AP® ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

2011 SCORING GUIDELINES

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Question 1

(Li-Young Lee’s “A Story”)

The score reflects the quality of the essay as a whole — its content, style, and mechanics. Students are

rewarded for what they do well. The score for an exceptionally well-written essay may be raised by 1 point

above the otherwise appropriate score. In no case may a poorly written essay be scored higher than a 3.

9–8 These essays offer a persuasive analysis of Lee’s use of literary devices to develop the complex

relationship of the father and son. The essays offer a range of interpretations; they provide

convincing readings of both the complex relationship and Lee’s use of literary devices. They

demonstrate consistent and effective control over the elements of composition in language

appropriate to the analysis of poetry. Textual references are apt and specific. Though they may not

be error-free, these essays are perceptive in their analysis and demonstrate writing that is clear

and sophisticated, and in the case of a score of 9, especially persuasive.

7–6 These essays offer a reasonable analysis of Lee’s use of literary devices to develop the complex

elationship of the father and son. The essays are less thorough or less precise in their discussion

of the relationship and Lee’s use of literary devices, and their analysis of the relationship of the

father and son is less convincing. These essays demonstrate the student’s ability to express ideas

clearly, making references to the text, although they do not exhibit the same level of effective

writing as the 9–8 responses. Essays scored a 7 present better developed analysis and more

consistent command of the elements of effective composition than do essays scored a 6.

5 These essays respond to the assigned task with a plausible reading of Lee’s use of literary devices

o develop the relationship of the father and son but tend to be superficial in their analysis of the

relationship. They often rely on paraphrase, which may contain some analysis, implicit or explicit.

Their analysis of the relationship of the father and son or of Lee’s use of literary devices may be

vague, formulaic, or minimally supported by references to the text. There may be minor

misinterpretations of the poem. These essays demonstrate some control of language, but the

writing may be marred by surface errors. These essays are not as well conceived, organized, or

developed as 7–6 essays.

4–3 These lower-half essays fail to offer an adequate analysis of the poem. The analysis may be partial,

nconvincing, or irrelevant, or it may ignore the complexity of the relationship of the father and

son or Lee’s use of literary devices. Evidence from the poem may be slight or misconstrued, or the

essays may rely on paraphrase only. The writing often demonstrates a lack of control over the

conventions of composition: inadequate development of ideas, accumulation of errors, or a focus

that is unclear, inconsistent, or repetitive. Essays scored a 3 may contain significant misreading

and/or demonstrate inept writing.

2–1 These essays compound the weaknesses of those in the 4–3 range. Although some attempt has

een made to respond to the prompt, the student’s assertions are presented with little clarity,

organization, or support from the poem. These essays may contain serious errors in grammar and

mechanics. They may offer a complete misreading or be unacceptably brief. Essays scored a 1

contain little coherent discussion of the poem.

0 These essays do no more than make a reference to the task.

—

These essays are either left blank or are completely off topic.

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ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

2011 SCORING COMMENTARY

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Question 1

Overview

This question asked students to read carefully the poem “A Story” by contemporary poet Li-Young Lee

and to write a well-developed essay analyzing how the poet conveys the complex relationship of the father

and the son through the use of literary devices such as point of view and structure.

With its emphasis on “the complex relationship,” the question was designed to lead students to consider

the father’s mixed feelings about the present and future connections between himself and his son. The

prompt asked students to consider how the poet creates multiple dimensions of meaning through the use

of literary elements and to develop an interpretation of the poem through analysis of the connection

between technique and meaning.

Samp

le: 1A

Score: 9

This

persuasive essay offers an astute, on-target analysis of Li-Young Lee’s poem and its touching father–

son relationship. A clear opening sets up the argument by observing that the poem’s speaker “employs

emotional appeals as well as strategic literary devices to emphasize the differing perspectives that exist

between father and son.” Developing topics announced in the introduction, the essay proceeds to show

how the poem uses shifts in viewpoint to emphasize the “differences between the father and the son as

well as the division that exists within the father, who remains torn in the middle of two realities.” With

thoroughness and attention to the text, the essay stays focused as it moves into a discussion of “the

purposeful juxtaposition of the man’s immediate state and his shifting, future point of view.” Here and

elsewhere, there is no question that the student has read the poem critically, understands it thoroughly,

and writes about it effectively. Near the end, the essay discusses the speaker’s “meaningful diction,” and

explores the significance — not merely the presence — of the poem’s imagery and detail. The last

sentence, which characterizes the complexity of the father’s emotions (“a silence based on trust, affection,

and heartfelt love”), is a final example of the fine distinctions that clearly placed this essay at the top of the

score range.

Samp

le: 1B

Score: 6

This essay presents a reasonable discussion of how Lee uses literary devices to convey a complex father–

son relationship. After an introduction that promises to focus on “techniqus [sic] such as point of view and

symbolic structure,” a long paragraph on point of view follows. Here the essay mixes analysis and

paraphrase, patiently dissecting the use of a point of view that “allows for the characters [sic] thoughts,

and even fears to be heard.” Though evidence for assertions in this paragraph is sometimes oblique (“The

italicized sentences throughout the poem represent both thought and actual dialogue. With this, the

author is able to make the father’s fears of his little boy leaving come to life”), it generally attempts to

come to terms with the situation described. The paragraph that follows repeats the pattern. There is little

evidence for the idea that the scene’s shifting from present to future and back to the present is

“symbolic,” and there is more repetition and retelling. The interpretation of the poem is thus limited, and

when the essay comments in the conclusion that “[t]he author does an excllent [sic] job of including the

reader in these tormenting issues,” we are inclined to agree without feeling wholly convinced. Still, the

essay does sustain a reasonable analysis of the poem throughout, and it does so with clear writing and

references to the text. These features earned it a score of 6.

ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION

2011 SCORING COMMENTARY

Question 1 (continued)

Sample: 1C

Score: 3

This es

say represents a less than adequate attempt to engage Lee’s sophisticated, layered poem. The

hesitant opening sentences (“There are many ways in which the poet conveys the complex relationship. …

The poet does this by using many different literary techniques”) provide an early indication of the essay’s

critical limitations, and the second paragraph does little more than to establish “the order of events in which

all this takes place.” The essay is further marred by weak control of language: “innocense [sic] plays a big role

in the guilt his father feels” and “The father is upset of the fact” that he cannot recall a story. Although these

are certainly defensible readings, in the absence of development they become the essay’s central ideas —

and, as such, they are insufficient for what is meant to be a persuasive analysis. The second page introduces

a final technique (“comparison of thoughts”) but does not analyze it, and it concludes with general

statements. The essay’s lack of interpretive range and effective writing limited its score to a 3.

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