Name: _________________________________ Period: ___________________ Date: _____________

AP Essay – Topic - Short Stories       Score: ______________

General Explanation: Your score reflects my judgment of your essay’s quality as a whole. I reward you for what you do well. An essay with too many distracting errors in grammar and mechanics will not be scored higher than a 3. All essays will be thought of as above or below a 5, which is an essay that doesn’t say very much but says it rather well. An essay receiving a 5 or above MUST address the work’s meaning as a whole and not simply identify an author’s techniques. Essays below a 5 make significant errors in interpretation, inadequately address the prompt, and/or do not address the meaning of the work as a whole. Remember, your prompt is twofold.   Papers with scores of 8 or 9 have said new things.  Papers of five or below have said the usual.

9 (98): These essays meet all the criteria for 8 papers but are particularly persuasive, well-reasoned, and insightful—rich in content, unique in voice, and stylistically elegant.

8 (94): An 8 essay is a carefully reasoned critique of the strategies the author has used in the work. The writer offers a plethora a appropriate textual support and commentary, demonstrates a stylistic command of language, and is mechanically sound.. The sentence structure is fluid and varied, the diction mature and sophisticated. These essays are in-depth (at least 2 pages and often more), show a significant understanding of literary techniques and terminology, and relate all observations to the meaning of the work.

7 (90): Essays earning a 7 fit the description of 6 essays, but they are distinguished by fuller analysis and stronger prose style. They are significantly more than competent.

6 (86): Six essays reasonably evaluate the argument, work, or task asked for by the prompt. Their views are accurate, the commentary on important elements generally sound. They do not have the depth, elaboration, or detail related to the meaning of the work that essays which earn higher scores do, yet they are logically ordered, well-developed, and unified around a clear organizing principle. A few lapses in diction or syntax may be present, but for the most part, the prose of 6 essays conveys the writer’s ideas clearly.  

5 (82): Essays earning a 5 plausibly evaluate the work, argument, or tasks, but the reasoning is limited or unevenly developed. A few lapses in diction or syntax may be present, but for the most part, the prose of a 5 essay conveys the writer’s ideas clearly. A 5 essay doesn’t say much, though it makes no significant errors of interpretation and says what it does rather well. These essays are typically competent but superficial.

4 (78): Four essays respond inadequately to the question’s tasks or argument. These essays may misinterpret or misrepresent a significant part of the work, inadequately develop ideas, remain unclear or unconvincing, or never address the meaning of the work as a whole. The prose usually conveys the writer’s ideas adequately, but have inconsistent control over such elements of writing as organization, diction, and syntax.

3 (70): Essays earning a 3 fit the description of a 4 essay, but are particularly unsuccessful in the attempt to evaluate the work, tasks, or argument stated in the prompt, OR are particularly inconsistent in their control of the elements of writing.

2 (64): Essays earning a 2 demonstrate little or no success in evaluating the question. Some may substitute another related task. The prose of 2 papers may reveal consistent weaknesses in grammar or other basics of composition. These essays are characteristically brief.

1 (58): Essays earning a 1 are particularly simplistic in their response, inadequately short in length, and may reveal consistent weaknesses in grammar or other elements of composition.