An A-B paper will:

• produce a well-told story that is entertaining, suspenseful, memorable, and controlled

• include details which are vivid and specific to describe people and events

• avoid details which are cliché or trivial

• include dialogue which helps create characters effectively

• seem believable

• use description to show more than tell

• reveal something significant about the writer

• indicate the event's significance without moralizing

• show the significance more than tell it

• not oversimplify the significance

• follow an effective organizational pattern so that the event is clearly framed and does not sprawl

• include paragraphs which are coherent, unified, and effectively developed 

• contain a variety of skillfully constructed sentences

• promote clarity and effectiveness with standard usage, mechanics, and spelling; and a precise and ample vocabulary

 A C paper will:

• produce a basic story that tells about an event in the writer’s life which is somewhat engaging

• include some details, some of which might be cliché

• use some description, but mostly tell what is happening instead of show it

• include some dialogue but neglect to use it effectively

• reveal something significant about the writer, but mostly moralize or tag the significance at the end

• oversimplify the significance

• follow an organizational pattern that is somewhat confusing

• not have a clear frame or sprawl over too much time

• include paragraphs which are sometimes incoherent

• contain sentences which are not always grammatically correct

• might contain a couple of major errors

• contain sentences with inconsistent use of standard usage, mechanics, spelling

 A D-F paper will

• produce a basic story that tells about an event in the writer’s life which is not engaging

• be more of a formal essay than an autobiographical sketch

• include only a few details, many which are cliché

• tell the action of the story without showing

• fail to use dialogue

• reveal nothing significant about the writer or simply moralize or tag the significance at the end

• greatly oversimplify the significance

• reveal only an external quality that is obvious (she likes to fish, he likes cooking, she won, he plays tennis)

• follow a confusing organization pattern, ramble, and/or leave out important story information

• include many paragraphs which are incoherent

• contain sentences which are often grammatically incorrect

• contain many major errors

• contain sentences with inconsistent use of standard usage, mechanics, spelling