AP® ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

2011 SCORING GUIDELINES (Form B)

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Question 1

The s

core should reflect a judgment of the essay’s quality as a whole. Remember that students had only

15 minutes to read the sources and 40 minutes to write; the essay, therefore, is not a finished product

and should not be judged by standards appropriate for an out-of-class assignment. Evaluate the essay as

a draft, making certain to reward students for what they do well.

All essays, even those scored 8 or 9, may contain occasional lapses in analysis, prose style, or

mechanics. Such features should enter into your 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.

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9 Essays earning a score of 9 meet the criteria for a score of 8 and, in addition, are especially

sop

histicated in their argument, thorough in development, or impressive in their control of

language.

8 Effective

ssays earning a score of 8 effectively develop a position on the extent to which government should

be responsible for fostering green practices. They develop their position by effectively synthesizing* at

leas

t three of the sources. The evidence and explanations used are appropriate and convincing. Their

prose demonstrates a consistent ability to control a wide range of the elements of effective writing but

is not necessarily flawless.

7 Essays ear

ning a score of 7 meet the criteria for a score of 6 but provide more complete

explanation, more thorough development, or a more mature prose style.

6 Adequate

Essays earning a score of 6 adequately develop a position on the extent to which government should

be responsible for fostering green practices. They develop their position by adequately synthesizing at

least three of the sources. The evidence and explanations used are appropriate and sufficient. The

language may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but generally the prose is clear.

5 Essays earning a score of 5 develop a position on the extent to which government should be

res

ponsible for fostering green practices. They develop their position by synthesizing at least

three sources, but how they use and explain sources is somewhat uneven, inconsistent, or

limited. The argument is generally clear, and the sources generally develop the student’s

position, but the links between the sources and the argument may be strained. The writing

may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but it usually conveys the student’s ideas

adequately.

_____________________________

* For the purposes of scoring, synthesis means referring to sources to develop a position and citing them accurately.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

2011 SCORING GUIDELINES (Form B)

Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.

Question 1 (continued)

Inadequate

Essays earning a score of 4 inadequately develop a position on the extent to which government should

be responsible for fostering green practices. They develop their position by synthesizing at least two

sources, but the evidence or explanations used may be inappropriate, insufficient, or less convincing.

The sources may dominate the student’s attempts at development, the link between the argument and

the sources may be weak, or the student may misunderstand, misrepresent, or oversimplify the sources.

The prose generally conveys the student’s ideas but may be less consistent in controlling the elements

of effective writing.

3 Essa

ys earning a score of 3 meet the criteria for a score of 4 but demonstrate less success in

developing a position on the extent to which government should be responsible for fostering

green practices. They are less perceptive in their understanding of the sources, or their

explanation or examples may be particularly limited or simplistic. The essays may show less

maturity in control of writing.

2 Little Success

Essays earning a score of 2 demonstrate little success in developing a position on the extent to which

overnment should be responsible for fostering green practices. They may merely allude to knowledge

gained from reading the sources rather than citing the sources themselves. These essays may misread

the sources, fail to develop a position, or substitute a simpler task by merely summarizing or

categorizing the sources or by merely responding to the prompt tangentially with unrelated, inaccurate,

or inappropriate explanation. The prose often demonstrates consistent weaknesses in writing, such as

grammatical problems, a lack of development or organization, or a lack of control.

1 Essa

ys earning a score of 1 meet the criteria for a score of 2 but are undeveloped, especially

simplistic in their explanation, weak in their control of writing, or do not cite even one

source.

0 In

dicates an on-topic response that receives no credit, such as one that merely repeats the prompt.

— Indicates a blank response or one that is completely off topic.

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION

2011 SCORING COMMENTARY (Form B)

Question 1

Sample:

Score: 9

Displ

aying an impressive command of language (despite a few minor errors that are in the nature of a first

draft), this essay creates a balance between considering government involvement in and individual

responsibility for the green movement. Making a clear distinction between immediate, short-term factors

(e.g., taxes on polluters) and distant, long-term ones (e.g., enforcing the Clean Water Act), the student also

illustrates how the two are related. For example, on page 3 the essay notes that “the little steps taken” to

address environmental issues can have lasting impact. Within the essay, the student evaluates numerous

factors that influence how much the government should be responsible for fostering green practices,

ultimately taking the position that the public’s role is as important as the government’s: “Policy is

important, but so is individual action, as parts really do make up a whole.” This position takes into

consideration both sides of the issue, as it responds, for example, to people who do not believe in global

warming. Throughout the essay, the student synthesizes the evidence fully, creating an effective response

that is especially sophisticated in its argument and thorough in its development.

Sample:

Score: 5

The ess

ay presents a position and supports it with at least three sources for evidence. However, the logic

explaining this evidence is limited. For example, in paragraph 2, the essay states that if “America were to

break free of its wasteful habits,” other leading countries “would be quick to act as well.” The student’s

argument is generally clear, but the links between the sources and the argument are sometimes strained,

as on page 3: “True, companies may lose money and worker’s [sic] ‘3 minutes per week’ (Winters) would

be energy aimed towards this cause of going green, but as the old saying goes ‘it has to get worse before it

gets better.’” With its uneven use of evidence, this essay earned a score of 5.

Sample:

Score: 2

This e

ssay demonstrates little success in its discussion of “going to green environmt [sic],” responding to

the prompt with inaccurate and inappropriate evidence. For example, the student exaggerates the claims

of the green movement to assume that its goal is to “not cut trees and build factories.” Furthermore, this

essay does not use any sources in its discussion. Though the student does allude to some sources (e.g., the

discussion of green practices destroying the economy and the discussion of recycling), the connections are

implicit at best. The prose demonstrates consistent problems in grammar and usage.

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