AP GOVERNMENT

ESSAY RUBRIC FOR UNIT TESTS - MR. ADDIE

For all essays, a general rubric was developed based on the actual AP essay test rubric to guide scoring on your unit tests. This rubric is then modified by the instructor to be content specific for each essay evaluated. These scores are then converted to points per essay. The point breakdown for each essay depends on the question requirements and the total number of essays required per test. For each test, the essay section counts 40 points and the multiple-choice section counts 60 points for a total of 100 points per test. Essay structure (thesis, supporting ideas, and concluding sentence), sentence structure, grammar and mechanics (punctuation, spelling, etc) will count toward the total score on each essay.

Scoring:

5 - Strong analytical focus - exhaustive breadth - responds to all elements asked for in the question -

Marshal's evidence in a convincing way to support a thesis - in some cases, shows signs of original

thinking and creativity

4 - Presents a thesis - marshal's evidence in an organized fashion to support the thesis - adequate in

breadth in responding to most of the important issues raised in the question

3 - States rudiments of a thesis or argument - cites facts appropriate to the development of the thesis but

does not clearly link these to the thesis - discusses some of the major issues - incorrect factual

illustrations and/or faulty or incomplete logic may be encountered - argument appears incomplete

2 - Weak or implausible thesis - demonstrates comprehension of pertinent concepts and facts - presents

descriptive narrative with little or no reference to an organizing principle - responds to some of the

issues raised in the essay question - may contain some factual errors

1 - Weak thesis that is not sustained in discussion - breadth of coverage and depth of information may be

adequate but contains factual errors - information may not fit the thesis - offers few, if any, factual

illustrations to support the thesis - includes irrelevant information - attempts to respond to the

question, however, fails to provide detail and breadth of coverage

0 - No attempt to answer the question in any meaningful way