Gilman's story "Turned" puts a wife, a husband, and a household employee in a difficult situation and lets the reader decide what should happen. Students tend to have strong opinions right away. That energy makes for lively discussion and, sometimes, uneven essays.

When the assignment asks students to argue a position, grading gets harder. Some write persuasively but ignore the text. Others analyze carefully but never take a stand.

The rubric needs to reward both a clear position and disciplined use of evidence. It also needs to keep the grader's own view of the story out of the score.

The tips below help keep argument essays fair, especially in mixed classrooms where opinions vary widely.

Grade the Reasoning, Not the Conclusion

Two students can reach opposite conclusions about a character and both write excellent essays. What separates them is the quality of their reasoning and evidence. Say this out loud at the start of the assignment so students feel free to commit to a position.

• States a clear position on the central question of the story
• Grounds each reason in a specific moment from the text
• Considers at least one opposing view fairly
• Responds to the counterargument rather than dismissing it
• Keeps the tone analytical, not just emotional

Watch for Modern Assumptions

Students often judge characters by present-day norms and forget the setting. That can be a legitimate move, but the essay should acknowledge it. A comment that asks how the characters' circumstances shape their choices pushes students to read more carefully.

This is not about excusing behavior. It is about making sure the argument accounts for what the story actually shows.

Reward Fair Handling of the Other Side

The counterargument paragraph is where many argument essays fall short. Students either skip it or set up a weak version to knock down. Score it as its own criterion and give examples of what a strong one looks like.

Encouraging students to pick the strongest opposing point, not the easiest, raises the quality of the whole essay.

Keeping Debate-Driven Grading Consistent

Argument essays can trigger bias in graders as easily as in students. Applying a written rubric through a tool such as GraideMind gives you a steady baseline that ignores the position taken and looks at the structure of the reasoning. You can then adjust for nuance the tool may miss.

After grading, share a couple of anonymous strong examples that take opposite sides. It shows the class that quality, not agreement, earns credit.