Course Source: Reading and writing Theme: Narrative essay lesson introduction/warm-up activity

Grade: ____/100 
Personal Narrative / College Essay Rubric 
 
16-20 
Advanced 
11-15 
Proficient 
6-10 
Emerging 
0-5 
Needs 
Improvement 
FOCUS 
Establishes sharp, 
distinct focus and 
sustains 
topic/idea/thesis 
with a clear 
perspective for an 
intended audience.
Evidence of 
audience, task and 
purpose is present 
Establishes 
topic/idea/thesis 
with a clear 
perspective.
Evidence of 
audience, task and 
purpose is present. 
Provides an 
inconsistent 
topic/idea/thesis.
Displays a limited 
understanding of 
task, purpose and 
audience. 
Minimal or no 
evidence of 
topic/idea/thesis.
Displays confused 
understanding of 
task, purpose and 
audience. 
CONTENT 
Provides elaborate 
and well-defined 
examples and 
details. Support is 
significant and 
relevant to 
topic/idea/thesis. 
May include 
graphics and multi-
media when useful 
Provides 
appropriate 
examples and 
details. Support is 
relevant to 
topic/idea/thesis. 
May include 
graphics and multi-
media useful to aid 
in comprehension. 
Provides examples 
and details that 
may loosely 
connect with 
topic/idea/thesis. 
Support is missing 
connections. 
Inclusion of 
graphics and multi-
media limits 
Provides 
inaccurate and/or 
minimal and/or no 
connections to 
topic/idea/thesis. 

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to aid in 
comprehension. 
comprehension. 
ORGANIZATION Uses complex text 
patterns 
appropriate to 
genre, task and 
purpose. 
Uses text patterns 
appropriate to 
genre, task and 
purpose. 
Uses inappropriate 
or confusing text 
patterns for genre, 
task and purpose. 
Uses no 
recognizable text 
pattern for genre, 
task and purpose. 
STYLE 
Chooses language 
that expresses 
ideas precisely. 
Uses academic 
vocabulary 
effectively and 
deliberately. 
Incorporates 
sentences of 
varying length with 
attention to 
sentence 
construction. 
Chooses language 
that expresses 
ideas adequately. 
Uses academic 
vocabulary. 
Incorporates some 
sentence variety. 
Chooses language 
that expresses 
ideas consistently. 
May or may not 
use academic 
vocabulary. May 
or may not vary 
sentence structure. 
Chooses language 
that may be 
confusing, 
repetitive, wordy 
or inappropriate to 
the 
topic/idea/thesis. 
MECHANICS 
Shows mastery of 
capitalization, 
punctuation, 
spelling and verb 
tense. 
Shows appropriate 
capitalization, 
punctuation, 
spelling, verb tense 
and clear sentence 
construction. 
Shows inconsistent 
use of 
capitalization, 
punctuation, 
spelling, verb tense 
and clear sentence 
construction. 
Shows minimal or 
no understanding 
of mechanics. 
Guiding Questions: 
What is a cause? What is a catalyst? What is an effect? 
What is a “positive change”? What changes have you experienced in your life? 
How have you changed in the last three years? What was the catalyst for those 
changes? 
What is the difference between showing and telling? 
How can/do our actions reveal our character? 

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