11 The Profile Essay Rubric
Make sure you understand each of the following criteria from the grading rubric and review each one carefully to ensure you’ve included them all in your writing.
- Editing (20 pts) – Is your paper free from errors in grammar, spelling, typos, and so on? It’s okay if there are a few errors. Your paper doesn’t need to be perfect. But if the errors are distracting or detract from the overall quality of your paper, then you should work on editing it some more.
- Interview (20 pts) – Do you have a good blend of summarizing and quoting of the subject? Remember, it is your job as the author to tell us the story of your subject. You should mostly be summarizing and paraphrasing—i.e. putting things into your own words—and occasionally adding in direct quotes for emphasis.
- Word Count (20 pts) – Is the essay at least 1500 words? 1500 or more words = 20 points | 1250-1499 = 0 points | 1249 or less = incomplete essay that’s not ready to grade (you will receive a score of ZERO until a longer essay is submitted).
- Introduction (15 pts) – Does it grab the reader’s attention and set the tone of the profile? Start your introduction with something interesting to grab the reader’s attention (like a story, description, quote, or interesting fact). By the end of your introduction, it should be clear who you are profiling and what your angle is.
- Title (10 pts) – Do you have an original title? Titles like “Profile Essay” or “Formal Essay #2” are not acceptable. Please come up with an original title, preferably something interesting, succinct, and relevant.
