How to Write the ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY FRQ for AP Gov

Summary

This video from the Heimlich series focuses on mastering the argumentative essay for the AP Government exam. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the prompt, planning with evidence, and adhering to the rubric for a high score. The host guides viewers through crafting a strong thesis, selecting relevant evidence, and incorporating reasoning and an alternate perspective to construct a compelling argument, aiming for a perfect score of six.

Takeaways

• 📝 The AP Government argumentative essay is the most complex writing task, scored on a scale of six points.
• ⏰ Students are given 40 minutes to complete the essay, focusing on material from nine foundational documents.
• 🎯 The essay's subject and argument should be clearly identified from the exam prompt to avoid misdirection.
• 🧠 A few minutes should be spent planning the essay, brainstorming specific evidence to support the argument.
• 📑 The essay must include evidence from the documents provided in the prompt, with at least one piece being mandatory.
• 📝 A strong thesis is crucial, as it sets the stage for the essay and is the first point of scoring.
• 🔍 Evidence must be named, explained, and analyzed to demonstrate how it supports the thesis for full points.
• 🤔 Including an alternate perspective and then refuting it strengthens the essay and can earn an additional point.
• 📈 The rubric is the guide for what readers are looking for, so understanding it is key to scoring well.
• 💯 To achieve a perfect score, the essay must effectively use evidence to support a clear argument, analyze that evidence, and consider alternative viewpoints.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the argumentative essay in the AP Government curriculum?

The main focus of the argumentative essay in the AP Government curriculum is to analyze and discuss material from the nine foundational documents required in the course, using evidence to support an argument about a specific prompt.

How is the argumentative essay scored?

The argumentative essay is scored on a scale of six points, with each point building on the previous one according to a rubric that evaluates the thesis, evidence, reasoning, and alternate perspective.

What is the suggested time to write the argumentative essay?

The suggested time to write the argumentative essay is 40 minutes.

What are the two key elements to look for in the essay prompt?

The two key elements to look for in the essay prompt are the subject and the argument. The subject is the topic of the essay, and the argument is the stance or point of view the student is expected to take on that subject.

Why is it important to understand the prompt before writing the essay?

Understanding the prompt is crucial because if the student misunderstands the prompt and writes about a different topic, they will earn zero points regardless of the quality of the essay, as it will not address the given prompt.

What is the purpose of the introduction and required documents provided in the prompt?

The introduction in the prompt provides helpful context, while the required documents are sources that can be used to support the argument with specific evidence.

How should a student approach planning their essay?

A student should spend a few minutes brainstorming and writing down potential pieces of specific evidence that could be used to address the prompt, even before forming a complete argument.

What is the significance of the thesis in the argumentative essay?

The thesis is significant because it sets the direction for the essay and must make an argument while being specific with evidence. If a student does not earn the thesis point, the highest possible score for the essay is one out of six.

How can a student earn the full three points for evidence in the rubric?

A student can earn the full three points for evidence by using at least two pieces of evidence to support their thesis, with at least one piece coming from the documents listed in the prompt.

What does the reasoning section of the rubric require?

The reasoning section requires the student to go beyond just stating evidence by demonstrating how or why the evidence supports their thesis, which involves naming, explaining, and analyzing the evidence.

How can a student earn the point for alternate perspective in the rubric?

A student can earn the point for alternate perspective by acknowledging an opposing view and then showing why their argument makes better sense of the evidence.

Outlines

00:00

📝 Understanding the AP Government Argumentative Essay

This paragraph introduces the AP Government curriculum's most complex writing task: the argumentative essay. It emphasizes the essay's difficulty, the need to utilize all learned material, and the importance of addressing the essay prompt correctly. The essay is scored on a scale of six points, with a suggested writing time of 40 minutes. The focus is on material from nine foundational documents, and the video offers guidance on how to approach the essay, including understanding the prompt, planning, and using evidence to support an argument. The paragraph also discusses the importance of correctly identifying the subject and argument from the prompt and the role of foundational documents in providing evidence.

