I know teachers, including some at very competitive high schools with intensive AP programs, who give timed essays every week. I give them about six times a year. Students write each of the three exam essay types (rhetorical analysis, argument, and synthesis) twice. The first time is at the end of the unit where we introduce that type of writing, and the second is in March or April as we get closer to the exam.
For the very first one, students write on paper. They’re already managing on-the-spot reading, annotation, and essay planning, and I think it’s less cognitive load if they aren’t also navigating the web platform. I also want everyone to come in and start right away. My class periods are about 45 minutes, which is roughly the time students can give one essay on the exam. If you’d rather they get typing practice, or you don’t want to grade handwriting, you can assign one of these in AP Classroom instead.
Practicing with a released prompt
Up until now, students have had time outside class to read and analyze. Before the timed essay, they need scaffolded practice reading and annotating on the spot. I find a released rhetorical analysis prompt from a prior year in AP Classroom, make copies, and pass them out face down. Pick your second-choice prompt for this, not one you plan to use for a full essay later.
Then I give students a challenge. I set a timer for five minutes, and in that time they need to read and annotate enough to come up with a rhetorical analysis thesis statement.
When time is up, we debrief. How far did they get? What challenges did they run into? What will they do differently next time? You’ll hear common things like “I got out all my highlighters and didn’t have time” or “I annotated a ton as I went instead of reading it all the way through first and making smaller notes.” You’ll see a range of approaches. Some students won’t mark a thing, jump straight to a thesis, and sit there with two minutes left.
For the next 15 minutes, students discuss the prompt and the rhetorical choices they picked for their thesis. It’s a good chance to hear other thesis statements and what classmates noticed that they didn’t. Then I give them five minutes to revise their thesis. They won’t get to revise during a real timed essay, but this works as a quick mastery check on thesis statements. In my short classes, all of that takes a full period. On a block schedule, you can move on to the next part the same day.
Scoring released sample essays
Next, I find the released sample essays that go with the prompt students practiced. Here’s the snag. College Board’s website used to host the released prompts, scoring guidelines, scoring notes, and several real student samples at high, medium, and low scores. They’ve taken most or all of those down, apparently for test security. Some teachers in AP Lang Facebook groups have saved collections over the years. If you know where to find one, please share it in the comments.
Once you have three released essays (high, medium, and low) for that prompt, make a classroom set. Pass them out in packets of three, shuffled, with no indication of which is which or what they scored, along with the AP rhetorical analysis rubric. Students get 15 minutes on their own to read each essay and score it on the six-point rubric. I have them record scores on a sticky note instead of writing on the essays, so I can reuse the copies.
Then, in small groups, they discuss their scores. This is where you want them to focus, because these are the conversations about what evidence and commentary really look like and what the sophistication point actually is. To raise the stakes, offer a prize to the students who come closest to the actual scores across all three essays, and keep a tally on the board. As you go through each essay, reveal its score. Read the scoring notes if you have them, and point out why it’s strong or weak in different areas.
Writers who don’t have much experience yet, or who lack control of their own voice, usually struggle with this. They’ll say things like “this person is trying too hard” or “they’re using big words” when the writer is actually using good rhetorical devices or analytical verbs the student doesn’t know yet. You’ll also have a few perceptive readers who dig in and can explain exactly why each essay scored the way it did.
I always emphasize to students that the goal isn’t to make them feel bad. They’ll read a 5 or 6 essay in that set, and the point is to show them what they’re aiming for. There are many different ways and styles to earn a 5 or 6. Students who are coming in low might feel discouraged, so keep their perspective in mind. If you’re using a modified rubric, tell them you aren’t aiming for the full rubric yet. Remind them that these essays were written by students in May, not September or October.