Persuasive Essay Assessment Criteria Guide

The following are criteria which you could consider in the assessment of written and visual ‘literacy’ in a
persuasive essay assignment. This guide aims to help you identify the communication components that you
want your students to learn as they complete a persuasive essay.
Select the criteria that you want to teach and assess in your course. Then, indicate which communication
literacy the selected description is aiming to target (written or visual). An example is given below:
Performance Description Literac
y
 Relevance of response to question/task. Written

Task Completion
Performance Description Literacy
Relevant response to question/task.
Comprehensive response to question/task
Not excessively under or over the word limit

Content
Performance Description Literacy
Demonstration of understanding of relevant concepts and theories where appropriate
Perceptive and critical engagement with issues/themes
A range of perspectives introduced and evaluated
Arguments fit together to build a compelling case
Skillful integration and synthesis of sources to support arguments
Skillful use of rebuttals and counterarguments where appropriate

Structure / Organization / Cohesion

Performance Description Literacy
Clear background / introduction
Clear outline of main content / arguments to be covered in body of essay
Clear conclusion which summarizes the main arguments
Topic sentences provide an overview of content of each paragraph (if appropriate)
Paragraphs not too long or too short
Effective use and phrasing of headings and sub-sections (if appropriate)
Effective signaling and signposting of transitions
Clear distinguishing between main ideas and supporting details
Flow of arguments and ideas coherently developed at whole essay, paragraph and sentence
level.

Language
Performance Description Literacy
Grammar and/or vocabulary errors may be present but do not impact readability.
Wide range of grammatical structures and vocabulary with control of accuracy
Appropriate register and tone (formality) for the assignment
Appropriate use of technical vocabulary and phrases appropriate to the genre of writing (e.g.
business, legal, social science or medical terminology)
1
 Validity markers (e.g., perhaps, may, clearly, undoubtedly, according to…) used skillfully to
enhance the persuasiveness of claims made
Writing is always very clear, concise and easy to follow

Visuals i.e. images/photos/graphs/charts/tables – original or reused

Performance Description Literacy
Original/reused visuals are suitably selected to support the content in the text.
Original/reused visuals are easy to read and comprehend
Original/reused visuals are appropriate for the intended audience.
Reused visuals are properly acknowledged (proper citation and referencing).

Mechanics
Performance Description Literacy
Follows the correct font and line spacing requirements
Follows citation and referencing requirements for in-text citation and reference list
Follows requirements for front/back matter (e.g. title page, table of contents, reference list,
appendices
Original/reused visuals have a title and are clearly referenced in the text (e.g., As shown in
Figure 1)

Teamwork/Collaboration
Performance Description Literacy
The group documents how members brainstormed, discussed, and solved problems.
The group documents division of responsibilities and describes how the individual efforts
capitalized on strengths of each team member.