05:01

📚 Mastering the Rubric for AP Government Argumentative Essay

The second paragraph delves into the rubric for scoring the argumentative essay, explaining how points are awarded for the thesis, evidence, reasoning, and alternate perspective. It advises on crafting a strong thesis that makes an argument and is specific with evidence, which is crucial for earning points. The paragraph outlines the process of earning up to three points for evidence by naming, explaining, and analyzing it in support of the thesis. It also covers the reasoning section, where an additional point is earned by demonstrating how the evidence supports the thesis. Lastly, it discusses the alternate perspective section, where acknowledging an opposing view and defending the writer's argument can secure another point, aiming for a perfect score of six.

Keywords

💡Argumentative Essay

An argumentative essay is a form of writing where the author presents a clear position on a debatable topic and supports it with evidence and reasoning. In the context of the video, the argumentative essay is a complex writing task required for the AP Government curriculum. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding the prompt, planning the essay, and using evidence to support a clear argument, as these are key to scoring well on this type of essay.

💡Rubric

A rubric is a set of criteria used to evaluate work, such as essays, by assigning points based on specific qualities. The video explains that the rubric for the AP Government argumentative essay is crucial for understanding how to score points. It outlines that the essay is scored on a scale of six points, with each point building on the previous one, emphasizing the importance of following the rubric to construct a high-scoring essay.

💡Prompt

A prompt is a question or statement that serves as a starting point for discussion or writing. In the video, the prompt is the question or topic that students must address in their argumentative essay. The video advises students to carefully read and understand the prompt to ensure their essay addresses the correct subject and argument, as misunderstanding the prompt can lead to earning zero points regardless of the essay's quality.

💡Evidence

Evidence in the context of an argumentative essay refers to the facts, data, or examples used to support the author's argument. The video stresses the importance of producing strong evidence to back up the essay's thesis. It suggests brainstorming and planning the use of specific evidence, including examples from the foundational documents, to construct a compelling argument.

💡Thesis

A thesis is a statement that presents the main argument or point of view of an essay. The video explains that a strong thesis is essential for earning points on the AP Government essay. It should clearly state the argument and be specific with evidence. The video provides an example of a thesis that earns points by stating that expanded powers of the national government benefit policymaking and then explaining why, using specific evidence.

💡Reasoning

Reasoning in an essay involves demonstrating how the evidence supports the thesis. The video describes the reasoning section of the rubric, where students can earn points by not only naming and explaining the evidence but also analyzing how it supports the thesis. This involves showing the logical connection between the evidence and the argument, which is crucial for a persuasive essay.

💡Foundational Documents

Foundational Documents are key texts that form the basis of a subject, in this case, the AP Government curriculum. The video mentions that the argumentative essay will always focus on material from nine foundational documents. These documents provide the context and evidence for the essays, and the video suggests that students should be familiar with them to effectively use them in their writing.

💡Planning

Planning in the context of essay writing refers to the preliminary steps taken before writing, such as brainstorming and organizing ideas. The video emphasizes the importance of planning the essay, especially in terms of identifying and organizing evidence to support the thesis. Effective planning helps in constructing a coherent and persuasive argument.

💡Alternate Perspective

An alternate perspective is an opposing viewpoint that is acknowledged and addressed in an argumentative essay. The video explains that acknowledging an opposing view and then demonstrating why the author's argument is stronger can earn points on the rubric. This shows a comprehensive understanding of the topic and strengthens the author's argument.

💡Federalism

Federalism is a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units. In the video, federalism is used as an example of a topic that could be debated in an argumentative essay. The video suggests using evidence from foundational documents to argue for or against the benefits of federalism in policymaking.

