Minimum Criteria (to earn a C or higher):

Thesis statement. This should be a statement that clearly addresses the prompt you have chosen and offers an interpretation about the story. Avoid merely stating the obvious. Your thesis should come near the end of the first paragraph.
Well organized argument with . . .
o Clear and logical paragraphing. This means your ideas should be clearly and logically divided into coherent paragraphs that have topic sentences and transitions, and your paragraphs should be clearly and logically ordered. Each paragraph should focus on just one idea, and the line of thought should be easy for a reader to follow.

o Supporting examples, including a few quotes from the story itself. Quotations should be properly integrated and cited.

o Correct MLA in-text citations and Works Cited page. See the resources on citation and documentation on this course site or consult the the MLA Style Guide (Links to an external site.) on the OWL Purdue Web site.

MLA Style document formatting. See the sample student paper on this site and/or review the MLA Style Guide (Links to an external site.) referenced above for how the heading, title, line spacing, and page numbering should be set up. Please use a 12-pt font and 1 margins.
Error Free sentences. At this stage in your writing, your sentences should be nearly free of errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Make sure you leave enough time to proofread for typos as well.