What would you score this essay?

<p>First complete practice test. I just want to know what my essay would score from you all if you were graders and what comments you'd have. (p.s. i couldnt tab so i seperated the paragraphs by a space, in my handwritten version i did not do this i indented)</p>

<p>Question: What motivates people to change?</p>

<p>Response:
An anciant proverb says that, "The motivation for one to change comes from the people that surround them." The motivation for a person to change is directly affected by the people around them. This is evident in the play, Death of a Salesman, and in the life stories of John Lucas and Josh Hamilton. </p>

<p>Arthur Millers award winning play, Death of a Salesman, highlights this external factor which causes change. Through the character of Biff Lohman, Miller shows the negative changes which can occur due to, in this case, Biff's father Willy. Biff is upset with Willy due to the fact that he has caught Willy in an affair. Prior to this, Biff had a close relationship with his dad and shared the same ideals of hardwork and the importance of success. Unfortunetly, due to Biff's anger with hsi father, he is led to change negativly. </p>

<p>Another example of how personal aquaintances can change a person is present in the life of Harlem gangster John Lucas. Lucas, who moved to New York City to help support his family back home in North Carolina, comes in contact with Clarence Williams III (aka. Bumpy Johnson). Clarence lives vicariously through Lucas, as he needs to pass on Harlem to someone he has mentored. Unfortuntely for Lucas, this leads him to living the gangster lifestyle, and eventually leads to the decline of his entire family. </p>

<p>A final example of change affected by others is present in the Josh Hamilton story. Hamilton, a self proclaimed "Church Boy" in high school gets caught up with a large amount of money and the wrong crowd to help him spend this money. This leads him to drug abuse and eventually his baseball career. Luckily for Hamilton, he realizes that his dramatic change was due in part to these people and he gets his life and career back on track. </p>

<p>The internal motivation for change in a person can be directly correlated to the people which surround them. These examples highlight this change.</p>

<p>Note: I edited some of the typing mistakes i made which were not on the page</p>

<p>8/12</p>

<p>Not bad. Your examples are pretty underdeveloped though. You might want to focus on 2 examples instead of 3. Your conclusion is also pretty weak. You have to explain your examples, not just tell them.</p>

<p>Not sure what I would score this, but I have a few comments</p>

<p>-Death of a Salesman is a very good example.
-Don't you mean Frank Lucas for the second example? A historical example is good, but make sure you get very basic things like the names of people right. You don't want the grader to think you got an example from a half interested viewing of American Gangster.
-The Josh Hamilton example is fine.
-Your big problem is length. Your introduction is pretty skimpy, and so is your conclusion. Your supporting paragraphs could be beefed up as well. Aim for ~5 sentences for the intro and conc., and a bit more for the supporting examples. Keep your pencil moving!</p>

<p>It doesn't matter about the examples you use. They can be real or made up, it only matters how you explain them. You could make up a book, characters, and plot that exactly relates to and proves the prompt and it would be acceptable.</p>

<p>Can i even make-up a writer ?</p>

<p>wow... i wrote john lucas... sorry i looked over my essay and started with john lucas then switched haldway through thats a bad mistake...</p>

<p>i love how i got clarence williams the III down but not frank lucas... can only go upwards from here</p>

<p>^I have before... lol</p>

<p>I don't know if you're supposed to though, so don't quote me if you get a 6 on your essay because you made up an author</p>

<p>i would score it 4/6=8/12.
pretty well written with nice controls, however intro needs a little more refining and perfecting. overall tho, still well written and logically constructed. </p>

<p>as a side note: wasn't that guy who u referred to that was in American Gangster named Frank Lucas instead of John Lucas, no?</p>

<p>yea... one of the dumber mistakes ive made, thankfully it was practice...</p>

<p>anyway so i take it just explain each supporting idea a little better... to be honest if i get a 5 id be pretty darn happy im aiming for about 6-7 hundred and my multiple choice score is pretty good so</p>

<p>everyone is soo harsh in judging essays. This is definitely a 9 or a 10.</p>