Essay assignment grading rubric

Essay assignment grading rubric

The final essay has a focus on a subset (your choice!) of the information and ideas covered in the reading and discussions – the topic that interests you. Use the Reading Reflections you have already written as notes or a rough draft for components of the essay. First outlinewhat you want to cover (thesis, logical order of topics, conclusion), select the components that fit into that outline, find additional information source materials, organize the components into a narrative, and then revise the writing.  In other words, do not just string together what you already wrote. Treat your reading reflections as potential ingredients that you might or might not use in the recipe of your essay. Examples of topics for your essay

climate change and biodiversity [marine, terrestrial, tropical, arctic, forests…]

climate change and sea level change, coastal communities

climate change and the food system / agriculture [global, subsitence, agribusiness, livestock…}

climate justice (this is broad, so narrow even further]

decarbonizing the energy system

pathways to sustainability

For each of these topics you can find one or more chapters from each of the 3 main books that focus on the topic. Don’t forget the lecture slides and their links as additional sources of information. We also watched videos specifically related to these topics and you can draw on those as a source.

• This essay should be in the form of a semi-formal paper(not a scientific paper or literature review), such as a blog or web page, or even a lesson plan, meant to inform others about what you think are the most urgent lessons, key take-aways, and recommendations you have received and given in this class. It does not have to cover EVERY topic from the class, it should be selective based on your interests.
• A sample structure would be: Paragraph 1) Introduction to topic and three themes (subtopics); Para 2-4) 1st theme (using three paragraphs to cover three aspects); Para 5-7) 2dn theme; Para 8-10 3rd theme; Para 11 Conclusion (summary).  (This is just an example. You can use any structure that works. For example you might want less detail on your themes but multiple paragraphs for your ‘conclusion’ that includes take-aways and recommendations.)
• What this assignment is not: it is not a research “term paper,” it is not just throwing together what you already wrote in Reading Reflections. What this assignment is:  Selecting, refining, revising, organizing material from what you have already written, doing some more research, and weave in new material, and framing it in terms of a topic/themes.