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Unit Assignments
The following major assignments will be due this semester. (Assignments will open in a new window.)
Evaluation Criteria
for Unit Assignments
The grades for assignments will be based both on how well the document is written and on the
degree of professionalism exhibited in the document. In general, documents graded above a C should
be documents that would be acceptable by the top companies and corporations in the United States.
Documents graded below a C will have serious flaws that ruin their quality.
The following descriptions will give you an idea of how your assignments will be evaluated. Major
areas of consideration are: purpose, audience, evidence, organization, format, tone, style, GSP
(grammar, spelling, punctuation), and citing of sources.
Important: You may not receive full credit for a major assignment if all conditions are not met
on schedule.
The 'A' Paper
The A paper represents a highly professional piece of business writing. The writer shows clear control
of the communication problem and his or her individual approach to the problem. Evidence is thorough,
the paper shows superior imagination and is highly effective in solving the problem. Also, there
should be no major GSP errors, and the paper should be virtually free of stylistic problems. In
fact, style is often the major factor in determining whether a paper receives a B or an A. The
format and appearance should also be highly polished, almost perfect. Illustrations should appear
professional, i.e. they should reflect the high quality of a document that a top company or
corporation would send out.
The 'B' Paper
The B paper represents professional, competent business writing as practiced by college-educated
executives in this country's best corporations. In general, the B paper fulfills all the
requirements of the C paper and significantly excels the C paper in at least one major area:
evidence, organization, or style. Purpose and audience are fully envisioned throughout the paper,
and the document has a maximum average of one major GSP error per two pages. Although the writing
may not be perfect in terms of precise word choice, conciseness, tone, varied sentence structure,
emphasis, use of active voice, etc., problems in these areas should be minor. Format should be
appropriate to the situation, and formatting techniques (such as lists, indentations,
bolding, etc.) must be employed successfully.
The 'C' Paper
The C paper represents functional writing that adequately fulfills the assignment. To receive a
C, a document should meet the following criteria:
- completely fulfill the assignment's requirements;
- stand a 60% or better chance of achieving its purpose;
- show an understanding of the audience and contain "you attitude" in letters and memos;
- provide specific, appropriate evidence reflecting a basic understanding of the communication
situation, purpose, and audience;
- be organized effectively with relatively brief paragraphs;
- contain no major format errors;
- have an appropriate tone for the audience and situation;
- be written in a style appropriate to the situation;
- be relatively free of GSP errors;
- have no major citation problems;
- have a neat appearance.
The 'D' Paper
The D paper differs from the C paper in that it shows a serious deficiency in one of the major
areas. Below are examples of these deficiencies:
- less than 60% chance of achieving its purpose;
- writing slightly veering from the assigned purpose;
- lack of awareness or consideration of audience;
- insufficient evidence;
- organizational problems;
- major format errors;
- inappropriate tone for the audience or situation;
- minor errors in citation (usually involving page numbering);
In addition, a D is the highest grade a document can receive if it contains one of the
following problems:
- style or diction errors severe enough to make the writer's meaning unclear or otherwise
interfere with communication;
- a per-page average of three or more major GSP errors (e.g., misspelled words, typos, sentence
fragments, comma splices, run-on sentences, or agreement errors);
- appearance;
- failure to follow all of the assignment's requirements;
The 'E' Paper
A document does not have to be a complete failure to receive an E. A paper may receive an E if it
has one of the following problems:
- a serious deficiency in two or more of the major areas;
- written on the wrong assignment or purpose;
- failure to fulfill all major areas of the assignment;
- failure to fulfill two or more of the assignment's minor requirements;
- less than 30% chance of achieving the assignment's purpose;
- acute sloppiness;
- numerous GSP errors;
- grave style or diction problems;
- citation problems.
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