Grading desk
Mark your own essay against the standard
Pick the standard, band each criterion — thesis or problématique, structure, evidence and style — and the desk weights the marks, names the three fixes that would earn the most, and measures the draft itself for quotation, locators and counter-reading. Your sheet is saved on this device and downloads as a marking record.
Which standard are you marking against?
French practical criticism — projet de lecture, axes, procédés, style.
Not yet — start from one arguable claim and one quotation that proves it.
Projet de lecture×3
One reading project that the whole commentary serves.
- The introduction states what the passage is doing, not what it says.
- The project could be contradicted by another reader.
- Each axe answers the project rather than sitting beside it.
- The conclusion widens the project instead of repeating it.
Pick a band to see what that standard looks like.
Your next moveMark a band to get the instruction for this criterion.
Plan et axes×3
Composed movements, not a line-by-line walk through the text.
- Two or three axes, each with a title that states an idea.
- Sub-parts inside each axe, ordered by argument.
- Transitions carry the reading from one axe to the next.
- No axe repeats another under a different name.
Pick a band to see what that standard looks like.
Your next moveMark a band to get the instruction for this criterion.
Citations et procédés×3
Short quotation, named device, argued effect.
- Every sub-part quotes the text, briefly and precisely.
- The procédé is named (métaphore, rythme ternaire, champ lexical…).
- The effect on the reader is argued, not asserted.
- Line references are given (l. 4-6).
Pick a band to see what that standard looks like.
Your next moveMark a band to get the instruction for this criterion.
Style et expression×2
Prose that is exact, sober and grammatical.
- Present tense for the text, correct literary vocabulary.
- No « je pense que », no plot summary padding.
- Sentences varied; no clause left dangling.
- Spelling of titles, names and quotations verified.
Pick a band to see what that standard looks like.
Your next moveMark a band to get the instruction for this criterion.
Introduction et conclusion×2
The frame that situates the passage and closes the reading.
- Amorce, situation of the extract, projet, announced plan.
- The extract is placed in the work and, briefly, its period.
- The conclusion answers the project in its own words.
- The ouverture is genuine — a related text or question, not a slogan.
Pick a band to see what that standard looks like.
Your next moveMark a band to get the instruction for this criterion.
Draft check
1 of 7 mechanical criteria met
- Length — 0 words · 0 movementsA practical-criticism essay needs at least three developed movements.
- Quotation — 0 quoted passagesQuote the text in every movement; three is the floor, not the target.
- Evidence density — —Any movement without quotation is assertion.
- References — 0 line or page locatorsGive line, page or act/scene numbers so a reader can check you.
- Technique named — 0 distinct termsName what the language is doing — diction, metre, syntax, voice.
- Counter-reading — none foundState the strongest rival reading and answer it from the text.
- Hedging — 0 hedge words