For the major projects, the following rubric is used to determine the grade
4.0: A project that is generally rich in detail. These projects demonstrate the author's understanding of both the subject under study and the genre. The work reflects the author's understanding of the creative nonfiction techniques the class has studied and can apply those techniques with some success to their stories. The stories demonstrates the author's understanding of his/her audience's need to be entertained, informed, and (even) challenged; and the work has a clear purpose or intent. The work is well organized and has been carefully revised and edited.
3.6: A project that is generally rich in detail. These projects demonstrate the author's understanding of both the subject under study and the genre, although the execution of the work may not be as sophisticated as with a 4.0 story above. The work reflects the author's understanding of some of the creative nonfiction techniques the class has studied and demonstrates his/her concerted effort to apply those techniques with some success to their stories. The stories demonstrates the author's understanding of his/her audience's need to be entertained, informed, and (even) challenged; and the work's purpose or intent is clear. The work is well organized and has been carefully revised and edited.
3.0 - 3.5: A project that is somewhat detailed. These projects demonstrate the author's understanding of both the subject under study and the genre, although the execution of the work is not as skillful as with a 3.6. The work reflects the author's understanding of some of the creative nonfiction techniques the class has studied and demonstrates that he/she attempted to apply some of those techniques to their stories. The stories demonstrates the author's understanding of his/her audience's need to be entertained and informed, although the work's purpose or intent may not be entirely clear. The work is generally well organized and has been carefully revised and edited.
2.0 - 2.9: A project that gets at some of the requirements for the assigned genre; although this work may lack detail or demonstrate the author's struggles to incorporate some of the techniques the class has studied. The audience and purpose of the work may not be evident. The work may also be underdeveloped (too short or superficial), missing key elements of creative nonfiction, or demonstrate significant proofreading issues.
A score below 2.0 suggests the work may be underdeveloped, unfocused, missing key elements of creative nonfiction, or sloppy in terms of organization and proofreading issues.