I’m still in the midst of grading revised essays. But now seems like a good time to remind you of Appendix A in the Handbook (follow the link at the top of this page). This chart provides a general rubric for revised essays. Here, for example, are the criteria for essays that have earned a grade of “A,” denoting “Writing of Clearly Superior Quality”:

Subject is intelligently chosen, of solid substance, properly limited, and developed with originality and imagination. There is clear-cut organization–a clearly delineated central idea, logically and skillfully subdivided and developed by cogent, specific detail. The essay is a highly effective whole, free of irrelevant matter, reasonably mature and varied in sentence structure. Phrasing and diction are exact and idiomatic. Paper is all but perfect in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. The manuscript is neat and orderly.

Is that a high bar? Yes.