Latin | Main / Essay Rubric

The long AP essays are scored with a six-level rubric. To score an essay this way, you read the descriptions of different levels of essay, and you choose the level that most nearly matches the essay you are reading.

In your critiques, use the following rubric to attempt to place each essay, and then justify your placement using the criteria listed in that level’s description. Then, please add specific recommendations for ways the author could improve his or her work. Of course, writers always welcome specific praise, too :).

Rubric:

6: An excellent, well-organized essay. The discussion makes liberal use of specific, appropriate references from the Latin text throughout the poem, properly cited, to discuss all of the elements in the question. Occasional mistakes need not spoil the general impression of the essay. More important than the number of features selected are the quality and completeness of the discussion and the general coherence of the argument.

5: A good, strong essay with discerning discussion of all the elements of the questions. The discussion is either not as sophisticated or well-developed as a “6″ or not quite as well-supported with textual references. The references from the Latin, properly cited, appear confident, and the essay reflects more than casual familiarity with the poem.

4: An adequate essay with limited discussion of each of the elements of the question. The discussion may be uneven or may be more descriptive than analytical. The Latin support, although perhaps scanty, is specific, accurate and relevant.

3: A limited response which lacks a discussion of one of the elements of the question. In general, the Latin support is weak, possibly misconstrued, inappropriate, and/or not properly cited. The response tends to rely on mere translation. Alternately, the student may write a good essay reflecting knowledge of the poem, but no Latin is cited to support the answer.

2: The student recognizes the poem, but presents a vague or faulty discussion. The student cites Latin, but shows very limited comprehension of the Latin in context. Statements may be very general or irrelevant to the question.

1: The student understands the question but is unable to write meaningful discussion derived from the poem. The response may consist of a collection of information which is incoherent. Although no substantive argument is presented, the response does contain some correct information relevant to the question. The student demonstrates no understanding of the Latin of the passage or demonstrates a complete misunderstanding. The answer may contain either no Latin or individual Latin words randomly selected.

0: A response which is totally irrelevant, totally incorrect, or which merely restates the question. The student demonstrates no understanding of the Latin in context.