<p>lvshorty610, I agree with you. How can you not take the time to make sure you understand the prompt? I thought it was pretty straight forward...</p>
<p>0's and 1's might be a bit harsh and an exaggeration for writing about a nation, but the AP rubric is that a zero constitutes an off topic response. The defintion of an off-topic response is very grey here, but it depends how crappy the readers are feeling at the time. And the AP rubric tends to be strict. My vote is that most people writing about a nation scored 5's, but no higher.</p>
<p>0 = Indicates an on-topic response that receives no credit such as one that merely repeats the prompt or one that is completely off topic.</p>
<p>5 = Essays earning a score of 5 analyze the strategies, but they may provide uneven or inconsistent analysis. They may treat the prompt in a superficial way or demonstrate a limited understanding of the prompt. While the writing may contain lapses in diction or syntax, it usually conveys ideas adequately.</p>
<p>You can imagine whats in between as far as writing skills, but a 6 and up is "adequately addressing the prompt", and depending on how strongly the AP readers abide by that guide (which is generally pretty strong), then it might not be too far of a reach to say anyone deciding that it meant nation can't score any higher than a 5. =/</p>
<p>Finally made 500 posts!! Hahahaha sorry that this isn't a constructive post.</p>
<p>You're probably right, lvshorty610.</p>
<p>Though with my crappy essay, I shouldn't score anything more than a 5 or maybe a 6, even though I did talk about a country setting. My others were probably 6's or 7's. As my english teacher grades, I rarely get 8's, and never 9's.</p>
<p>I'm just counting on my MC score to bring me up. I believe that's how I got a 5 on the AP Language test. So I'm in trouble if I messed up my MC this year. But I think it was pretty easy, and I always do well on the practices.</p>
<p>I think that "country" is ambiguous enough for both answers to be acceptable. Didn't they ask for settings that were developed or rural? When you think country, ie countryside, you think rural. But developed works for country in nation-sense, not in countryside-sense.</p>
<p>So both seem to work for me.</p>
<p>I started off the year getting all 5's on my English essays. But this past semester my teacher has been giving me all 9's. I think my essay's on the test reverted back to the 5's. Hahahahah. I honestly don't know why I am stressing so badly about this test. Just because I am going to major in English and I probably didn't pass this test. It is sort of disturbing.</p>
<p>ha lvshorty, I like that. Our saying was simply ATDQ or Answer the Damn Question! I really do think it meant countryside, and in a way, I hope the AP readers are harsh, because I wrote about the countryside, but SUUUCKKKED. So I need the curve.</p>
<p>I think college board should publicly apologize to all AP Lit students for their idiocy. :D</p>
<p>i used pride and prejudice, but I kinda fudged it a little...</p>
<p>Its funny, because when I read the question I immediately thought countryside. A nation did not even come into my mind (especially when I looked at the suggested books). I used King Lear and talked about the tempest, Lear wandering with the Fool, and Gloucester meeting Lear at the White Cliffs of Dover- the countryside served to show character growth. Oh well, I am sure everyone is fine...</p>
<p>quick question...does anyone think that the savage reservation in brave new world works for the third essay? i thought of the reservation as being a countryside setting...countryside in the sense that it is cut off from the cities and is rural/primitive/wild in nature</p>
<p>ooo and country as in "nation" never even crossed my mind either...maybe it was in the phrasing ...i think they wrote "the country" but i don't remember... but looking back, i can see the legitimacy in why people thought differently</p>
<p>"Country" as in "nation" never crossed my mind either. I looked at the list and saw three works which I've read (King Lear, Wuthering Heights, A Thousand Acres), and all three of which having rural countryside settings which are important to the themes. I never even thought about the prompt meaning "nation" until I heard other people mention it.</p>
<p>BTW, I wrote about Of Mice and Men.</p>
<p>Hey, y'all... just got out of the Scantron(TM) machine, and boy do I feel refreshed!</p>
<p>Lex, yes, that's basically what countryside is: cut off from society.</p>
<p>oh i should have used Of Mice and Men...that's a good one - or maybe Animal Farm?</p>
<p>Lex: that's exactly what i thought, and i too used brave new world. so did a lot of other people (in my class/friends) i talked to.</p>
<p>I still don't understand how people got it confused with "nation", but it was most definitely countryside.</p>
<p>Also, I hope you all know that the list of books is pretty much the same every year. It's only there to give you an idea of what kind of 'classics' or reputable texts you can use. You don't have to use the ones on there, they're just suggestions, and I'm also pretty sure they don't change the list based on the prompt.</p>
<p>The lists change every year. They give you books that are related to the prompt. Just look at past AP free response questions and you will see what I mean. The Great Gatsby has shown up on almost all of the exams given since 1998 yet it was not on this year's test. Sucks for me because that is the book I prepared for yet I couldn't really make west and east egg sound countryish enough.</p>
<p>Who will be grading our essays? our AP teachers?</p>