Analyze, Don't Summarize

The 01 October 2004 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education contains an editorial about grading English papers. In it, the author talks about struggling to articulate how he grades papers, and he eventually sums it up succinctly in a way I like:

The rules for literary analysis are the same rules in play for any kind of analysis: mastery of the material. Cogency of supporting evidence. Ability to imagine and rebut salient counterarguments. Extra points for wit and style, points off for mind-numbing cliches, and permanent suspension for borrowing someone else's argument without proper attribution.