Beyond Persuasion: Unlocking the Nuances of the AP Lang Argument Essay

As if there wasn’t enough for students to deal with their junior and senior year – college or career planning, senioritis, prom drama – we have to go and layer in high-stakes, high-stress standardized tests like the SAT, ACT, and even the AP Language and Composition test for the brave souls who choose to face the AP Lang synthesis essay, respond to the AP Lang rhetorical analysis essay, and approach the AP Lang argument essay on the AP Lang exam.  Ah, to be a student again!

So, then, how do we get students ready for AP Language, particularly when it comes to the AP Lang argument essay?  Read on to learn about unlocking the nuances of the AP Lang argument essay.

AP Lang Rubric–Sophistication

Let’s start with the fact and, I hope, common knowledge that AP Language is a challenging course, replete with rigorous reading and writing activities.  

This rigor translates to high standards and high expectations that students need to meet to pass the AP Lang exam.  (You can see an AP Lang score calculator like this one here to see what scores students need to earn to pass the AP Lang exam.)  

With this in mind, one thing we need to prepare our students for (and accept ourselves) is that on the AP Lang rubric – and this goes for the AP Lang rhetorical analysis essay, the AP Lang synthesis essay, and the AP Lang argument essay – most students will not earn the sophistication point (Row C). It’s a fact.  

Students could take an AP Lang practice test a hundred times over and still not earn this point.  

Students could look at a hundred AP Lang essay examples and see just a few that have earned this point.  

In AP Language and Composition circles, this sophistication point on the AP Lang rubric is often called the “unicorn point,” for it’s a rare and special thing.  

Now, this shouldn’t be discouraging; this should be encouraging.  

It should free students up from trying too hard for a reach point on the AP Lang rubric and calibrate them, instead, to secure the most accessible points.

AP Lang Rubric–Thesis

So few students earn the sophistication point on the AP Lang rubric – but just about every student earns the thesis point (Row A) on the AP Lang rubric, no matter if it’s the AP Lang rhetorical analysis essay, the AP Lang synthesis essay, or the AP Lang argument essay.  

AP Raters – those high school and college educators who score the AP Lang exam over the summer – read “generously” when it comes to a thesis.  

What this means is that they are broadly accepting of thesis statements, no matter their place in the essay or the construction of the sentence(s).  

Here’s what the thesis must do: it must 1) respond to the prompt and 2) provide a claim that requires proof or defense. If a student does that in one sentence or five, in the introduction or the conclusion, the student earns the point on the AP Lang rubric.  

For the AP Lang rhetorical analysis essay, then, the student must include some interpretation of the writer’s message/idea/purpose and some implicit or (preferably) explicit statements of the writer’s choices (which often are AP Lang rhetorical devices like appeals, tone, etc.).  

For the AP Lang synthesis essay and the AP Lang argument essay, the student must take a position that responds to the prompt or issue at hand.  

Where students fall short sometimes is that they will summarize the issue or both sides of an answer. For example, they might say “Nuclear power can be good and bad” rather than taking a stance. 

This stance is the essential foundation for the evidence and commentary to come that develops their ap lang argument essays.

AP Lang Rubric–Evidence and Commentary

So between the thesis and the sophistication strands of the AP Lang Rubric and what students are likely to earn, it’s a bit of a wash: 1 point for thesis, 0 points for sophistication.  

That leaves, then, where most of the students’ attention should be, where most of our teaching should center, and where the most opportunity is: the evidence and commentary strand (Row B) of the AP Lang rubric.  

This strand of the AP Lang rubric is worth between 0 and 4 points, a wide spread.  

Most students find themselves earning a 2 or 3 here on the AP Lang rubric, and this gives them a clear path forward.  

While the thesis and sophistication points are all or nothing, the evidence and commentary strand gives students shades of development and effectiveness to move through.  

So, then, how can we help students move from that 2 to the 3 and the 3 to the 4? 

Here are some ideas for the AP Lang argument essay:

Include specific, relevant evidence to support every claim in a line of reasoning.  

Oftentimes, students who score lower on the AP Lang rubric for the AP Lang argument essay do so because they write in generalities. They share an opinion, but not an informed opinion. They state a claim, but fail to offer evidence to prove it or support it.  

As educators, then, we can teach students the art of “for instance” and “for example.” 

These phrases are helpful and, for many students, necessary ingredients in an argument’s line of reason to transition from claim to concrete, specific evidence.  

By helping students follow their ideas with a “for example,” they are more likely to share a specific piece of evidence from their readings, observations, or experiences to support their assertions.

Strengthen commentary connecting the evidence to the claim and argument.  

Sometimes students will offer that “for instance” discussed above, but then they leave it there.  They lay the evidence out on the table for all to see . . . but that’s it.  

It’s like they are attorneys walking into the courtroom, pronouncing the defendant is guilty, showing a fingerprint to the jury, and then sitting back down.  

Where’s the commentary connecting the evidence to claim?  Where’s the logical connection that proves what they’re out to prove?  

Indeed, evidence is not evidence until a writer connects it to the point of introducing it to the audience. As such, students can strengthen their commentary oftentimes by expanding it or being more detailed with it.  

A good rule of thumb is a 1-2 ratio of evidence to commentary: for every sentence of evidence, the students should plan on at least two sentences of commentary in their ap lang argument essay.

Develop a clear, effective line of reasoning.  

By using specific and relevant evidence as well as strengthening commentary, students will inevitably strengthen their line of reasoning. 

Line of reasoning is the thread that’s pulled through the essay from introduction to body paragraphs to conclusion, from sentence to sentence, word to word.  

The clearer and more developed a line of reasoning is, oftentimes the more successful the essay is (and the higher score it earns on the AP Lang rubric for AP Language and Composition).  

Here’s a good test of the strength of a students’ line of reasoning at the paragraph level: ask students to imagine swapping the positions of two paragraphs. To what degree does it make a difference to the argument?  The organization?  The persuasion?  

If this swap makes little difference, then the writer can strengthen the line of reasoning. For example, if I swap two body paragraphs in my ap lang argument essay and it doesn’t make my writing awkward to read with a jarring transition or less effective because my points are out of order, then that tells me I need to make more purposeful choices.

I hope, then, by using the strategies above you and your students will appreciate the awesome experience that is AP Language and Composition and your students will earn all the success possible on the AP Lang exam, giving them a foundation of success to build on for years to come.