2018
AP English Language
and Composition
Sample Student Responses
and Scoring Commentary
Inside:
Free Response Question 2
RR Scoring Guideline
RR Student Samples
RR Scoring Commentary
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AP® ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
2018 SCORING GUIDELINES
Question 2
General Directions: This scoring guide is designed so that the same performance expectations are applied to
all student responses. It will be useful for most of the essays, but if it seems inappropriate for a specific essay,
assistance from the Table Leader should be sought. The Table Leader should always be shown booklets that
seem to have no response or that contain responses that seem unrelated to the question. A score of 0 or —
should not be assigned without this consultation.
The essay’s score should reflect an evaluation of the essay as a whole. Students had only 40 minutes to read
and write; the essay, therefore, is not a finished product and should not be judged according to standards
appropriate for an out-of-class assignment. The essay should be evaluated as a draft, and students should be
rewarded for what they do well. The evaluation should focus on the evidence and explanations that the student
uses to support the response; students should not be penalized for taking a particular perspective.
All essays, even those scored 8 or 9, may contain occasional lapses in analysis, prose style, or mechanics.
Such features should enter into the holistic evaluation of an essay’s overall quality. In no case should a score
higher than a 2 be given to an essay with errors in grammar and mechanics that persistently interfere with
understanding of meaning.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 – Essays earning a score of 9 meet the criteria for the score of 8 and, in addition, are especially
sophisticated in their argument, thorough in their development, or impressive in their control of
language.
8 – Effective
Essays earning a score of 8 effectively analyze* the choices Albright makes to convey her message to the
audience. They develop their analysis with evidence and explanations that are appropriate and convincing,
referring to the passage explicitly or implicitly. The prose demonstrates a consistent ability to control a wide
range of the elements of effective writing but is not necessarily flawless.
7 – Essays earning a score of 7 meet the criteria for the 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 analyze the choices Albright makes to convey her message to the
audience. They develop their analysis with evidence and explanations that are appropriate and sufficient,
referring to the passage explicitly or implicitly. The writing may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but
generally the prose is clear.
5 – Essays earning a score of 5 analyze the choices Albright makes to convey her message to the audience. The
evidence and explanations used to develop their analysis may be uneven, inconsistent, or limited. The writing
may contain lapses in diction or syntax, but it usually conveys the student’s ideas.
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AP® ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
2018 SCORING GUIDELINES
Question 2 (continued)
4 – Inadequate
Essays earning a score of 4 inadequately analyze the choices Albright makes to convey her message to the
audience. These essays may misunderstand the passage, misrepresent the choices Albright makes, or analyze
these choices insufficiently. The evidence and explanations used to develop their analysis may be
inappropriate, insufficient, or unconvincing. The prose generally conveys the student’s ideas but may be
inconsistent in controlling the elements of effective writing.
3 – Essays earning a score of 3 meet the criteria for the score of 4 but demonstrate less success in
analyzing the choices Albright makes to convey her message to the audience. They are less perceptive
in their understanding of the passage or Albright’s choices, or the evidence and explanations used to
develop their analysis 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 analyzing the choices Albright makes to convey her
message to the audience. The student may misunderstand the prompt, misread the passage, fail to analyze the
choices Albright makes, or substitute a simpler task by responding to the prompt tangentially with unrelated or
inaccurate 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 – Essays earning a score of 1 meet the criteria for the score of 2 but are undeveloped, especially
simplistic in their explanation, or weak in their control of language.
0
Indicates an off-topic response, one that merely repeats the prompt, an entirely crossed-out response, a
drawing, or a response in a language other than English.
—
Indicates an entirely blank response.
* For the purposes of scoring, analysis means explaining the rhetorical choices an author makes in an attempt
to achieve a particular effect or purpose.
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