5: A score of 5 represents student writing at its best.What do AP essay scores tell you about your writing? You’ll find some answers below, and you’ll also see what AP essay readers think about while on the job. Interpreting AP English Language and Composition Essay Scores

A score of 1–5 is assigned to each essay, the same scale used to report AP test results. They rate essays according to standards that customarily apply to those written in college-level English courses. Nor do readers know the score you earned on other essays or on the multiple-choice questions. Readers are chosen for their ability to make sound judgments about student writing and are trained to use a common set of scoring standards.Įach essay is read by a different reader-an experienced English teacher who doesn’t know your name, your school, your gender, or anything else about you.

A saving grace, however, is that the AP test readers don’t expect three polished pieces of immortal prose, just three competently written essays.Įach year in early June, thousands of college and high school teachers get together to read and evaluate the essays written by students like you from across the country and overseas. In effect, you must condense into a short time what would normally take far longer. Readers are trained to look for clearly organized, well-developed, and forceful responses that reveal a depth of understanding and insight.įrankly, the 40 minutes suggested for each essay is not a great deal of time to read the question, plan what you will say, write a few hundred words, edit and proofread your draft, and submit a finished piece of work. Rather, they read it holistically, meaning that they read it quickly for an overall impression of your writing and then assign your essay a grade from 1 (low) to 5 (high). You probably know effective writing when you see it, but what the AP English Language and Composition folks have in mind is the thoughtful organization of ideas, appropriate word choice, proper syntax, varied sentence structure, a mature style of writing, sensible paragraphing, coherent development, and correct mechanics (grammar, spelling, and punctuation).ĪP readers don’t sit there with a checklist to see whether your essay meets all these criteria, however. It’s a popular word because it’s easy to use. When it comes time to make judgments about writing, the word 'effectively' comes up repeatedly. How AP English Language and Composition Essays are Graded and Scored

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