences over-packed? Are sentences too short and lack content? Are there sentences that could have been combined to have created more substantive ones? Are the sentence structures and patterns correctly assembled and used in a variety of ways?

Organization- 20 points: Is the essay properly organized? Is there an effective opening paragraph followed by subsequent body paragraphs? Does each paragraph have an effective topic sentence? Do the body paragraphs build off of this topic sentence or are they disorganized? Are the body paragraphs organized into sub-topics? Is there a conclusion paragraph that sums up the purpose of the essay?

Effectiveness- 20 points: Is there a strong thesis statement that lays out the purpose of the paper? Does the essay and the content in the body paragraphs build off of this thesis statement? Does the essay contain overall substance on the topic at hand?

Rough Draft- 20 points: Did the rough draft contain at least one in-text citation? Did it reach the three page minimum?

Lit-Analysis 9/28

•In a glorified paragraph, answer the following prompt.

•During the fishing trip, a transformation seems to take place among the patients as they turn from scared little rabbits, always following McMurphy’s lead, into wolves who finally feel comfortable with themselves. What event (or events) during this outing causes this transformation to take place? How do they change? Provide a quote and analyze it to show how it supports your claim or topic sentence.

Socratic Seminars

 

Students will be placed in one of three groups and will be given a specific topic for discussion in the Socratic Seminar. A Socratic Seminar is when a small group of students (in this case 11) discuss a topic with one another in a respectful manner. It is not a debate, but a dialogue.

The two cents discussion showed us that everyone’s input is worth hearing. It is this verbalization of our analyses of the text that actually helps us better understand the topics and thus leads to stronger critical thinking in our writing.

From now till the Socratic Seminar, you will want to gather quotes, evidence and examples that will better help you to understand your specific topic. Organize them in a coherent manner so that during your formal, small group discussion, you will be ready to share your own input and analysis of the text and topic. You may choose to write your final essay on the same topic as your Socratic Seminar, so think of this as a two birds- one stone situation! Good seminars occur when participants study the text closely in advance, listen actively, share their ideas and questions, and feed off of the discussion they are a part of.

 

1)      How does power play a role in Kesey’s novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest? Be prepared to discuss your analysis of the development of the power struggle between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy throughout the novel. Discuss who ends up winning at the end of the novel. Do not merely state plot summary from the book.

 

2)      The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the majority or the powerful is a recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Be prepared to discuss your thoughts on whether or not McMurphy gives the other patients a sense of individualism throughout the book. How is this sense of individualism transferred from McMurphy to the patients? How is this sense of individualism displayed by the patients?   Do not merely state plot summary from the book.

 

3)      Gender Analysis:  One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest has often been criticized for its treatment of gender and female characters.  Is this criticism deserved? How are women depicted in this novel? Be prepared to discuss your analysis of the role of femininity and masculinity in the novel and how Kesey uses these traits to move the plot forward.

Each group will nominate one group facilitator who will play the duo role as leader and participant in the discussion. The group facilitator will keep the discussion focused on the text, ask follow-up questions, help participants clarify their positions when arguments become confused. The facilitator must also maintain a balance among the discussion and encourage are members to participate and share.



One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Essay Topics

You will have the choice to choose one of the following topics to write on for your in-class essay for Friday, October 5^th.

1)    How does power play a role in Kesey’s novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest? Write an essay in which you analyze the development of the power struggle between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy throughout the novel. Discuss who ends up winning at the end of the novel. Do not merely summarize the novel.

a.       Think about the use of symbolism of power in the novel.

b.      Does the power shift from one character to the other? How is this important to the novel?

 

2)    The conflict created when the will of an individual opposes the will of the majority or the powerful is a recurring theme of many novels, plays, and essays. Write an essay in which you explore whether or not McMurphy gives the other patients a sense of individualism throughout the book. How is this sense of individualism transferred from McMurphy to the patients? How is this sense of individualism displayed by the patients?   Do not merely summarize the novel.

a.       You can focus on specific characters, such as Bromden, or on several characters.

 

3)    Gender Analysis:  One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest has often been criticized for its treatment of gender and female characters.  Is this criticism deserved? How are women depicted in this novel? Analyze the role of femininity and masculinity in the novel and how Kesey uses these traits to move the plot forward.

a.       You can focus on Kesey’s depiction of Nurse Ratched and the prostitutes.

 

4)    Biblical Allusions: Why does Ken Kesey repeatedly allude to the Bible? What comparisons does Kesey try to make with the figures from his novel to the figures from biblical literature? How are these comparisons important for the plot of the novel?

Key Dates Coming Up

 

 

 Finishing Kesey's novel by Monday, 10/1

Socratic Seminars Wed, Thurs, Friday 10/3-5

Final In-Class Literature Analysis on Friday 10/5

Final Research Paper due Monday, 10/8

9/26-27 "2 Cents Discussion"

Students came to class with three different levels of questions on Part Three of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. The three levels were Comprehension/ Recall, Analysis/ Inference, and Synthesis.

In preparation for next week's Socratic Seminar, along with the final in-class essay on Friday 10/5, students engaged in a full class discussion where they literally threw in their 2 cents each time they added a substantive comment in response to a student's question.

Topics of discussion included the following:

Biblical allusion in the novel: Is McMurphy a Christ-like figure? Ist this a fair comparison? Are there Judas or Peter figures among McMurphy's "disciples?"

Individualism and power: How does McMurphy give the other patients a strong sense of individualism during the fishing trip? How does this affect the nurse's power? What is the power of laughter on the fishing trip?

Gender and the role of women: How does the character of Candy help move the plot forward in this section of the novel? Does Kesey seem to use his female characters in respectful ways? What impact do female charcters have in the novel? Compare and contrast the nurse and Candy, how are they different and similar in their roles in the novel?