AMST2608: Sex and Law in Modern America

High Distinction (85-100)—The essay is well organized, clear, and precise in regards to thesis, evidence, and writing.  It contains a strong, persuasive thesis.  Analysis of the documents involves insights that go beyond basic facts and reveal important themes or ideas that link primary sources or put them in tension.  The student is also creative in their examination of the documents and integrates quotations effectively and seamlessly.  Judgments tend to be subtle and reflect an awareness of the complexities of the subject.  The essay is well organized with clear topic sentences. The essay contains no writing errors and makes expert use of citations. 

Distinction (75-84)—The essay is well organized, clear, and precise in regards to thesis, evidence, and writing.  It contains a clear thesis.  Analysis of the documents is thoughtful and reflects complexity and/or contingency.  The paper is well organized with clear topic sentences. The paper contains few or no writing errors and makes proper use of citations. 

Credit (65-74) —The essay is organized, coherent, and technically sound, but provides little additional insight.  There might be a weakness in the argument or the student could have done a better job connecting evidence to his or her thesis.  Furthermore, although the student provides an effective overview of primary documents, perhaps they could have done a better job connecting the analysis to the bigger question of what these documents can tell us about sex, gender, and law. The essay uses topic sentences inconsistently. The essay also includes some writing, grammatical, or citation errors.

Pass (50-64)—The essay reflects a basic understanding of the subject, but it displays an obvious thesis.  Although the paper summarizes the documents, it fails to incorporate specific examples, which makes the paper read more like a simple review of the documents rather than a critical analysis of them.  The student might have integrated quotations in parts of the paper but not in others.  Finally, the essay may include several common writing/grammatical mistakes.

Fail (0-49)—The essay displays some relevant material, but it is generally characterized by weak organization, a vague thesis, numerous writing/factual errors, or confusion.  Although the paper discusses some documents, it lacks sufficient evidence for an essay of this scope.  The student demonstrates little interaction with the documents and provides a poor argument (or none whatsoever).  The paper may include factual errors or value judgments/opinions, further revealing limited interaction with the documents. The paper may also include numerous writing or grammatical mistakes and display poor use of citations.