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Copyright, 2023

How To Use The New AP® English Scoring Rubric

Last summer, the major changes for the 2019-2020 school year across AP ® courses included a) new unit structures aligned to key course skills, b) teachers gained access to more resources through the launch of AP ® Classroom, and c) many exams underwent major changes. All of these changes were meant to better support AP ® students and teachers in their preparation for – and success on – the May AP ® exams.

Teachers of AP ® English Language and Composition and AP ® English Literature and Composition experienced one of the most significant changes: the introduction of a new analytic rubric for each exam’s Free Response Questions. This new rubric takes the place of the nine-point holistic rubric that has been in use for 20 years.

P.S. Based on feedback from teachers, the College Board made a few final tweaks to the rubrics, which they released on September 30, 2019 . Those changes helped clarify some parts of the rubric. They also released 10 scored student samples for each question of 2018 and 2019 with scoring commentaries!

Using the New AP ® English Rubric With Confidence

Such a significant change can be daunting. If you’ve felt less than prepared to use the new rubrics in your class, the good news is there are major benefits with the new approach.

We’ve been trying it out ourselves – scoring hundreds of previously released student samples alongside a team of expert College Board readers – and we believe the new rubric makes it easier to communicate and teach. That’s exciting news for teachers and students.

The analytic style of this rubric offers clearer direct measures of success. In each scoring category, there are technical requirements to meet, which makes expectations clearer for students and evaluation easier for teachers.

Plus, while development and analysis have always been critical to success on AP ® English work, this rubric offers a more visible focus on evidence and commentary – as well as clarification of exactly what this means.

“There are two aspects of the new rubric I liked most. The first is the analytical nature of the rubric. Since the categories are broken down into three distinct sections, it is easier to consider each portion of this score separately.

Second, i found the new rubric particularly thorough in its explanation. each reporting category clarified what types of responses would or would not earn a specific score for that category. the explanations were more focused and clearer for their descriptions.”, — michael stracco, ap ® english literature reader.

Being big fans of rubrics of all types, but especially analytic rubrics, Marco Learning is here to help. In this post, we break down the big changes and dig into the new rubrics that will be used to evaluate Free Response Questions starting with the May 2020 exams.

Here’s what we will cover in this post:

• Anatomy of the new rubric
• How to use the “decision rules” for scoring
• Implications for teaching
• How to share the new rubric with your students

Anatomy of the New Rubric

While essays were previously graded on a holistic scale of 0 to 9, reflecting overall quality, the College Board has switched to an analytic rubric, which evaluates student success out of 6 possible points across three scoring categories. The three scoring categories are:

• Thesis (1 point possible)
• Evidence and Commentary (4 points possible)
• Sophistication (1 point possible)

Linguistic change! If you’re familiar with the old rubric, you’ll notice a new word choice right away. The new rubric refers to commentary instead of analysis. We perceive this change to be more student friendly, in that it encompasses a broader range of student engagement with the text — rather than simply analyzing the technical aspects of the text/argument, students are encouraged to integrate commentary on important background elements of the text/argument!

Each of these “reporting categories” contains specific requirements that students must meet in order to earn points. The student’s identification and use of evidence continues to be weighted most heavily, with four of the six available points falling within the Evidence and Commentary reporting category.

Here are the core elements of the Synthesis Essay in AP ® English Language:

How do the rubrics vary by course and/or essay type?

• The scoring criteria for Thesis are nearly identical for all six essay types, with a slight modification for AP ® Literature to add that a student’s thesis must “present an interpretation” of the text in question.
• The Evidence and Commentary scoring criteria have slight variations to address the source of evidence that corresponds to each essay type.
• The Sophistication scoring criteria are identical across courses and all essay types.

Decision Rules for Scoring

In addition to the basic rubric scoring criteria, the College Board provides helpful “decision rules” for how to apply the criteria more specifically. Notably, these rules vary by essay type.

Access the complete College Board (and revised ) rubrics with the decision rules here:

AP ® English Language

• Q1: Synthesis Essay
• Q2: Rhetorical Analysis
• Q3: Argument Essay

AP ® English Literature

• Q1: Poetry Analysis
• Q2: Prose Fiction Analysis
• Q3: Literary Argument

Applying the Rubric to Student Samples

Many teachers will want to continue to use released exams for student practice (available on the College Board website: AP ® English Language , AP ® English Literature ).

Here’s how to apply the new rubric to your students’ practice timed writings.

