Open Prompt 1 #2 2004

1. I would score student #1 an 8 on the AP grading scale. The intro showed great control and understanding of what she wanted to talk about regarding the prompt. The Intro could have acted as an independent answer to the prompt due to their T.A.P. organization of the intro. Secondarily, The student did a good job avoiding plot summary and balancing it with enough information to explain their examples for their answer. Student #1’s handwriting was good enough that I did not struggle when reading it, but it without a shadow of doubt could have been improved for the sake of the AP readers. My other small gripe about Student #1’s essay was the length of it- a good essay should be concise and get to the point. They did make good use of their words, but I also feel that the essay could have been condensed further.

2. Student #2 would have scored a 5 if I were to of graded these essays. The intro to the essay was rather weak and although could have technically stood on its own, was still bare in nature and stripped down to the bare minimum of what needed for an AP intro. I do like the fact there are scribbles all over the page because that means that the student thought about how best to word their work and worked through their problem nevertheless. The handwriting, on a shallow level, was very easy to read- which I really appreciated. On a literary level, I feel that the student kept the essay at a very shallow level and did not talk into any depth about the meanings of the examples that she provided.

3. Student 3’s essay probably would have earned a 2 or 3 if I were to of graded the essays. The first thing that I noticed when I went to read the essay, was that there seemed to be no paragraph breaks which was beyond frustrating to read. Another silly mistake that they made was not underlining the name of the story, which is technically incorrect. As far as intros go, I am not really sure where the intro stops and where the first paragraph starts- and that makes it rather hard to judge the quality of the intro when you can not even find it. Along the lines of not being able to find an intro, I was also not able to find the conclusion! The essay simply just rambles off into a finishing point. The only compliment that I can think of is that the student has pretty nice handwriting, which makes the essay a smidgen better.