6 Traits of Writing Rubric

6 + 1 Writing Traits

Have you ever worked diligently on a paper, filling it with insightful ideas and clever connections.  You might have even taken the time to type and spell check it.  When the teacher returns your paper, it is covered in red pen and marked with a solid D+?

Chances are that you did have some great ideas, but the most wonderful concepts are obscured by weak word choice, sentence fluency and grammatical errors. 

Writers need to drill down through the different levels or strata of writing.  The 6 + 1 Writing Traits provides one model for writing. 

Ideas and Content:  Academic writing asks the writer to make a claim, an argument, and prove it true by using a variety of techniques.  The first place to look is the text you are studying, pulling two or three examples from the book to prove your claim. Not only does it show that you have read the book, but that you can connect the writer's ideas to your own.  You can synthesize information. Once you have adequately supported your idea from the text, use literary devices http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html   to sharpen your idea.  Perhaps draw a connection to a historical event or another novel with which your audience would be familiar. 

Bottom line--

Claim it...Prove it...Connect it!

Organization-The reader expects the paper to have form--to follow a set of organizational rules.  Pay special attention to the instructions.  If the instructor tells you to set up the paper with a paticular form, DO IT!  If it says, MLA format, set up the paper in MLA format. 

Ideas must flow, transitioning from one to another.  Random text messages on the page do nothing for the reader.  Once your ideas are on the page read your paper again. Be sure that there is a clear, powerful thesis statement.  Be sure that each subsequent paragraph proves that thesis and that your body paragraphs have clear topic sentences that prove your claim.  Ask someone else to read it and be sure your ideas are clear and that they flow from one to the other.

Voice-Even when writing in formal third person, the reader should hear you behind the paper.  Your claim should be clear, well supported, and vibrant. Often, use of literary devices, humor, anecdotes, personal narratives, etc. affect voice.  Voice is style.

Word Choice-Choosing the best, most powerful words to fit every situation.  If you see low scores in word choice, look at your subjects, verbs, and direct/indirect objects. 

• Are you writing with action verbs?
• Are you subjects powerful?
• Is my paper poetic--did I choose powerful images or did I use simplistic vocabulary?

You can not rescue weak subjects and verbs with lots and lots of modifiers!

Sentence Fluency-Strong sentence fluency provides poetics to your writing; it is the grace and flow of the writing.  To check for sentence fluency, read the paper aloud.

Conventions-

• grammar
• mechanics
• syntax
• spelling
• punctuation
• capitalization
• and every other English rule

6 Trait Rubric (doc file)

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