Marking Scheme,
Professor Louis Groarke

1. First class honours (A) 80% and over: Very well written. Very thoughtful. Packed with philosophical content. Very thorough. A solid, carefully thought-through argument. Some originality. All-in-all excellent to exceptional work.

2. Honours (B): 70-79%: Most important material. Solid argument. Good content. Well-written. Thoughtful. Shows real potential but also could be improved in some important aspect.

3. Major (C) 65-69%: Good effort. Basic grasp of course material. Clearly written. Shows promise. Room for improvement.

4. Upper Pass, not major (C) 60-64%: Good effort. Off-topic. Less Content. But still acceptable. Some mastery of material; basic writing skills; Lower Pass (D) 50-59%: Credit but not major. Below average in terms of writing, content, argument. Off-topic. Unphilosophical. No argument.. NO final grades between 46-49

5. Failure 40-45%: Serious shortcomings; some effort.

Failure 0-39%:: Very serious shortcomings; very poor effort. (See university regulations for further information.)

Six Evaluation Criteria:

1) Mechanics: (grammar, spelling, punctuation); 2) Essay organization (outline, structure, paragraphs, logical order); 3) Style (sentence structure, diction, clarity, active voice); 4) Explanation, Accuracy, Analysis: 5) Argument (reasons given in support of a claim); 6) Content (just how much did you say? how comprehensive? in-depth or superficial? omissions? extent of research?) NB: These criteria overlap. I mark the paper globally; I evaluate it as a whole. (Late penalty= 5%/day. Paper usually due by the end of designated class.)

SOME BASIC, COMMON ERRORS. I do not mean to be negative but the emphasis here is on problems that need to be fixed. I include abbreviations I sometimes use to signal specific problems. This is only a rough guide. I do not have time to correct all errors. I try to focus on the first pages and the most rudimentary problems.

1. Start with a coherent thesis-statement. (TS) You should be able to express the aim of your paper, the gist of the argument, in a single sentence. A clear, concise introduction is the most important part of a paper.

2. Please write in proper sentences. (What is a sentence?) (F=sentence fragment). (Or a crossed out S). (More generally, GRAM=grammar error or sometimes simply X.) RO=run-on sentence. Comma splice=CS. (Dont join two independent clauses with a mere comma.) PRE=usually sentence ending with preposition. "He needed someone to give to.")

3. General abbreviations. Underline or put into italics (The Nicomachean Ethics.) Missing word: "The v philosophyof Socrates." Delete (Line through). Move (circled area with an arrow Y). A wavy, squiggly line usually means problematic passage or sentence. A check mark means "good point." (Lots of check marks is a very good sign. An absence of check marks may mean content is lacking.) I sometimes put an exclamation mark (!) beside a particularly good or important point or beside a very conspicuous error.. Smiley face (() means I enjoyed your joke. An asterisk (*) means consult comments (on page or at the end of text). PV=Passive Voice. Write: "the man kicked the dog," not: "the dog was kicked by the man." T=tense. (If at all possible, keep tense consistent; dont change from past to present etc. in the same paragraph.) AP=apostrophe needed. (Or I insert it.) CAP=capitalization. (Or I insert it.) (DM=Dangling Modifier) An adjective must modify a noun: "a red fire-engine," not "a red." SPI=split-infinitive. (Dont write "to quickly run," but "to run quickly.") FL=floating pronoun (This happenedbut what is "this"? It caused, but what is "it"?).

4. Awkward. (A) (VA, A!=very awkward.) Clumsy, convoluted, obscure, oblique sentences. Or (?) =unclear; what exactly are you trying to say? "I think . . . "= use the personal pronoun "I". You = dont address the reader. Typo=typographical error. REV=revise, rewrite.

5. Please learn how to use the major punctuation marks, comma, period, semi-colon, colon, question-mark, quotation-marks. ((P) or (?)) (Or I may insert the necessary punctuation.)

6. Wordy. (W) Please write in concise sentences. Less is more. Excess verbiage obscures your meaning.

7. Wrong word. (WW) Use a dictionary. Beware of thesauruses. Misspelled word. (SP)

8. Slang. (SL) An essay is a formal, professional presentation of your ideas; dont use colloquialisms. Dont use contractions. (X through contraction.) Avoid unnecessary acronyms. (AC)

9. Define (D) your terms. Whenever you use a technical term or a term of art, introduce it with a short explanation. (EXP=explain, needs more explanation.)

10. (//NP) Begin new paragraph here. Paragraph too long. Indent five spaces to begin paragraph. (Y2)

NO STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS. Divide into proper paragraphs. Use subtitles (st) to divide your paper into coherent sections. (X through empty line) Omit line break between paragraph.

11. Vague. (V): Philosophy demands precision. What exactly are you saying? What are you claiming? Make the necessary distinctions. IMP=imprecise. Or sometimes ? . or means not quite right. or , not the same

12. Repetition (R or REP): Make every word count. Make your point and move on. Dont ramble off and then come back again to the same point (sometimes over and over again).

13. No or little argument. (A?). This is the most important aspect of a philosophy paper. I need reasons given in support of a conclusion. Dont just describe your position; defend it! (DES= mere description.) How would you try to convince someone who didnt agree? What reasons would you advance in support of your position?

14. Your argument is incomplete. (I?) Or (?) You overlook important points. You dont follow your argument through to its logical conclusion. There is something here that needs further development. You dont explain your position fully. Ev=need more evidence! SAY?=how can you say this? ?=questionable view. IMP=implausible.

15. Your argument is confused. (C) Or (?) You contradict yourself. (CONT.) You have irrelevant premises. (I)or (IRR). Or (?) The logical form is invalid. (LOG=problems with logic.) You commit basic fallacies (FA?) or (X): ad hominem, hasty generalization, post hoc ergo propter hoc, two-wrongs reasoning, etc..

16. No or little discussion or awareness of opposing (O?) views. You need to respond to opponents with arguments. Cont!=controversial view.

17. Inaccuracies. (X) Factual inaccuracies or you have misquoted or misunderstood specific authors or arguments. S!= strong claim. S!! =too strong. (Qualify what you are saying.)

18. Examples (ex): use more concrete examples to illustrate and prove your point.

19. Not enough research. Problems with citations. REF = missing reference. Follow citation format indicated here. (ABB=use abbreviated citation.)

20. Introduce (INTR? Or Y2) quotations into the text. Dont just drop them holus-bolus into your paper. Dont drop and run. Explain where necessary. (EXP) Indent (without quotation marks) long quotes. (Y2) Indent five spaces.

21. Lacks content. This essay does not "do enough." Ho-hum, so what? Not momentous or decisive enough. You should say more. (More?) (DEV=develop argument, point further.)

22. Lacks originality. (O?) Cliche. (C) Just a rehash of standard views without any personal insight. O (or O with a check mark)=original point.

23. Length: Not long enough. Or too long. (S=too short; L=too long. This may refer to individual parts or the whole text. (LP=too long for one paragraph,; SP=too short for a paragraph)

24. (#?) Page number? Increase/decrease margins (Y2Y)

25. Please proof-read your text several times before handing it in.

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