1. How well you separate unsupported opinion from reasoned argument. In an academic paper, phrases like “back in the day”, “everyone says” or “because” don’t cut it. Your paper needs to be clearly reasoned and clearly sourced and your points proven or supported by the sources.

2. How well and efficiently you summarize what you see as the important points in all the assigned articles. If you do not cite or at least refer to every article, you lose marks.

3. How well and clearly you cite each article. Are all quotes marked as such, and do you note which author or article made which point?

4. How well you organize those points to support your argument.

5. How clearly stated and consistent your position is throughout the paper.

NOTE that simply summarizing each article in turn and then saying something kind of related at the end does not qualify as an essay. You need to pull stuff out and organize it in a new way that shows you thought about it. What a concep

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