Distinguished - Accurately explains Singer’s goal in the article and expertly presents the argument he uses to support his position. The presentation of the argument precisely demarcates the premises and conclusions.

Proficient - Accurately explains Singer’s goal in the article and presents the argument he uses to support his position. The presentation of the argument adequately summarizes the premises and conclusions but does not include all components of the argument.

Basic - Explains Singer’s goal and presents some of the premises that Singer uses to support his position. The explanation of Singer’s goal and/or the presentation of his premises and conclusions are somewhat inaccurate or ambiguous.

Below Expectations - Explains Singer’s goal inaccurately and/or presents the argument in a manner that is ambiguous and does not align with Singer’s position.

Non-Performance - The explanation of Singer’s goal and presentation of his argument are either nonexistent or lack the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Expertly explains three counter-arguments to Singer’s position by clearly identifying all premises and conclusions in the arguments. Clearly and accurately summarizes Singer’s responses to each critique.

Proficient - Explains three counter-arguments to Singer’s position by identifying most premises and conclusions in the arguments. Accurately summarizes Singer’s responses to each critique. The explanation or summary may be somewhat ambiguous.

Basic - Adequately explains three counter-arguments to Singer’s position and summarizes Singer’s responses to each critique. The explanation and/or summary are somewhat ambiguous or inaccurate.

Below Expectations - Ambiguously and/or inaccurately explains at least two counter-arguments to Singer’s position and summarizes at least two of Singer’s responses to the counter-arguments.

Non-Performance - The explanation of three counter-arguments and summary of Singer’s responses are either nonexistent or lack the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Precisely and accurately defines the concept of marginal utility and thoroughly explains how the concept relates to Singer’s argument.

Proficient - Accurately defines the concept of marginal utility and adequately explains how the concept relates to Singer’s argument. The explanation is missing minor details.

Basic - Defines marginal utility and explains how the concept relates to Singer’s argument. The definition is vague and/or the explanation is missing relevant details.

Below Expectations - Attempts to define marginal utility and explain how the concept relates to Singer’s argument; however, the definition and explanation are vague, inaccurate, and/or missing significant details.

Non-Performance - The definition of the concept of marginal utility and explanation of its relation to Singer’s argument are either nonexistent or lack the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Accurately compares how the ideas of duty and charity differ between Singer’s proposed world and our own society. The comparison clearly references the end of charity as currently understood.

Proficient - Adequately compares how the ideas of charity and duty differ between Singer’s proposed world and our own society. The comparison references the end of charity as it is currently understood.

Basic - Compares how the ideas of charity and duty differ between Singer’s proposed world and our own society. The comparison is somewhat inaccurate and/or only generally references the end of charity as it is currently understood.

Below Expectations - Inadequately compares how the ideas of charity and duty differ between Singer’s proposed world and our own society. The comparison is inaccurate, ambiguous, and/or does not reference the end of charity as it is currently understood.

Non-Performance - The comparison of how the ideas of duty and charity differ between Singer’s proposed world and our own society is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Clearly presents a response to Singer’s position and expertly develops an argument that includes logical reasoning and factual evidence.

Proficient - Presents a response to Singer’s position and develops an argument that includes logical reasoning. The argument makes some claims that need more evidential support.

Basic - Presents a response to Singer’s position, but develops an argument that contains some errors in logical reasoning or makes some unsupported claims.

Below Expectations - Presents an ambiguous response to Singer’s position and provides an argument that is underdeveloped, logically fallacious, and/or unsupported.

Non-Performance - The personal response to Singer’s position is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains no errors, and is very easy to understand.

Proficient - Displays comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains only a few minor errors, and is mostly easy to understand.

Basic - Displays basic comprehension of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains a few errors, which may slightly distract the reader.

Below Expectations - Fails to display basic comprehension of syntax or mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains major errors, which distract the reader.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Accurately uses APA formatting consistently throughout the paper, title page, and reference page.

Proficient - Exhibits APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout contains a few minor errors.

Basic - Exhibits basic knowledge of APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout does not meet all APA requirements.

Below Expectations - Fails to exhibit basic knowledge of APA formatting. There are frequent errors, making the layout difficult to distinguish as APA.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - The paper meets the specific page requirement stipulated in the assignment description.

Proficient - The paper closely meets the page requirement stipulated in the assignment description.

Basic - The paper meets over half of the page requirement stipulated in the assignment description.

Below Expectations - A fraction of the page requirement is completed.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Uses more than the required number of scholarly sources, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Proficient - Uses required number of scholarly sources to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Basic - Uses less than the required number of sources to support ideas. Some sources may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are used within the body of the assignment. Citations may not be formatted correctly.

Below Expectations - Uses inadequate number of sources that provide little or no support for ideas. Sources used may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are not used within the body of the assignment. Citations are not formatted correctly.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.