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Name Date

Scoring Rubric: Drama

Organization andOverall Impact

Elements ofDrama

Grammar, Usage,Mechanics, andSpelling

The play begins orends in a confusingway, or it lacks devel-opment in the middle.It is not divided intoacts or scenes. Sceneschange without warn-ing. There is no dis-cernible intended mes-sage, theme, oremotional impact.

The central conflict ismissing or unclear.Characters lack devel-opment. Dialogue doesnot develop the charac-ters or the plot. Stagedirections are unclearor missing.

The play is consistentlydifficult to understandbecause of numerousand serious errors inusage, grammar,spelling, and mechani-cal conventions specificto drama, such as thosethat show speakers,speakers’ lines, andstage directions.

The play may begin orend in a confusingway, or lack develop-ment in the middle. Di-vision into acts orscenes may be illogicalor missing. The orderof the action or changesin setting may be con-fusing. The intendedmessage, theme, oremotional impact may be unclear or contradictory.

In some places, dia-logue is used to de-velop the conflict andcharacters, but bothconflict and characterslack development.Some stage directionsare unclear or missing.

The play is difficult tounderstand because oferrors in usage, gram-mar, spelling, and me-chanical conventionsspecific to drama, suchas those that showspeakers, speakers’lines, and stage directions.

The play has a begin-ning, middle, and end,and is divided intoacts, but the order ofthe action may not becompletely chronologi-cal or easy to follow.Similarly, shifts inplace may not be sig-naled by new acts, newscenes, or appropriatestage directions. Tosome degree, thedrama expresses a mes-sage, conveys a theme,or delivers an emo-tional impact.

In most places, dia-logue is used to de-velop the conflict andcharacters, but bothconflict and characterscould be more fullyand dramatically de-veloped. Stage direc-tions are present, butshould be more concisein places.

There are some errorsin usage, grammar, orspelling. Mechanicalconventions specific todrama, such as thosethat show speakers,speakers’ lines, andstage directions, havebeen used correctly inmost places.

The play has a clear be-ginning, middle, andend, and is logically di-vided into acts and, ifneeded, scenes. Theorder of the action isclearly chronological,or shifts in time areclear and easy to fol-low. Shifts in place aresignaled by new acts,new scenes, or appro-priate stage directions.The drama clearly andeffectively expresses amessage, conveys atheme, or delivers anemotional impact.

There is a strong cen-tral conflict. Dialogueis used effectively todevelop the charactersand the conflict. Clearstage directions pro-vide useful informationfor the reader and foranyone who stages theplay.

There are few or no errors in usage, gram-mar, or spelling. Me-chanical conventionsspecific to drama, suchas those that showspeakers, speakers’lines, and stage direc-tions, have been usedcorrectly throughout.

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