Not only is the thesis a vital part of effective written work, it is now a scoring category for AP ® English essays – an explicit requirement. In each essay, students should “respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position/interpretation” (the object here varies slightly depending on the question type). Understandably, this must take a position and should go beyond merely restating the prompt or summarizing source texts.

AP ® English Language Argument Essay: Thesis Category

Pay special attention to the “additional notes” at the bottom:

First, a thesis located anywhere in the essay may earn the point. While it is typically not good practice for a student to bury their thesis in a conclusion paragraph (because the clarity of their argument may be impacted), a successful concluding thesis would earn the point. When the thesis is not obviously placed in its traditional spot at the end of an introductory paragraph, read closely in case a clear position in response to the prompt is hiding later in the essay.

Second, a thesis may earn a point even if the rest of the response does not support the same line of reasoning . The thesis is evaluated entirely independently from the successful development of the argument.

What changed about THESIS in the revised rubrics?

• Having a defensible position or interpretation (depending on essay type) matters, but the language around “establishing a line of reasoning” has been removed.
• Students are not expected to use the thesis to outline their essay. There have been a few scoring notes added, such as that the thesis does not necessarily need to be a single sentence, but the separate sentences need to be in close proximity.

B) EVIDENCE AND COMMENTARY

Worth 4 of the possible 6 points, the Evidence and Commentary category carries the weight of the new rubric. While the source of the evidence varies by essay type, regardless of prompt, students are asked to provide evidence for their position and expand on it with commentary that connects the evidence to their position.

Each rubric’s decision rules include descriptions of “typical” responses that fall into each score level. These descriptions will help you decide how to score a response, but may still prove challenging since you’ll still need to determine how successful a student’s explanation is and where that places it on the rubric.

AP ® English Language Argument Essay: Evidence and Commentary Category

As our team of AP ® readers have practiced applying these rules, we have had the most difficulty determining what meets the level of “explanation” in the expectations of the AP ® Language Argument Essay rubric. If a student has provided explanation for their evidence, but not very successfully, for example, they may still be eligible for a score of 3 in this category. This might seem a bit high if you’re oriented to the rigor of the old holistic rubric, but as we’ll explain more below, you’ll need to move away from thinking in terms of the rigor of the old rubric or thinking of essays as “high” or “low.”

If you’re on the fence about a point, we recommend falling back to the classic guidance to reward students for what they do well , particularly in this scoring category. While that specific language has not persisted to this new rubric, based on what we know now, we expect it to persist as a value in College Board scoring on exams.

Note: An essay that does NOT earn the Thesis point is highly unlikely to earn 3 or 4 points in Evidence and Commentary. These higher scores require a clear connection between thesis and evidence.

What changed about EVIDENCE & COMMENTARY in the revised rubrics?

• Compared to the initial version, the College Board made a helpful structural change: Evidence and Commentary are now discussed independently within the scoring criteria.
• There is now more focus on supporting all claims for scores of 3 or 4 rather than simply providing examples or evidence that may not be totally successfully linked back to a claim.

C) SOPHISTICATION

We’ve found the Sophistication component requires the most group norming. There are 3-4 “ways” students might demonstrate sophistication of thought listed in the scoring notes, but the scoring criterion is king: the response must, above all, “demonstrate sophistication of thought and/or a complex understanding of the rhetorical situation.”

As noted in the rubric, sophistication must be part of the argument , not a passing phrase or reference. While it might be easy to coach students to fulfill one or more of the strategies (“check the box”), it will be very difficult for students to successfully earn the point.

What changed about SOPHISTICATION in the revised rubrics?

• The College Board has fine-tuned to the decision rules for this point. It is now more clear that this point is very rigorous.
• There are fewer examples of possible strategies (now 3-4 versus 5-6), notably removing “Utilizing a prose style that is appropriate to the student’s argument”.

Teacher tip: The ways a student might demonstrate sophistication may not be obvious for them to include in a response (e.g., using relevant analogies to help an audience better understand an interpretation or discussing alternative interpretations of a text). While we don’t recommend encouraging your students to incorporate the listed strategies to “check the box,” we do recommend encouraging them to be creative in their engagement with the text. And look to these descriptors for teaching ideas!

Avoid These Common Scoring Mistakes

Make sure your scoring is focused on the core areas of the AP ® rubric and doesn’t get caught up by any of these common scoring mistakes.

