The Four Bases for Evaluating Writing in Essays

Many students do not realize how an essay is evaluated. Teachers generally grade a paper on unity, coherence, support, and mechanics. Students tend to be concerned with mechanics only. They do not understand all four bases for evaluating writing. This is because they are not certain what each one actually means. Students must achieve all the bases in order to write a high-quality paper. However, this cannot be accomplished if the meanings of the terms are not clear. The four bases are easily defined. Although, each one is different, they all fit together to form an effective essay.

Unity means that all of the information in an essay supports or explains the main subject of the paper. Paragraphs do not drift into different topics. Every sentence is associated directly to the topic. For example, a paper about how alcohol affects the liver does not discuss how alcohol affects personal relationships. The topic sentence of each paragraph states the main point. The sentences that follow clearly support that point. Paragraphs do no end with new ideas. Any information that interferes with the unity of a paragraph or the paper is omitted. Each sentence provides a point for the main idea of the paragraph. Therefore, every paragraph has details related to the key subject of the essay.

Coherence is a very significant aspect in writing. This means that all sentences and ideas flow together. The essay makes a clear and logical point. There is a smooth transition between each sentence and each paragraph. Readers are able to follow what has been written. There are several ways that papers are arranged. If the essay is in the order in which the events occurred, it is chronological. Spatial order is a physical description from one position to another. Essays that move from a general idea to supporting details are in deductive order. Inductive ordered papers begin with details and close with the main idea. Coherence is not a set of puzzling ideas set down in random order. Each paragraph and each sentence is correlated with the previous one.

Support pulls the paper together. It means that the essay is filled with details that back the main subject. The paper has specific details and examples. Evidence makes the ideas credible. Points are clear and persuasive. Readers understand and accept each significant detail. Many of the senses are included for a good description of the subject. This eliminates any indistinguishable generalizations. For example, a paper about how enjoyable pet birds are clearly describes what is seen, felt, and heard. Supporting details allow the reader to recognize the subject and the way it is being presented.

Beautifully written papers sometimes receive poor grades because of mechanics. These are common details such as spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Mechanical errors include adding an extra letter to a word, not capitalizing a proper noun, and forgetting to put a period at the end of a sentence. Readers are often annoyed by careless mistakes. Typing errors are the most common in mechanics. For example, a period will be placed in a sentence instead of a comma. The next sentence will be a fragment. However, if it does make a complete sentence, the first word will not be capitalized. The actual content of the paper is not included in this base. Mechanical correctness is simply avoiding distracting errors.

An essay grade is evaluated on all four bases. It is important to know the meaning of each one. Unity and support build on each other. Supporting details are based around the main idea in order to achieve unity. On the other hand, they are completely different terms. Unity means the paper is tied to one subject. Support is providing a detailed description of that subject. A paper has coherence when it is in and appropriate structure. Mechanical correctness is eliminating distractions. The writer must be able to recognize the complete significance of all four bases. This will help in constructing a paper that will get the utmost assessment from the reader.