The Learning Commons

Grade Descriptions

Each Guilford professor uses a distinctive set of grading criteria. This is because grades reflect what a professor values and emphasizes, and what gets valued and emphasized varies from discipline to discipline, from course to course, from professor to professor -- a healthy situation in a liberal arts college.

Grades are not the end-all of a college education. They are significant, however, inasmuch as they measure how well you have satisfied a professor's expectations, expectations which presumably you share. A good rule of thumb, especially given the diversity of expectation in the college, is to understand as clearly as possible what the criteria for judgment are in each of your classes.

Just to give you an idea of what professors value in writing, here is a representative set of grade descriptions:

A: Superior

Perhaps the principal characteristic of the A paper is its rich content. Some people describe that content as "meaty," others as "dense," still others as "packed." Whatever, the information delivered is such that one feels significantly taught by the author, sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph. The material is not predictable; perhaps a key word for A writing is "surprise." The A paper dares something.

The A paper is also marked by stylistic finesse: the title and opening paragraph are engaging; the transitions are artful; the phrasing is tight, fresh, and highly specific; the sentence structure is varied; the tone enhances the paper's purposes.

Finally, the A paper, because of its careful organization and development, imparts a feeling of wholeness and unusual clarity. Not surprisingly, then, it leaves the reader feeling bright, thoroughly satisfied, and eager to reread the piece.

B: Good

It is significantly more than competent. Besides being almost free of mechanical errors, the B paper delivers substantial information -- that is, substantial in both quantity and interest value.

Its specific points are logically ordered, well-developed, and unified around a clear organizing principle that is apparent early in the paper. The opening paragraph draws the reader in; the closing paragraph is both conclusive and thematically related to the opening. The transitions between paragraphs are for the most part smooth, the sentence structures pleasingly varied.

The diction of the B paper is typically much more concise and precise than that found in the C paper. Occasionally, it even shows distinctiveness -- i.e., finesse and memorability. On the whole, then, a B paper makes the reading experience a pleasurable one, for it offers substantial information, delivered with engaging style.

Note: There should be no major sources of reader distraction in an A or B paper.

C: Fair

The C paper is generally competent; it meets the assignment, has few mechanical errors, and is reasonably well-organized and developed. The actual information it delivers, however, may seem thin and commonplace.

One reason for that impression is that the ideas are typically cast in the form of vague generalities -- generalities that prompt the confused reader to ask marginally: "In every case?" "Exactly how large?" "But how many?" "Why?"

Stylistically the C paper may have other shortcomings as well: the opening paragraph may do little to draw the reader in; the final paragraph may offer only a perfunctory wrap-up; the transitions between paragraphs may be bumpy; the sentences, besides being a bit choppy, may tend to follow a predictable (hence monotonous) subject-verb-object pattern; and the diction may occasionally be marred by unconscious repetition, redundancy, and imprecision.

The C paper, then, while it gets the job done, may lack imagination and intellectual rigor, and hence does not invite a rereading.

D: Poor

Its treatment and development of the subject are probably as yet only rudimentary. While organization is present, it may be neither clear nor effective. Sentences may be frequently awkward, ambiguous, and marred by serious mechanical errors. Evidence of careful proofreading may be scanty or non-existent. The whole piece, in fact, may give the impression of having been conceived and written in haste.

F: Failing

Its treatment of the subject may be superficial; its theme may lack discernible organization; its prose may be garbled or stylistically primitive. Mechanical errors may be frequent. In short, the ideas, organization, and/or style fall far below what is acceptable in college writing.

The Writing Zone

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Grade Descriptions

Understanding Assignments

Working Through the Paper: Diary of James Cook, First Voyage

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Zen and the Art of Academia

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