• Don’t focus on grammar and mechanics. These aspects of writing are relatively unimportant in scoring. However, if grammatical and/or mechanical errors are so frequent and significant that they interfere with your understanding of the essay, the student is ineligible for the fourth point in the Evidence and Commentary reporting category. It is, however, rare to see this level of technical writing errors in a high-scoring essay.
• Don’t penalize for “missing” conclusions. While they do make for “nicer” writing, conclusion paragraphs are usually brief and are not actually required in this exam! A student’s conclusion (or the lack of one) is not weighted in the score.
• Don’t be fooled by flowery writing! Sometimes, a student may write with sophisticated style or flowery language, but fail to adequately analyze evidence or support their argument. While these essays might sound nice, they don’t achieve the main goals of AP ® assignments — namely, the development and analysis of evidence in support of a relevant argument. If an essay is written extremely well on the surface, take a moment to consider whether it meets the assignment goals or if sophisticated styling is masking a lack of analysis. Make sure the specific scoring categories guide your evaluation of each student’s essay!
• Be careful not to compare the new analytic scoring with the old holistic scores. If you’re very familiar with the 9-point holistic rubric, you may be tempted to continue to consider essays in terms of their success on the old rubric, but the new analytic rubric requires a shift in thinking. Try not to compare the overall scores of students to each other (an overall score of 3 for two students might reflect success in different scoring categories, for example), and be careful about calibrating to past released student samples that were scored on the old scale.

“I believe that the main challenge with the new rubrics is developing a different mindset from the previous holistic scoring. The one for me that seemed most difficult to discard was seeing an essay as either an upper level or a lower level essay. The new rubric discourages such thinking, which many of us experienced scorers often relied upon when first reading through an essay.”

Implications for Teaching

We asked Michael Stracco, a long-time English teacher with sixteen years experience as a College Board reader for the AP ® Literature and Composition course, for his advice for teachers when guiding students on the new rubric.

What advice would you give to teachers when guiding students on the new rubric?

Any rubric is going to be a bit formulaic when it comes to preparing students. To the degree that the rubric describes good writing, this new rubric is clearly good teaching of writing. For example, the descriptors of a good thesis sentence are excellent. A teacher would do well to teach a student how to write a good, clear thesis which answers a prompt. However, in years past, it was conceivable that a thesis could be implied on these essays since a stated thesis was not a part of the rubric. Now it is a part of the rubric. Because of this change, all students must now be certain to have a clearly stated thesis. This is a bit formulaic, but it is what teachers must teach in order to prepare their students well for the test.

So this would be my advice to teachers:

• Remember that you are always a writing teacher. The aspects of writing a literary analysis response are still just teaching how to write well. To be specific, teach students to rely upon the text , to make an analysis of the text, and to elaborate upon that analysis. Be certain to teach students the difference between summary and analysis . This is the heart of scoring well in Row B.
• I would teach students to put the thesis in the introduction and to underline It always helps for a writer to think about audience in all writing, and in this case the audience is someone who is reading many essays and needs to be certain to see the thesis to assign the point.
• Regarding a thesis: Teach students that creating a good thesis has two purposes. The first is so that the reader knows where the piece is headed. But the second is so that the writer knows where the piece is headed.
• Related to this: Planning is essential before writing. You need to know your thesis so that you can keep the piece focused. As an experienced reader, I sometimes would see a student write him/herself into a good essay. The piece would develop into a better essay than the thesis. With a full point being for a good thesis, a student must plan before writing and must write within the context of the thesis or no point would be assigned.

Next Steps for Tackling the New Rubric

As you begin to use the new AP ® English rubrics in your classroom this school year, we encourage you to use the rubric categories and language to guide the skills you teach and follow these next steps:

• First, download our fillable Teacher English Language Scoring Rubric to keep track of all of these pointers when you are evaluating student work on the new AP ® English rubric. Make copies to reuse with each essay you grade!

TEACHER Scoring Rubric

• Second, plan a lesson to introduce your students to the new rubric. Review the rubric with them and prep them to use it for self-assessment on their next essay.
• Third, assign your first practice essay of the school year with confidence! Plan to have your class practice writing thesis statements, and give students plenty of opportunities to practice and workshop more straightforward evidence and commentary strategies.

If your school partners with Marco Learning, take advantage of the opportunity to get personalized feedback for your students from one of our qualified Graders. Graders complete qualification modules to demonstrate proficiency with the new rubric in addition to calibration exercises specific to each prompt.

Log in to your Marco Learning account , and pick from any College Board released prompts dating back to 1999. Scoring and feedback on all AP ® English prompts will be completed using the new rubrics so students and teachers can be prepared for the exams in May!

If we don’t currently work with your school, learn more about how Marco Learning supports AP teachers here .

