With appropriate detail and thoughtful analysis, the paper explores its subject in a thorough manner. In general, ideas in the paper are logically ordered, well developed, and unified around the organizing principle presented in the thesis statement. Topic sentences are clear in such a paper. In fact, an essay with a B is organized, clear, coherent, and informative. The opening paragraph draws in the reader.
Transitions tend to be smooth, and the sentence structure varied.
The diction is typically concise and precise. An essay with a C is generally competent. A thesis statement is present but may be very general. Topic sentences are mechanical. The essay is adequately organized and developed but lacks concrete detail and sustained analysis, so that the paper's treatment of its subject seems thin and commonplace.