2022 AP Student Samples and Commentary - AP U.S. Government and Politics FRQ 4: Set 1

2022

AP United States

Government and Politics

Sample Student Responses

and Scoring Commentary

Set 1

Inside:

Free-Response Question 4

•• Scoring Guidelines

• Student Samples

• Scoring Commentary

trademarks of College Board. Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

AP Central is the ocial online home for the AP Program: apcentral.collegeboard.org.

AP® United States Government and Politics

2022 Scoring Guidelines

Reporting

Category

Scoring Criteria

Row A

Claim/Thesis

(0–1 points)

0 points

Does not meet the criteria for one point.

1 point

Responds to the prompt with a defensible claim or thesis that establishes a line of

reasoning.

Decision Rules and Scoring Notes

Responses that do not earn this point:

• Only restate the prompt.

• Do not make a claim that responds to the prompt.

Responses that earn this point:

• Respond to the prompt rather than restating or rephrasing the prompt and

establish a line of reasoning.

• Provide a defensible claim or thesis that establishes a line of reasoning about

whether legal challenges or social movements are the most effective means

for changing federal policy.

Examples that do not earn this point:

Restate the prompt

• “History has shown that legal challenges, which use the courts are clearly

the most effective in changing federal policy when it comes to civil rights.”

Do not respond to the prompt

• “Social movements work outside of the system and can mobilize citizens.”

Examples that earn this point:

• “Legal challenges are most effective because decisions of the court do not

necessarily need to appeal to public opinion and have the effect of changing

policy in the area of civil rights.”

• “Social movements are most effective because large numbers of people can put

pressure on the political system which has resulted in policy changes in the area

of civil rights.”

Additional Notes:

• The claim or thesis must consist of one or more sentences that may be located anywhere in the response.

• A claim or thesis that meets the criteria can be awarded the point whether or not the rest of the response successfully supports that line of reasoning.

Question 4: Argument Essay

6 points

AP® United States Government and Politics 2022 Scoring Guidelines

Reporting

Category

Scoring Criteria

Row B

Evidence

(0–3 points)

0 points

Does not meet the criteria

for one point.

1 point

Provides one piece of evidence

that is relevant to the topic of the

prompt.

2 points

Uses one piece of specific and relevant

evidence to support the claim or thesis.

3 points

Uses two pieces of specific and relevant evidence

to support the claim or thesis.

Decision Rules and Scoring Notes

Responses that do not

earn points:

• Do not provide any

accurate evidence.

• Provide evidence that

is not relevant to the

topic.

Responses that earn 1 point:

• Provide one piece of

evidence relevant to the

topic of the prompt.

• May or may not have a claim

or thesis.

Responses that earn 2 points:

• Provide one piece of specific and

relevant evidence that supports the

claim or thesis. This evidence can come

from one of the foundational

documents listed in the prompt, any

Category

Scoring Criteria

Row C

Reasoning

(0–1 points)

0 points

Does not meet the criteria for one point.

1 point

Explains how or why the evidence supports the claim or thesis.

Decision Rules and Scoring Notes

Responses that do not earn this point:

• Include evidence but offer no reasoning to connect the evidence to the

claim or thesis.

• Restate the prompt without explaining how the evidence supports the

claim or thesis.

Responses that earn this point:

• Explain the relationship between the evidence provided and the claim or thesis.

Examples of reasoning that explain how the evidence supports the claim or thesis:

• “Court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education established a precedent for

desegregating schools which was one of the biggest achievements of the Civil

Rights movement. Because schools are locally controlled, it would have been

much more difficult to achieve such a broad victory through a social movement.”

• “Political protest and civil disobedience are actions that can be taken when direct

challenges to the system have been exhausted or are no longer effective. When a

social movement gains prominent recognition, legislatures are more likely to

move quickly to address the concerns of their citizens, unlike a legal challenge

which can be costly and slow.”

Additional Notes:

• To earn this point, the response must have a defensible claim or thesis (earned the point in Row A) and support that argument with at least one piece of specific

and relevant evidence (earned at least two points in Row B).

• The explanation of the relationship between one piece of evidence and the claim or thesis is sufficient to earn this point.

AP® United States Government and Politics 2022 Scoring Guidelines

Reporting

Category

Scoring Criteria

Row D

Responds to

Alternate

Perspectives

(0–1 points)

0 points

Does not meet the criteria for one point.

1 point

Responds to an opposing or alternate perspective using refutation, concession, or

rebuttal.

Decision Rules and Scoring Notes

Responses that do not earn this point:

• Restate the opposite of the claim or thesis.

• May identify or describe an alternate perspective but do not refute,

concede, or rebut that perspective.

