General Essay Marking Hierarchy

The document outlines two hierarchies for marking essays. The first hierarchy lists 7 levels that lecturers generally follow when marking essays, focusing on whether the student understood the question, analyzed it correctly, organized their response coherently, used the appropriate academic skills, incorporated a wide range of materials, communicated precisely, and followed editorial conventions. The second hierarchy provides 13 questions for students to ask themselves after writing an essay to check if they have adequately addressed each level.

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General Essay Marking Hierarchy

Uploaded by

Jake Varghese

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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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General Essay Marking Hierarchy

In general there is a hierarchy of about seven levels that is followed by lecturers when they
mark your essay:
Hierarchy of criteria for marking essays (in general: different courses & different
lecturers will have different ideas
1. Does it appear that the student has understood the essay question and its implications?
2. Has the student analysed the question correctly and followed the instructions?
3. Has the student organised the essay into a coherent overall structure?
4. Has the student used the appropriate academic skills, e.g. description, evaluation,
discussion, argument, etc.?
5. Has the student used a wide range of appropriate material?
6. Has the student communicated precisely?
7. Has the student used the accepted editorial conventions
You can change this hierarchy into specific questions to ask yourself. The answers to these
questions will determine whether you are ready to start writing yet, whether you need to make
changes, or whether you need to find more information.
Checklist of questions to ask after writing the essay
1. Have I shown I have understood the essay question and its implications and have I
answered the essay question?
2. How have I done this?
3. Have I analysed the question correctly and have I followed the instructions?
4. Have I organised the essay into a coherent overall structure?
5. Do I have an essay argument that is clear and easy for the reader to recognise?
6. Have I used the academic skills that the essay question and the essay argument dictate
I use?
7. Have I used information from a range of sources to support my essay argument?
8. Have I referenced the material I have used from other sources correctly?
9. Have l written clearly and concisely?
10. Have I written academic paragraphs?
11. Have I used the expected structure for an academic essay?
12. Have I followed the rules for grammar, verb tenses, agreement, punctuation, etc.?
13. Have I followed the departments instructions in terms of cover page, page numbers,
font type and size, etc