Write an argumentative essay that will receive 4 points from each criterion in the following rubric:

Purpose, Focus, and Organization

4 points:
• stays focused on the purpose, audience, and task throughout the entire piece
• makes a claim that clearly supports a perspective or presents a fully-developed central idea about a topic
• uses many, varied transitional words and phrases to connect ideas and events
• organizes ideas and information in a logical text structure
• begins and ends their essay with a powerful introduction and conclusion

3 points:
• stays focused on the purpose, audience, and task throughout most of the piece
• makes a claim that supports a perspective or presents a developed central idea about a topic with some irrelevant details
• uses common transitional words and phrases to connect ideas and events
• organizes ideas and information in a mostly logical text structure
• begins and ends their essay with a reasonable introduction and conclusion

2 points:
• has an erratic focus on the purpose, audience, and task
• makes a claim that supports a perspective or presents a central idea about a topic with many irrelevant details
• uses a few transitional words and phrases to connect ideas and events
• organizes ideas and information with a vague structure
• begins and ends their essay with a vague introduction and conclusion

1 point:
• fails to address the purpose, audience, and task
• fails to make a claim that supports a perspective or presents a central idea about a topic
• fails to use transitional words and phrases to connect ideas and events
• fails to organize ideas and information
• lacks an introduction and conclusion

Evidence and Elaboration

4 points:
• supports the claim or central idea effectively with numerous logical reasons and convincing facts and details
• collates relevant evidence or supporting details from multiple sources
• elaborates with detailed facts, examples, definitions, and quotations from sources
• writes with grade-appropriate and domain-specific language
• varies sentence structures expertly throughout the piece

3 points:
• supports the claim or central idea with mostly logical reasons and convincing facts and details
• collates mostly relevant evidence or supporting details from multiple sources
• elaborates with mostly detailed facts, examples, definitions, and quotations from sources
• writes with grade-appropriate and a mix of domain-specific and general language
• varies sentence structures throughout most of the piece

2 points:
• supports the claim or central idea with weak reasons and unconvincing facts and details
• collates evidence or details from only a few sources
• elaborates with only a few facts, examples, definitions, and quotations from sources
• writes with grade-appropriate and mostly general language
• varies sentence structures throughout the piece inconsistently

1 point:
• fails to support the claim or central idea with reasons, facts, and details
• fails to collate evidence or details from sources
• fails to elaborate with facts, examples, definitions, and quotations from sources
• fails to writes with grade-appropriate and domain-specific language
• lacks a variety of sentence structures throughout the piece

Conventions of Standard English

4 points:
• demonstrates an excellent command of grammar and usage
• displays an excellent command of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and sentence formation
• is free of errors in grammar and usage
• constructs sentences that flow seamlessly and make the writing exceptionally easy to read

3 points:
• demonstrates a sufficient command of grammar and usage
• displays a sufficient command of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and sentence formation
• has a few errors in grammar and usage that do not affect meaning
• constructs sentences that flow and make the writing easy to read

2 points:
• demonstrates an incomplete command of grammar and usage
• displays an incomplete command of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and sentence formation
• has several errors in grammar and usage that may affect meaning
• attempts to construct sentences that flow, but errors interrupt reading

1 point:
• fails to demonstrate a command of grammar and usage
• fails to display a command of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and sentence formation
• has many serious errors in grammar and usage that frequently disrupt meaning
• lacks sentences that flow, and errors interfere with reading