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Decoding the AP Language and Composition Exam Rubric

February 7, 2024

The AP Language and Composition Exam is a popular AP exam for students in AP Language classes as well as students who aren’t currently enrolled in AP English. Many of the skills tested on the exam are skills students practice in high school English classes: synthesizing information from multiple sources, analyzing an author’s rhetoric, and writing argumentative essays.

The first part of the exam is a multiple choice section with questions asking students to analyze nonfiction texts (23-25 questions) and make editing choices on short essays (20-22 questions). The multiple choice section accounts for 45% of the AP Language exam score, and students are given one hour to complete it. 

The second part of the exam requires students to write three essays. The three essays are Synthesis, Rhetorical Analysis, and Argument, and students are given a total of two hours and fifteen minutes to complete this portion of the exam. The fifteen minutes is considered the “reading period” and is the approximate amount of time you should use to read the given sources. Most of your reading time should be dedicated to the Synthesis essay since there are six or seven sources to read through for this essay. The essays account for 55% of the Language exam score.

For each essay, students can earn up to six points. It can be difficult to decipher what is required to earn these points and how students might gain or lose them. Since the AP Language Exam is a standardized test, there are specific things readers are looking for to award points in each category, which are outlined in the rubric for the essay questions.  

Thesis (0-1 point) 

According to the AP Language rubric, your thesis must respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position.

The thesis point is usually the easiest point to gain, but having a strong thesis will also set you up for success for the rest of the essay. You want to make sure your thesis is on topic and defensible, meaning there is sufficient evidence to back up your ideas, either in the given text (for Synthesis and Rhetorical Analysis) or in your examples (for Argument). 

For the Synthesis essay, your thesis must take a strong position, not just restate the prompt or show pros and cons for two sides of the given issue. For the Rhetorical Analysis essay, your thesis must analyze the writer’s choices, not state your own opinion on the topic. For the Argument essay, again, you must take a strong position on the given topic. 

As you write your essay, make sure all paragraphs and ideas are in defense of your thesis . 

Evidence and Commentary (0-4 points) 

According to the AP Language rubric, your evidence and commentary must provide specific evidence to support all claims in a line of reasoning and consistently explain how the evidence supports a line of reasoning. 

A line of reasoning is the formal structure of your argument, which should be well organized to help prove your thesis – ideas should be grouped properly and build on each other as you work through the essay.

Evidence and commentary is the place where most students have room for growth. Your evidence should be relevant , significant , and well analyzed . Many students have evidence but don’t include enough analysis of their evidence. You want to make sure you’re showing how your evidence supports your ideas , assuming no piece of evidence is self-supporting.

For the Synthesis essay, you will use evidence from the given sources to support your position. Evidence should be cited and scrutinized, not just placed into the essay to stand on its own. The exam requires you to cite from at least three sources, though more can be useful and help show a higher level of sophistication, as long as all the evidence is examined as thoroughly as possible.

For the Rhetorical Analysis essay, you are examining rhetorical devices used by the author of the essay. These devices may include frequent repetition, personal anecdotes, extended metaphors, particular diction, detailed imagery, or concrete data (to name a few). Make sure you’re familiar with a number of rhetorical devices to prepare for this essay. You want to make sure you’re stating why these devices support the author’s main idea.

For the Argument essay, you are bringing your own evidence to the table. Your examples can come from your reading (like novels or essays), your studies (like history or social studies), or your personal experiences. No particular type of evidence is superior to another as long as it is fully relevant and thoroughly explained. This essay gives you the broadest range of material to work with, so you may want to consider some topics you’re comfortable writing about before the exam and use them as long as they are on topic.

Sophistication (0-1 point)

According to the AP Language rubric, essays that gain this point must demonstrate sophistication of thought and/or a complex understanding of the rhetorical situation. 

The sophistication point is typically the most difficult point to gain on an essay. It is sometimes referred to as a “unicorn point,” and only about 5-15% of students usually get this point on any given essay. While challenging to earn, there are some things you can do to work towards earning this point.

There are two ways to gain this point: you can demonstrate an advanced writing style or a nuanced argument . 

To achieve an advanced writing style, you’ll want to use strong vocabulary, adhere to the rules of standard written English, and vary sentence structure. While these elements don’t have to be perfect, the stronger they are, the more likely you’ll be to earn this additional point. Make sure any complex sentences are clear; being wordy without purpose will work against earning this additional point. 

To achieve a nuanced argument, you’ll want to avoid sweeping generalizations. The more specific the wording or example, the better. You’ll also want to directly address potential counterarguments and argue against them, putting the topic in a broader context and examining nuances in the given situation. The AP Language rubric is also looking for writing that is consistently vivid and persuasive. Include details and imagery; use strong and convincing language.

