Grading Rubric
for Student Fiction

Overview: Unless you discuss otherwise with me in advance, I expect that your story will fit clearly and unambiguously into (some understanding of) the science fiction genre in at least some of the ways that we have discussed during the term. Your story must represent your own original work in terms of its plot elements, characterization, voice, style, and the specific language that you use. Your story should be a satisfying whole with a beginning, middle, and end; should have believable, well-developed characters; should have a well-developed setting; and should in other ways show the markings of a thoughtful, polished piece of literary writing.

Although you have more latitude regarding the structure of your story than than do students writing academic papers, your paper's formatting should still conform to the MLA standard in basic matters (e.g., it should be double-spaced, have one-inch margins, have an MLA-compliant heading on the first page and MLA-compliant headers on subsequent pages, exhibit proper grammar and punctuation, etc.). Though excellent literary writers often deviate from the punctuation-related and other grammatical conventions of standard academic/analytical writing, it is also the case that excellent literary writers understand these conventions and their purposes, and have specific reasons for deviating from them. If you believe that deviating from the standard grammatical and punctuation conventions enhances or is necessary for your story, you may attach a brief explanation to your story of how you deviate from standard grammatical practice and what you intend to accomplish by doing so.

I do understand that characters in your story will most likely speak informal English, as do most native English speakers outside of formal situations, and I understand that informal English deviates in many ways from the conventions of formal academic prose. It is not necessary to explain that your characters (possibly including your narrator) speak in ways that deviate from stuffy academese. However, you should take pains to develop character consistently, and should be aware one effective way of doing so is to develop a specific and consistent manner of speaking for your characters. If you are deviating in more substantial ways than in the development of nonstandard grammar in speech and other forms of dialogue, then it will likely benefit you to provide at least a brief explanation of what you are doing and why.

Always retain a copy of your story until you have received a final grade for the quarter. Never give me the only copy of an assignment that you have put work into.

Failure to turn in your assignment by the time and date indicated on the syllabus will result in a reduction of one-third of a letter grade per day (an A- becomes a B+ if between zero and one days late) unless you have either made arrangements with me (at least 24 hours in advance) or have a genuinely serious and unavoidable emergency (family death, serious injury, natural disaster, etc.). If you turn in a late story, you should put a printed copy in my box in the English Department mail room (South Hall 3421) as soon as possible, and should e-mail me immediately afterwards to make sure that I see it promptly (and therefore limit your late penalty to the date on which it was actually turned in).

I do not accept work after the final exam except in genuinely extraordinary circumstances. One implication of this policy is that failing to turn in an assignment by the final exam guarantees that you receive a non-passing grade for the term, as it is necessary to complete all assignments in a timely fashion in order to receive a passing grade.

Technology problems are not normally an acceptable excuse for late work. It is not safe to assume that your equipment will necessarily continue to be reliable throughout a writing process. Let's face it: technology breaks. Batteries die, power cords fray, hard drives crash, printers break or run out of ink, network connections go down, files become corrupt. These are not considered emergencies: in our technologically oriented society, they are part of the normal production process. You need to protect yourself by managing your time and backing up your work.

I am available after lecture, during my office hours, and by e-mail to answer questions that you may have about any of these requirements. I do not give general feedback on drafts or provide "pre-evaluations," but would be happy to discuss specific questions, talk about outlines, or help you with issues that arise as you go through the writing process. Please realize that I am likely to receive many e-mails shortly before the paper is due, and that (although I will respond as quickly as possible) it is unwise to e-mail me at the absolute last minute and expect an immediate reply.

