For this particular essay, the assignment was to assign a grade to an essay provided by the instructor and to identify any errors or weaknesses in the paper. This essay was titled "Evaluation of the Internet Site for "The USGenWeb Project." The paper addressed 5 key issues that one may question when deciding whether to use USGenWeb Project for research purposes. The essay was written very well and provided a lot of valuable information about genealogy research. For this essay, an 85 would be an appropriate grade.
The first part of this essay discusses the organization of the paper. Overall, the essay was organized very well. However, there were a few mistakes. The introductory paragraph was fine. The lead-in was clear and contained appropriate background information. Following the lead-in, there is a smooth transition to the thesis statement. The thesis sentence is the last sentence in the introductory paragraph. The thesis sentence directly responds to the assignment, however, it does not sum up the essay or control the organization and content of the essay. A preview of the body is needed in the introductory paragraph. For example, a sentence should have said something like, "There are five aspects to consider when using the USGenWeb Project: authority, accuracy, objective, currency, and coverage. The body of the essay is clearly organized. The topic of each paragraph is clearly distinguishable. Each paragraph has a clear topic sentence that uses key words to relate to the thesis. The topic sentences in the body paragraphs sum up the paragraph. Each body paragraph is well-developed. It is supported with appropriate, clear, and vivid specific detail. The body paragraphs give very good details about the topic of each paragraph. They let the reader know exactly what they need to know without leaving out anything important. All of the paragraphs except maybe two end with a clear wrap up sentence.