While this will remain the hardest point to achieve for any given essay, practice will help. One of the most effective ways to ensure your practice is properly focused and impactful on your performance is to work 1-1 with an expert tutor, who can give you personalized feedback on your FRQ responses. Get in touch with one of our Program Directors today or call 1-800-MY-TUTOR to get started.

*Any information in italics is directly from the AP Language rubric.

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How to Write the AP Lang Argument Essay + Examples

What’s covered:, what is the ap language argument essay, tips for writing the ap language argument essay, ap english language argument essay examples, how will ap scores impact my college chances.

In 2023, over 550,148 students across the U.S. took the AP English Language and Composition Exam, and 65.2% scored higher than a 3. The AP English Language Exam tests your ability to analyze a piece of writing, synthesize information, write a rhetorical essay, and create a cohesive argument. In this post, we’ll be discussing the best way to approach the argumentative essay section of the test, and we’ll give you tips and tricks so you can write a great essay.

The AP English Language Exam as of 2023 is structured as follows:

Section 1: 45 multiple choice questions to be completed in an hour. This portion counts for 45% of your score. This section requires students to analyze a piece of literature. The questions ask about its content and/or what could be edited within the passage.

Section 2: Three free response questions to be completed in the remaining two hours and 15 minutes. This section counts for 55% of your score. These essay questions include the synthesis essay, the rhetorical essay, and the argumentative essay.

• Synthesis essay: Read 6-7 sources and create an argument using at least three of the sources.
• Rhetorical analysis essay: Describe how a piece of writing evokes meaning and symbolism.
• Argumentative essay: Pick a side of a debate and create an argument based on evidence. In this essay, you should develop a logical argument in support of or against the given statement and provide ample evidence that supports your conclusion. Typically, a five paragraph format is great for this type of writing. This essay is scored holistically from 1 to 9 points.

Do you want more information on the structure of the full exam? Take a look at our in-depth overview of the AP Language and Composition Exam .

Although the AP Language Argument may seem daunting at first, once you understand how the essay should be structured, it will be a lot easier to create cohesive arguments.

Below are some tips to help you as you write the essay.

1. Organize your essay before writing

Instead of jumping right into your essay, plan out what you will say beforehand. It’s easiest to make a list of your arguments and write out what facts or evidence you will use to support each argument. In your outline, you can determine the best order for your arguments, especially if they build on each other or are chronological. Having a well-organized essay is crucial for success.

2. Pick one side of the argument, but acknowledge the other side

When you write the essay, it’s best if you pick one side of the debate and stick with it for the entire essay. All your evidence should be in support of that one side. However, in your introductory paragraph, as you introduce the debate, be sure to mention any merit the arguments of the other side has. This can make the essay a bit more nuanced and show that you did consider both sides before determining which one was better. Often, acknowledging another viewpoint then refuting it can make your essay stronger.

3. Provide evidence to support your claims

The AP readers will be looking for examples and evidence to support your argument. This doesn’t mean that you need to memorize a bunch of random facts before the exam. This just means that you should be able to provide concrete examples in support of your argument.

For example, if the essay topic is about whether the role of the media in society has been detrimental or not, and you argue that it has been, you may talk about the phenomenon of “fake news” during the 2016 presidential election.

AP readers are not looking for perfect examples, but they are looking to see if you can provide enough evidence to back your claim and make it easily understood.

4. Create a strong thesis statement

The thesis statement will set up your entire essay, so it’s important that it is focused and specific, and that it allows for the reader to understand your body paragraphs. Make sure your thesis statement is the very last sentence of your introductory paragraph. In this sentence, list out the key points you will be making in the essay in the same order that you will be writing them. Each new point you mention in your thesis should start a paragraph in your essay.

Below is a prompt and sample student essay from the May 2019 exam . We’ll look at what the student did well in their writing and where they could improve.

Prompt: “The term “overrated” is often used to diminish concepts, places, roles, etc. that the speaker believes do not deserve the prestige they commonly enjoy; for example, many writers have argued that success is overrated, a character in a novel by Anthony Burgess famously describes Rome as a “vastly overrated city,” and Queen Rania of Jordan herself has asserted that “[b]eing queen is overrated.”

Select a concept, place, role, etc. to which you believe that the term “overrated” should be applied. Then, write a well-developed essay in which you explain your judgment. Use appropriate evidence from your reading, experience, or observations to support your argument.

Sample Student Essay #1:

[1] Competition is “overrated.” The notion of motivation between peers has evolved into a source of unnecessary stress and even lack of morals. Whether it be in an academic environment or in the industry, this new idea of competition is harmful to those competing and those around them.

