Common Areas of Weakness in Essay Writing: A Guide for Students, Slides of Communication

Download Common Areas of Weakness in Essay Writing: A Guide for Students and more Slides Communication in PDF only on Docsity! 78 4.7 Common Areas of Weakness in Essay Writing One of the most serious weaknesses in essay writing on the board-wide exam or in essays that use an assigned prompt is that the student mishandles the prompt. Refer to page 89 in the Marking Guide for the Essay Section of the Sample 4U Exam for details. Knowledge and Understanding • misunderstanding of events in the text • inaccurate references or quotations from the text • failure to distinguish between topic and theme, e.g., theme is stated as a word or phrase such as “the American Dream” instead of in a statement such as “the pursuit of the American Dream is often socially destructive” (also a weakness in Thinking) • misunderstanding of literary terms such as motif, imagery, symbolism, etc. • presenting mere plot summary (a weakness in all four categories) Thinking • thesis does not deal with one or more parts of the prompt • support is too general or vague; statements are general assertions without clarification; lacks specific examples • support is not convincing; evidence is poorly chosen • support is not tied to the thesis to explain the argument, and the reader must therefore infer the argument • analysis does not show insight into the work • arguments and ideas are not cohesive Communication • lack of focus on the thesis • lack of or weak transitional devices • arguments not presented in a logical or effective order • immature, inappropriate, or informal diction • lack of variety in sentence structure • numerous major grammatical errors that interfere seriously with expression of ideas Application • prompt is misinterpreted or misunderstood • prompt is not appropriate to the text chosen • prompt is not addressed in a balanced manner • introduction lacks a lead sentence • thesis is unclear or absent • lack of stated or implied directional statement in introduction • body paragraphs lack topic sentences and concluding sentences • conclusion is simplistic, repetitive, and lacks closing statement