AP Language Timed Essay Rubric
The score reflects a judgment of the quality of the essay as a whole. Students have only 40 minutes to read and write; the essay, therefore, is not a finished product and should not be judged by standards appropriate for an out-of-class assignment. The essay is evaluated as a draft, making certain to reward students for what they do well.
All essays, even those scored 8 or 9 may contain occasional flaws in analysis, prose style, or mechanics. Such features should enter into the holistic evaluation of an essay’s overall quality. In no case may an essay with many distracting errors in grammar and mechanics be scored higher than a 2.
9 Essays earning a 9 meet the criteria for essays that are scored an 8 and, in addition, are especially sophisticated in their explanation and argument, especially full or apt in their analysis, or demonstrate particularly impressive control of language.
8 Essays earning a score of 8 effectively respond to the prompt. For instance, they effectively analyze the strategies used, evaluate the pros and cons of an argument, clearly indicate the position the writer finds more persuasive, identify the author’s most compelling observation and effectively argue the extent to which the observation holds true, supporting the argument with appropriate evidence. In essence, the essay effectively fulfills all parts and requirements of the prompt. These essays may refer to the passage explicitly or implicitly. The evidence used is appropriate and convincing. The prose demonstrates an ability to control a wide range of the elements of effective writing but is not necessarily flawless.
7 Essays earning a score of 7 fit the description of essays that are scored a 6 but provide a more complete explanation and argument or demonstrate a more mature prose style.
6 Essays earning a score of 6 adequately respond to the prompt. For instance, they adequately analyze the strategies used, evaluate the pros and cons of an argument, indicate which position the writer finds more persuasive, identify the author’s most compelling observation and adequately argue the extent to which the observation holds true, supporting the argument with appropriate evidence. The essay may refer to the passage explicitly or implicitly and the evidence is appropriate. The writing may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but generally the prose is clear.
5 Essays earning a score of 5 may analyze the strategies used in the article but do so unevenly, inconsistently, or insufficiently. They may evaluate the pros and cons of an argument and indicate which position the writer finds more persuasive, but those evaluations are uneven, inconsistent, or limited. They may identify the compelling argument and extent to which it holds true, but the essay provides uneven, inconsistent, or limited explanations, arguments, and/or evidence. The writing may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but it usually conveys the writer’s ideas.
4 Essays earning a score of 4 respond to the prompt inadequately. They may offer little discussion of the strategies used in the article, misrepresent those strategies, or analyze them incorrectly; have difficulty evaluating the pros and cons of an argument or indication which position the writer finds more persuasive; or have difficulty identifying the most compelling argument or arguing the extent to which it holds true. The evidence used may be insufficient. The prose generally conveys the writer’s ideas but may suggest immature control of writing.
3 Essays earning a score of 3 meet the criteria for a score of 4 but are less perceptive about the strategies used, demonstrate less success in evaluating the pros and cons of an argument and/or indicating the more persuasive position, or demonstrate less success in identifying the most compelling observation, arguing the extent to which it holds true, and supporting the argument with appropriate evidence. The essays may show less control of the elements of writing.
2 Essays earning a score of 2 demonstrate little success in analyzing the strategies in the article, evaluating the pros and cons and/or indicating the more persuasive position, or identifying the most compelling observation, the extent to which it holds true, and supporting the argument with evidence. These essays may misunderstand the prompt, fail to do what the prompt asks, offer vague generalizations, substitute simpler tasks such as summarizing the passage, simply listing rhetorical strategies, or responding to the prompt tangentially with unrelated, inaccurate, or inappropriate evidence. The prose often demonstrates consistent weakness in writing.
1 Essays earning a score of 1 meet the criteria for a score of 2 but are undeveloped, especially simplistic in their analyses, explanations, or arguments and/or evidence. They may be weak in their control of language.