Geographic Questions : Jerusalem & Conflict in the Middle East

The following rubric will be used to grade your mini essay.

#	Not Yet	Emerging	Satisfactory	Outstanding	Score
Mechanics	Consistent Errors in Spelling, grammar, or punctuation. There are some incomplete sentences.	Few Errors in spelling, grammar,and punctuation. No incomplete sentences.	No incomplete sentences, and minimal errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.	No errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation.	25
Evidence	No evidence cited from sources, or plagiarism.	Evidence used from sources, but does not really support thesis.	Evidence cited from sources correctly.	Evidence cited from sources correctly, and successfully supports the thesis.	25
Explanation	No explanation.	Explanation does not connect thesis to evidence.	Explanation connect thesis to evidence.	Explanation connects thesis to evidence and elaborates on reason.	25
Thesis & Closing	No thesis or closing, or did not follow directions given in example.	Thesis does not give a reason or make an argument. Closing gives weak summary or just repeats phrases from the rest of the writing.	Thesis gives a reason, and chooses a position. Closing uses new phrases to summarize argument.	Thesis gives a compelling argument and reason. Closing gives a excellent summary of issue, and also leaves the reader curious to learn more about the topic. Does not repeat similar language used in thesis.	25
Total Score: 100