This is (approximately) what each grade means:

A-range stories: Stories in this range are smart, articulate, and written in engaging prose. They present non-predictable plot lines, believable and engaging characters, and in other ways are well-developed, polished, thoughtful pieces of writing. They demonstrate a strong familiarity with the conventions and rules of the science fiction genre — not by following them robotically, but by understanding their underlying logic and engaging with it thoughtfully. The story presents a complete narrative arc that sets up a specific situation or challenge for the protagonist to resolve or overcome. The resolution is non-trivial, satisfactory, and developed in a plausible manner out of material that has already been introduced organically in the course of the story's narrative. The story shows evidence that the writer has made thoughtful decisions regarding characterization, point of view, voice, scene, and other important aspects of narrative construction. The story controls the reader's emotional response in an effective way. Perhaps most importantly, the story is enjoyable for the reader to read, providing surprises and other forms of genuine textual pleasure to the story's reader.

B-range stories: Stories in this range demonstrate an understanding of the science fiction genre and are written in basically solid, engaging prose. The plots developed are solid, without jarring contradictions, and characters display personality consistency throughout the length of the story. The story sets up a problem, investigation, or difficulty that is resolved in a plausible manner at or near the end without resorting to a deus ex machina, and the ending manages to tie up most or all of the story's outstanding loose ends. Despite these achievements, there are one or more problems preventing the story from rising into the A range. These problems may include some of: flat characterization; stilted dialog; lack of well-developed setting; a predictable ending; awkward narrative construction; failure to engage fully with the conventions of the science fiction genre; failure to control the reader's emotional responses in a way that contributes to the effectiveness of the story as a whole.

Note: Stories that fail to conform to basic formatting expectations cannot receive a grade higher than a B, regardless of the quality of the story in other respects. Things that will limit your grade to a B include, but are not limited to: incorrectly sized margins or font; use of an inappropriate typeface (if in doubt, use Times New Roman); turning in a paper that is not double-spaced, or adding extra space at the end of paragraphs; failing to include a proper MLA-compliant header on your first page, or a proper MLA-compliant heading on each page of your story. If your word processor fails to conform to basic MLA-related formatting expectations by default, you must ensure that you override the defaults and produce a paper that is formatted correctly.

C-range stories: These stories demonstrate a basic attempt to engage with the expectations for narrative fiction and the science fiction genre, but have fundamental failures that prevent the story from being a satisfying narrative. These problems may include: awkward writing; failure to develop believable characters; failure to effectively set up a narrative arc that increases tension until a story's climax; lack of believable dialog; depicting the story's development in an unclear or unconvincing manner; (more or less) complete failure to consider the reader's engagement in the story; pervasive, fundamental failure to engage with the basic conventions of the science fiction genre, or a resolution that is fundamentally unsatisfactory; resorting to a deus ex machina to resolve the story's plot.

C+: This is the highest grade that a story with persistent, non-trivial grammatical or mechanical problems can receive, regardless of the quality the story in other respects.

D-range stories: A story receiving a grade in this range demonstrates at least one fundamental problem that keeps it from being a story that operates at a satisfying basic level. It is likely that one or more of the following is true: the story barely fits into the science fiction genre; the writing exhibits severe grammatical or mechanical flaws; characters are profoundly unbelievable; the narrative is disjointed or disorganized to the point of causing difficulty without providing a payoff for the nonstandard structure; the story is extremely boring.

F: A plagiarized story, or one that is a profoundly and pervasively inappropriate response to the writing assignment. Note that plagiarism will definitely result in penalties beyond simply receiving an F on the paper.

If you believe that the grade you received is not a fair assessment of your story and would like to dispute it, you should write me a letter explaining specific reasons why the grade I gave you is not a good match for the story you turned in, basing your argument on the grading rubric above. Note specific discrepancies based on my comments and passages from the story. You should turn the letter in to me, along with a copy of your story that has my comments on it. We will then schedule an appointment to discuss your grade.

You are of course welcome to talk to me about your story even if you do not believe that the grade is unfair. I would be more than happy to elucidate comments, go further into material that you found interesting, or discuss how future papers can better achieve an exposition of your ideas. Please feel free to come to my office or schedule an appointment with me if you would like to discuss any of these topics.