• Refute a foundational document rather than an alternate perspective to

the provided claim or thesis.

Responses that earn this point:

• Must describe an alternate perspective AND refute, concede, or rebut that

perspective.

Examples of responses that do not earn the point:

Restate the opposite of the claim or thesis

• “Many would argue that legal challenges are better, but this is simply

untrue.”

Describe an alternate perspective but do not refute, concede, or rebut

that perspective

• “Some would argue that social movements are better because they

mobilize people for change.”

Examples of acceptable responses to an alternate perspective may include:

• “Some argue that social movements are better because they mobilize a large

number of people for change, but social movements require coordination and

participation which takes time.”

“Some argue that legal challenges are more effective because they don’t require

changing public opinion, but legal challenges generally require financial support

and could take a long time.”

•

Additional Notes:

• To earn this point, the response must have a defensible claim or thesis (earned the point in Row A).

• Responses that demonstrate an incorrect understanding of the alternate perspective do not earn this point.

1 of 2 4A

2 of 2 4A

1 of 2 4B

2 of 2 4B

1 of 3 4C

2 of 3 4C

3 of 3 4C

United States Government and Politics 2022 Scoring Commentary

isit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.

Question 4

Note: Student samples are quoted verbatim and may contain spelling and grammatical errors.

Overview

This Argument Essay question expected students to demonstrate an understanding of how outside

roups influence federal policy makers to effect changes in policy in the area of civil rights, as well

as an understanding of foundational documents related to the concept of competing policy making

interests (The Federalist 78, the First Amendment to the Constitution, and “Letter from Birmingham

Jail”).

Students were expected to articulate a defensible claim/thesis and establish a line of reasoning;

support the thesis with evidence from a foundational document(s) and/or the course concepts; use

reasoning to explain why the evidence provided supports the thesis; and respond to an alternative

perspective using refutation, concession, or rebuttal. Students were expected to write in the form of

an argumentative essay, demonstrating each of the skills mentioned above.

Sample: 4A

Score: 6

Claim/Thesis: 1

Evidence: 3

Reasoning: 1

Alternative Perspectives: 1

A. Th

e response earned 1 point because it contains a thesis. The claim that social movements are

more effective because they are “lead by the voice of the public” is a defensible line of reasoning.

The response earned 3 points for evidence. The response earned 2 points with its accurate

description of the First Amendment, which is a given document, and the description supports the

thesis. The response earned 1 point for an accurate description of “Letter from Birmingham

Jail.” Responses only need to use one of the documents in order to earn points in this section. In this

response, two documents are used.

C. Th

e response earned 1 point for reasoning with the explanation of how social movements, with

the people demanding change, provide an opportunity for the government to respond to the interests

of the people.

D. The response earned 1 point for the alternative perspective by describing the alternative

per

spective with a reason why it would be argued and providing a rebuttal that supports the original

thesis.

United States Government and Politics 2022 Scoring Commentary

Question 4 (continued)

Sample: 4B

Score: 3

Claim/Thesis: 1

Evidence: 2

Reasoning: 0

Alternative Perspectives: 0

A. The response earned 1 point for the thesis. The response makes the claim in the first

ragraph. The line of reasoning appears later: “it shows the effectiveness of using social

movements to change federal policy in civil rights because it allows for a peaceful way of

communicating what the people want.”

B. The response earned 2 evidence points for the description of “Letter from Birmingham Jail,”

which is relevant to the prompt (1 point) and supports the thesis (1 point). “Letter from Birmingham

Jail” is also a given foundational document, but 2 points was the most that could be earned for one

piece of evidence. The response did not earn evidence points for Tinker v. Des Moines because it is

not relevant to the prompt as it is a civil liberties case rather than a civil rights case.

C. The response did not earn the reasoning point because the language it provides for reasoning (“it

hows the effectiveness of using social movements to change federal policy in civil rights because it

allows for a peaceful way of communicating what the people want”) was used to complete the thesis

and responses could not earn points for the same language in multiple sections.

D. The response did not earn the alternative perspective point as it fails to fully describe the

alternative perspective, and it did not offer a rebuttal.

Samp

le: 4C

Score: 1

Claim/Thesis: 0

Evidence: 1

Reasoning: 0

Alternative Perspectives: 0

A. The response did not earn the thesis point. The response makes a claim but does not have a

efensible line of reasoning.

B. The response earned 1 point for evidence with the evidence about Brown v. Board of Education. The

sconsin v. Yoder case is not acceptable as evidence because it concerns civil liberties, not civil

rights.

C. The response does not have a thesis and could not earn the reasoning point.

D. The response does not have a thesis and could not earn the alternative perspectives point.

Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.