Strong writers support their points with direct evidence and details. A series of free-response questions from the 2011 AP® English Language and Composition exam require the use of details to obtain a good score. The first prompt provides a series of sources to help form an argument, while the other items ask writers to think more on their own.

Concepts

advanced placement, essay writing, argumentative writing

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Find an alternate source on the same topic to include as part of the argument development process
• Introduce annotation symbols to help readers mark up the texts effectively

Classroom Considerations

• Provides scoring guidelines to assess responses

Pros

• Requires learners to evaluate different text types
• Shares suggested time limits for each piece

Cons

• Missing a source from the original exam due to copyright reasons

Common Core

W.11-12.1.a W.11-12.8