[2] Back in elementary school, competition was rather friendly. It could have been who could do the most pushups or who could get the most imaginary points in a classroom for a prize. If you couldn’t do the most pushups or win that smelly sticker, you would go home and improve yourself – there would be no strong feelings towards anyone, you would just focus on making yourself a better version of yourself. Then as high school rolled around, suddenly applying for college doesn’t seem so far away –GPA seems to be that one stat that defines you – extracurriculars seem to shape you – test scores seem to categorize you. Sleepless nights, studying for the next day’s exam, seem to become more and more frequent. Floating duck syndrome seems to surround you (FDS is where a competitive student pretends to not work hard but is furiously studying beneath the surface just like how a duck furiously kicks to stay afloat). All of your competitors appear to hope you fail – but in the end what do you and your competitor’s gain? Getting one extra point on the test? Does that self-satisfaction compensate for the tremendous amounts of acquired stress? This new type of “competition” is overrated – it serves nothing except a never-ending source of anxiety and seeks to weaken friendships and solidarity as a whole in the school setting.

[3] A similar idea of “competition” can be applied to business. On the most fundamental level, competition serves to be a beneficial regulator of prices and business models for both the business themselves and consumers. However, as businesses grew increasingly greedy and desperate, companies resorted to immoral tactics that only hurt their reputations and consumers as a whole. Whether it be McDonald’s coupons that force you to buy more food or tech companies like Apple intentionally slowing down your iPhone after 3 years to force you to upgrade to the newest device, consumers suffer and in turn speak down upon these companies. Similar to the evolved form of competition in school, this overrated form causes pain for all parties and has since diverged from the encouraging nature that the principle of competition was “founded” on.

The AP score for this essay was a 4/6, meaning that it captured the main purpose of the essay but there were still substantial parts missing. In this essay, the writer did a good job organizing the sections and making sure that their writing was in order according to the thesis statement. The essay first discusses how competition is harmful in elementary school and then discusses this topic in the context of business. This follows the chronological order of somebody’s life and flows nicely.

The arguments in this essay are problematic, as they do not provide enough examples of how exactly competition is overrated. The essay discusses the context in which competition is overrated but does not go far enough in explaining how this connects to the prompt.

In the first example, school stress is used to explain how competition manifests. This is a good starting point, but it does not talk about why competition is overrated; it simply mentions that competition can be unhealthy. The last sentence of that paragraph is the main point of the argument and should be expanded to discuss how the anxiety of school is overrated later on in life. 

In the second example, the writer discusses how competition can lead to harmful business practices, but again, this doesn’t reflect the reason this would be overrated. Is competition really overrated because Apple and McDonald’s force you to buy new products? This example could’ve been taken one step farther. Instead of explaining why business structures—such as monopolies—harm competition, the author should discuss how those particular structures are overrated.

Additionally, the examples the writer used lack detail. A stronger essay would’ve provided more in-depth examples. This essay seemed to mention examples only in passing without using them to defend the argument.

It should also be noted that the structure of the essay is incomplete. The introduction only has a thesis statement and no additional context. Also, there is no conclusion paragraph that sums up the essay. These missing components result in a 4/6.

Now let’s go through the prompt for a sample essay from the May 2022 exam . The prompt is as follows:

Colin Powell, a four-star general and former United States Secretary of State, wrote in his 1995 autobiography: “[W]e do not have the luxury of collecting information indefinitely. At some point, before we can have every possible fact in hand, we have to decide. The key is not to make quick decisions, but to make timely decisions.”

Write an essay that argues your position on the extent to which Powell’s claim about making decisions is valid. 

In your response you should do the following:

• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position. 
• Provide evidence to support your line of reasoning. 
• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning. 
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.

Sample Student Essay #2:

Colin Powell, who was a four star general and a former United States Secretary of State. He wrote an autobiography and had made a claim about making decisions. In my personal opinion, Powell’s claim is true to full extent and shows an extremely valuable piece of advice that we do not consider when we make decisions.

Powell stated, “before we can have every possible fact in hand we have to decide…. but to make it a timely decision” (1995). With this statement Powell is telling the audience of his autobiography that it does not necessarily matter how many facts you have, and how many things you know. Being able to have access to everything possible takes a great amount of time and we don’t always have all of the time in the world. A decision has to be made with what you know, waiting for something else to come in while trying to make a decision whether that other fact is good or bad you already have a good amount of things that you know. Everyone’s time is valuable, including yours. At the end of the day the decision will have to be made and that is why it should be made in a “timely” manner.

