AP English Language · Free-response guide
How to write the AP Lang argument essay
By the CollegePrepRoom editorial team · Updated · How we write and check these pages
The argument essay is the third essay in Section II of the AP English Language and Composition exam. The prompt presents a claim, a quotation or an idea and asks you to develop a position on it. This essay provides no sources. Your evidence comes from your own reading, studies, observation and experience.
That freedom is also the trap. Students often grab the first examples that come to mind, write a paragraph about each, and never explain why the examples prove anything. The argument essay rewards a narrow, precise claim and evidence that you can explain in depth. This guide covers the rubric, a planning method that fits in five minutes, how to qualify a claim precisely, and how to turn an example into evidence.
Argument essay at a glance
| Where it appears | Section II, Question 3 |
|---|---|
| Prompt | A claim, quotation or idea to argue about; no sources are provided |
| Evidence | Your own knowledge: reading, history, current events, observation and experience |
| Score | 0 to 6 points on the analytic rubric |
| Section weight | The three essays together make up 55% of the exam score |
| Suggested time | About 40 minutes |
How the argument essay is scored
The argument essay is scored out of 6 points. Each row of the rubric is scored separately, so you can earn points in one row even if you miss another.
| Rubric row | Points | What earns the points |
|---|---|---|
| Row A: Thesis | 1 | A defensible thesis that responds to the prompt by taking a position. Restating the prompt or offering a position that is not defensible earns 0. |
| Row B: Evidence and commentary | 4 | Scored 0 to 4. Low scores give general or unrelated evidence and little explanation. Middle scores give specific evidence but explain it unevenly or simply restate it. The top score gives specific evidence for all claims in a line of reasoning and consistently explains how that evidence supports the reasoning. |
| Row C: Sophistication | 1 | Awarded for sophistication of thought or a complex understanding of the rhetorical situation, for example by crafting a nuanced argument that consistently explores complexities or tensions, articulating the implications or limitations of the argument in a broader context, making effective rhetorical choices that strengthen the argument, or writing in a consistently vivid and persuasive style. |
| Total | 6 | Points from all rows are added together. |
- Any kind of evidence is acceptable. Personal experience can earn full credit if it is specific and well explained; a famous historical example can earn little if it is vague. Specificity and explanation are what count.
- Row C is the hardest point to earn and the one scorers award least often. It is a holistic judgment of the whole essay. A tacked-on 'some people might disagree' line in the conclusion does not earn it.
- Use real evidence. Statistics or quotations that sound invented weaken credibility, and precise reasoning about a real example is more persuasive.
Rubric summaries are written in our own words from the publicly available AP course and exam materials. Check the current official scoring guidelines for exact wording, as they can be revised.
Step-by-step method
Define the key term in the prompt
Most prompts turn on one word: success, failure, tradition, compromise, convenience. Decide what the word means for your essay and write that definition in your notes. A precise definition narrows the argument and gives you a standard to measure your evidence against.
Take the position your best evidence can prove
Brainstorm evidence first for two minutes, on both sides. Then choose the position your best evidence supports. A strong position is specific about scope: 'in most cases', 'for young people', 'when the stakes are public'.
Choose two or three pieces of evidence you know well
Pick examples you can describe in specific detail and explain for a full paragraph. A book you studied, a historical event you know, a local issue you followed or an experience you can describe precisely all work. Variety helps: examples from different areas show the claim holds broadly.
Turn each example into a reason
Before writing, write one sentence per paragraph that states what the example proves about the claim. An example becomes evidence once you can write that sentence. Order the reasons so each builds on the last; that order is your line of reasoning.
Write the thesis with its qualification built in
A qualified thesis states the position and its limit in one move: 'X is true, but only when Y.' The qualification is itself a claim you will defend, and it gives the essay a place to address the strongest counterargument.
Spend most of each paragraph on explanation
In each body paragraph, spend about a third of the space describing the example. Spend the rest explaining how it supports the reason and the thesis. Useful questions: Why did this happen? What does it show about the key term? What would someone on the other side say, and where does that view fall short?
Address a counterargument where it matters most
Choose the objection a thoughtful reader would raise and answer it in a paragraph or within the paragraph it threatens. Concede what is true and show why the position still holds. This is one of the most direct routes to the sophistication point.
End with the larger stakes
Close by explaining why the argument matters beyond the examples: what it suggests about how people should act, or what it changes about how we see the key term.
Common mistakes
Unexplained examples
A paragraph that narrates an event and ends with 'this shows that the prompt is true' gives evidence without commentary and tends to score 2 in Row B.
Too many thin examples
Two examples explained in depth outperform four examples given one sentence each. Depth is what moves Row B to 3 or 4.
A broad, absolute claim
'Technology always makes people lonelier' is easy to counter. Narrow the scope so the claim is defensible.
Summarizing the example
Retelling a novel's plot or a historical event in detail uses time without building the argument. Describe only the part of the example that proves the point.
A token counterargument
A one-sentence dismissal of the other side earns no credit for complexity. Answer the actual reasoning of the other side.
Drifting from the prompt
Essays sometimes start on the prompt's claim and drift toward a related but different topic. Return to the key term in each paragraph.
Example: from claim to evidence
Invented prompt for illustration: a writer claims that 'the most useful thing a person can learn is how to be bored.' Develop a position on the value of boredom.
Does not earn Row A
Boredom is something everyone experiences, and people have many different opinions about it.
Earns Row A
Boredom is valuable because it pushes people to create their own activities.
Qualified thesis that sets up complexity
Boredom is valuable when it is chosen, because unstructured time forces people to generate their own questions; when boredom is imposed, as in a job with no purpose, it teaches people to stop asking questions at all.
Evidence turned into reasoning
Being stuck in my grandmother's apartment one summer without internet, I started taking apart her broken radio. The point is that no one assigned me the problem. Chosen boredom made room for a question that was mine, and a fully scheduled day leaves no space for that kind of question.
All prompts, passages and sample sentences on this page are original examples written for illustration. They are not official exam material.
Practice prompts
Original prompts in the style of the argument essay, written by our editorial team for practice. They are not official exam questions.
- A writer claims that 'a person's greatest strength is usually also their greatest weakness.' Develop a position on the extent to which this is true.
- Some argue that the most important lessons are learned outside school. Develop a position on where meaningful learning happens.
- Develop a position on whether convenience improves or diminishes the quality of everyday life.
- A speaker argues that 'loyalty is only a virtue when it is earned.' Develop a position on the value of loyalty.
How to practice the argument essay
Build an evidence bank before the exam: eight to ten examples you know in detail from history, literature, science, current events and your own life. For each, write one sentence about what larger idea it can prove. Under time, you will adapt examples you already know.
Practice five-minute plans on old prompts: define the term, take a qualified position, assign evidence to reasons. Plans are faster to write than full essays and train exactly the decisions that decide Row A and Row B.
Lessons in the AP English Language course
Related guides and terms
Argument essay: frequently asked questions
Can I use personal experience in the AP Lang argument essay?
Yes. Personal experience can earn full credit when it is specific and clearly explained in relation to the claim. Combining it with an example from reading or history often makes the argument broader and more convincing.
How many examples should the argument essay include?
There is no required number. Two or three well-explained pieces of evidence usually beat four or five brief ones, because the top evidence and commentary score depends on explanation.
Do I have to include a counterargument?
The rubric does not require one for the thesis or evidence points. Responding to a strong counterargument is one of the most reliable ways to show the complexity that earns the sophistication point.
Can I write a thesis that partly agrees with the prompt?
Yes. A qualified position is defensible as long as it is clear and specific about where and why the claim holds.