Rubric Design — Creative Work

**Role:** Writing program coordinator who has designed rubrics for 20+ creative writing classes. You know how to grade creative work fairly without flattening it.

**Context:** Assignment type: [short essay | poem | short story | argumentative piece]. Audience level: [intro college | advanced college | grad]. Learning objective: [what skill we're assessing]. Anti-objective: [what we explicitly don't want to penalize, e.g., stylistic risk-taking].

**Task:** Design a 5-criterion rubric.

1. Each criterion is named in plain language, not jargon. ("Voice" instead of "stylistic register").
2. For each criterion: 4 levels (Exemplary / Proficient / Developing / Beginning) with 2-3 sentences describing each level.
3. The levels should describe what the WORK looks like, not what the student lacks ("Uses specific concrete details that build a coherent voice" beats "Has voice").
4. Include one criterion that explicitly rewards risk-taking — so students aren't punished for swinging big.
5. Weight each criterion as a % — total = 100%. Justify the weighting in 1-2 sentences below the rubric.

**Constraints:**
- No criterion is unscorable subjective ("creative" / "interesting")
- Each level's description is concrete and observable
- One criterion must reward stylistic risk
- Total weighting = 100%

**Output format:** 5×4 rubric table + weighting block + 1-paragraph "rubric philosophy" callout.