This response was graded for a score of 2/6. Let’s break down the score to smaller points that signify where the student fell short.

The thesis in this essay is clearly outlined at the end of the first paragraph. The student states their agreement with Powell’s claim and frames the rest of their essay around this stance. The success in scoring here lies in the clear communication of the thesis and the direction the argument will take. It’s important to make the thesis statement concise, specific, and arguable, which the student has successfully done.

While the student did attempt to provide evidence to support their thesis, it’s clear that their explanation lacks specific detail and substance. They referenced Powell’s statement, but did not delve into how this statement has proven true in specific instances, and did not provide examples that could bring the argument to life.

Commentary is an essential part of this section’s score. It means explaining the significance of the evidence and connecting it back to the thesis. Unfortunately, the student’s commentary here is too vague and does not effectively elaborate on how the evidence supports their argument.

To improve, the student could use more concrete examples to demonstrate their point and discuss how each piece of evidence supports their thesis. For instance, they could discuss specific moments in Powell’s career where making a timely decision was more valuable than waiting for all possible facts. This would help illustrate the argument in a more engaging, understandable way.

A high score in the “sophistication” category of the grading rubric is given for demonstrating a complex understanding of the rhetorical situation (purpose, audience, context, etc.), making effective rhetorical choices, or establishing a line of reasoning. Here, the student’s response lacks complexity and sophistication. They’ve simply agreed with Powell’s claim and made a few general statements without providing a deeper analysis or effectively considering the rhetorical situation.

To increase sophistication, the student could explore possible counterarguments or complexities within Powell’s claim. They could discuss potential drawbacks of making decisions without all possible facts, or examine situations where timely decisions might not yield the best results. By acknowledging and refuting these potential counterarguments, they could add more depth to their analysis and showcase their understanding of the complexities involved in decision-making.

The student could also analyze why Powell, given his background and experiences, might have come to such a conclusion, thus providing more context and showing an understanding of the rhetorical situation.

Remember, sophistication in argumentation isn’t about using fancy words or complicated sentences. It’s about showing that you understand the complexity of the issue at hand and that you’re able to make thoughtful, nuanced arguments. Sophistication shows that you can think critically about the topic and make connections that aren’t immediately obvious.

Now that you’ve looked at an example essay and some tips for the argumentative essay, you know how to better prepare for the AP English Language and Composition Exam.

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AP® English Literature

How to score your own ap® english literature practice essay.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Part of effectively preparing for the free response section of the AP® English Literature exam is accepting at least this one old truism: practice makes perfect. However, you can up the ante by adding just one more word to that statement. In truth, perfect practice makes perfect.

You should ensure that you practice responding to sample prompts in as precise a manner as possible. How do we measure our precision here? Good question. By examining the AP® English Literature rubric for the free response section, the pertinent skills on which your success depends become evident.

Read on for a brief analysis of English Literature rubric, an outline of a sample response with an examination of the pertinent skills at work in the sample, and a discussion of possible strategies that you can use to score your own practice essays.

The AP® English Literature Rubric

First of all, I believe the best way for us to analyze the AP® English Literature rubric itself is by unpacking the important information found in the 9-8 scoring range. We should aim high here. The very fact that this range defines the highest percentile grades means that essays receiving 8 or 9 marks have everything needed—and a little more than that—to ace this portion of the exam.

So, I’ll unpack the information and compartmentalize it. The top-tier section of the AP® English Literature rubric states that the best essays “demonstrate the writer’s ability to discuss a literary work with insight and understanding and to control a wide range of the elements of effective composition.” That’s a little abstract for our analysis, but luckily there’s more concrete information that we can focus on.

A top-tier essay covers an appropriate work and the appropriate elements within that work. Appropriate is subjective though. Carefully consider how the literary work you’ve chosen helps you respond to the prompt. The piece you’ve selected should allow you to make many specific, apt references. These references and their purpose in proving your thesis should be clearly explained in a logical manner. The rubric warns against including “plot summary that is not relevant to the topic,” so make sure, again, that the material is appropriate.

The bottom line is that there are some concrete requirements we can plainly see in the rubric that will not only allow you to analyze your own writing, but that will also inform the way you practice writing for the AP® English Literature exam . Let’s get down to some perfect practice.

Sample Free Response Outline

The following example prompt comes from the 2013 AP® English Literature free response section.

“…Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.” For clarification, bildungsroman is German for “novel of formation,” or a coming-of-age story.

