4 This response demonstrates advanced success with the persuasive writing task. The essay:

• focuses consistently on a clear and reasonable position
• shows effective organization throughout, with smooth transitions
• offers thoughtful, creative ideas and reasons
• supports a position thoroughly, using convincing, fully elaborated reasons and evidence
• exhibits mature control of written language

3 This response demonstrates competent success with the persuasive writing task. For the most part, the essay:

• focuses on a reasonable position, with minor distractions
• shows effective organization, with minor lapses
• offers mostly thoughtful ideas and reasons
• elaborates reasons and evidence with a mixture of the general and the specific
• exhibits general control of written language

2 This response demonstrates limited success with the persuasive writing task. The essay may:

• include some loosely related ideas that distract from the writer’s position
• show some organization, with noticeable gaps in the logical flow of ideas
• offer routine, predictable ideas and reasons
• support ideas with uneven reasoning and elaboration
• exhibit limited control of written language

1 This response demonstrates emerging effort with persuasive writing. For the most part, the essay:

• shows little awareness of the topic and purpose for writing
• lacks organization
• offers unclear and confusing ideas
• shows minimal persuasive reasoning or elaboration
• exhibits major problems with control of written language

Unscorable This response is unscorable for one or more of the following reasons. The paper may be:

• so unusual that it cannot be scored by the computer
• off-topic
• a paraphrase of the prompt
• written in a foreign language
• incomprehensible
• too brief to determine whether the student has responded to the task
• a written refusal to write