Essay Comparison and Final Class Grades

As noted, since this was a writing class, one of the major concerns is that of writing improvement. Ideally, students will leave the writing class with more skills than they had when they entered. Two peer writing instructors of composition at the local community college reviewed the first essay of each participant and compared it to an essay written at a later date. These essays were evaluated with a heuristic, Analytical Scoring Guide (Appendix I). The areas of evaluation were

(a) Controlling Idea/Thesis/Unity,
(b) Organization, (c) Development,
(d) Expression,
(e) Writer Engagement, and
(f) Grammar and Mechanics.

Since each category carries the weight of five, the highest grade an essay could receive is 30 points, the lowest 5.

The scores on the entrance essays ranged from a high of 27 to a score of 14 points. Everyone but Carl and Steve showed improvement from their first essays. The range for the second scored essays was 17 to 26.

All of the participants received a passing grade in the class. The final course grades for the students were:

Carl [A],
Cassandra [A],
Julie [B],
Monica [B],
Melinda [A],
Rhonda [A],
Robert [A],
Steve [D], and
Sue [A].

Subsections of Chapter IV in Order of Apperance
[The Participants] [Data Analysis] [The Themes Defined]
[Modes of Analysis] [Assignment One] [Assignment Two]
[Assignment Three] [Assignment Four] [Assignment Five]
[Essay Evaluation] [Final Grades]

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Last Updated 10/20/01

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