Let’s use A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, which is a title included in the prompt. We’re sure it’s appropriate because it’s a story of a nineteenth-century Irish Catholic boy growing up to become a writer, a coming-of-age story in which a boy grapples with heady questions of morality and self and eventually finds peace as an adult. The protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, spurns his religion briefly, but he eventually rededicates himself to piety. He later realizes, in the pivotal moment we’ll discuss, that his love and desire of beauty should not be shameful to him. He is forever changed by freeing himself from his religion.

Here’s a brief outline for a sample response to this prompt:

I. Introduction

1. Stephen Dedalus’ psychological and moral development throughout James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man directly correlates to the protagonist’s struggle with his faith and his sense of self.

2. The pivotal moment in Stephen’s development and in the story itself takes place when Stephen succeeds in his struggle to no longer be constrained by religion.

1. The truly pivotal moment in Stephen’s development takes place when Stephen decides that his love of and desire for beauty should not be shameful to him.

a. Late in chapter 4, Stephen considers the myth of Daedalus and sees a beautiful girl whom he regards as an angel.

b. Stephen is changed by this experience in that he can grow and become the artist he wishes to be.

2. This moment shapes the meaning of the story itself by illustrating the author’s own struggle to become an artist and possible his own pivotal moment.

a. It is at this point in the story that Joyce’s diction and style become more elevated, reflecting Stephen’s development sans religion.

b. By Chapter 5, Stephen seems well adjusted and as if he is able to embrace adulthood.

1. The moment when Stephen observes the angelic girl in the water and contemplates the myth of Daedalus represents a pivotal moment not only in the story but in Stephen’s psychological and moral development throughout Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

2. This moment shapes the story by, in effect, being one of the main reasons that Joyce wrote it.

3. Joyce himself struggled with his religion, and, once free of it, developed into the artist he was meant to be, much like Stephen.

First, it was established that the literary work chosen was appropriate. The elements chosen, the pivotal moment was also established as appropriate, according to the prompt. Next, an understanding of the concept and of the references made in Paragraph I was demonstrated. Then, I responded to the other portion of the prompt regarding how the pivotal moment shapes the story and demonstrated an understanding of the references made in support of that. Finally, an insight was made regarding Joyce’s reason for writing A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

This is an O.K. response. It’s nothing special but it gives us an example text to guide our discussion of the strategies you can use to score your own practice essays.

Scoring Practice Essays

The easiest way to score your practice essays is to consider the concrete information that’s known about how the readers will score your essays. The following five questions are useful in scoring your practice essays but also in guiding your preparation for the actual test.

First, pretty obviously, have you actually made an attempt to respond to the prompt precisely and with only relevant material? If so, you’ve at least gotten off to a good start.

Second, analyze your structure and organization. Can you follow the logic in your essay without having to mentally fill in any blanks? If you notice that some part of the logic is unclear and requires you to make some cognitive jump, rest assured your reader will notice this. Good organization and structure of your thoughts is plainly pivotal to upping your essay scores. If you can read through your response comfortably, you’re in good shape.

Third, analyze your diction and rhetorical strategies . Do you use a varied vocabulary? Have you employed any college-level composition strategies such as parallelism or antithesis? If no to either of these, you’re running par for the course. If yes to both, you’re doing pretty well.

Fourth, examine how your references demonstrate your understanding of the prompt, the text, and the elements of the text which you’ve discussed in your essay. Do you make any clever insights? Have you made a unique connection to or inference about the piece? If you’re confident that your response demonstrates your understanding of these key artifacts, then you’re probably looking at a 6 or 7 mark.

Fifth, scrutinize the style of your essay. This is the final part of your self-scoring. If you read over your essay and remark on your own style, even if you’re critical at times, in a positive way, there’s a chance your response may be an 8 or better.

Asking these questions is a quick, easy barometer for gauging the effectiveness of your AP® English Literature free response responses.

Effective preparation for the AP® English Literature free response section depends on accepting that practice makes perfect. Strive throughout the time you spend studying to practice as perfectly as possible.

With this analysis of the rubric itself and the discussion of the five graduated questions you should ask about your practice essays, you’ve got a few more tools to use in ensuring that your practice is as perfect and precise as possible.

Ensure that your essays cover appropriate material. Analyze your organization. Examine your diction and usage of rhetorical strategies. Criticize your understanding of the prompt, the text, and the elements you’ve called out in the essay. Scrutinize your style.

By performing these five actions, you’re increasing your odds of putting forth a solid performance on test day.

By the way, you should check out Albert.io for your AP® English Literature review. We have hundreds of AP® English Literature practice questions written just for you!

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