💡Cooperative Federalism

Cooperative federalism is a type of federalism where the central government and state governments work together to achieve common goals. The video uses this term as an example of evidence that could be used to support an argument about the benefits of expanded national government powers. It illustrates how specific concepts within federalism can be used as evidence in an essay.

Highlights

The argumentative essay is the most complex writing task in the AP Government curriculum.

The essay is scored on a scale of six points, with points building on each other.

You have 40 minutes to write the essay.

The essay focuses on material from the nine foundational documents required in the course.

Step one is to read the prompt carefully to understand what is being asked.

Look for the subject and the argument in the prompt.

The essay must answer the given prompt to score points.

Step two is planning your essay, focusing on evidence to support your argument.

Brainstorm and write down potential pieces of specific evidence.

The essay will provide three required documents to use as evidence.

Think about how each document might provide evidence for your argument.

Step three is to get a perfect score by understanding the rubric.

The thesis should be at the beginning or end of the essay and should make an argument with specific evidence.

The highest score you can get without a good thesis is one out of six.

For the evidence section, you can earn up to three points by using evidence to support your thesis.

At least one piece of evidence must come from the documents listed in the prompt.

The reasoning section is worth up to one point and involves demonstrating how your evidence supports your thesis.

You need to name, explain, and analyze your evidence.

The final section is for an alternate perspective, where you can earn one point by acknowledging an opposing view and defending your argument.

Following these steps will help you earn a six on the essay.

Transcripts

hey there welcome back to heimlich

history in this video we're going to

look at the most complex writing you're

going to have to do for the ap

government curriculum namely the

argumentative essay is it difficult does

it require to use everything you've

learned in this course yep are you going

to punch it in the throat yank out its

armpit hair and then deliberately hurt

its feelings oh yeah well all right then

let's get to it so the argument of essay

is the last thing you'll have to do on

your exam and let me start by giving you

some preliminaries it's an essay scored

on a scale of six points and you need to

pay attention when i explain the rubric

because these points build on each other

second the suggested time that you're

gonna have to write this essay is 40

minutes third this essay is always going

to focus on material from the nine

foundational documents that are required

in this course and if you need help on

those i've got videos explaining them

all so have a look okay now with all

that out of the way let me walk you

through the three steps you need to

follow in order to score well on this

essay step number one read the prompt

and i know this sounds too obvious to

even say out loud but remember when i'm

under pressure i am dumber than i think

so i need to really take a minute and

understand what they're asking me to do

remember if you misunderstand the prompt

and yet write the most magnificent essay

in the history of political science on

another topic you will earn zero points

because you have to answer the prompt

that they give you so what should you be

looking for in the prompt well i think

you should be looking for two things the

subject and the argument let me just

give you an example here's the prompt

from the 2019 exam develop an argument

about whether the expanded powers of the

national government benefits or hinders

policy making okay what is going to be

the subject of my essay the expanded

powers of the national government and

second what will i be arguing whether

that benefits or hinders policymaking so

underline those things mark them up

tattoo them on your forehead just make

sure you understand what they're asking

you to do now they also give you a

little introduction here and that's

helpful so don't skip over it they also

give you three required documents and

i'll show you what to do with those when

we get to the preparation section which

is roughly now step two is to spend a

few minutes planning your essay and let

me tell you what you need to do in this

plan the driving force of this essay is

going to be the evidence that you

produce in support of an argument so

spend a couple of minutes no more than a

couple of minutes brainstorming and

writing down all the potential pieces of

specific evidence that you could use to

address this problem you don't even have

to have an argument yet all you're doing

is mining the old brain folds for

relevant vocabulary words so in response

to the problems we just looked at here's

a few pieces of evidence that

immediately come to mind and if you're

already starting to panic at this point

because like you're not sure that you

could remember this don't worry because

look at this they've already given you

three pieces of evidence that you could

potentially use now i'll tell you what

the requirements are for these in the

third step but for now i'm just going to

look at my prompt and think about how

each of these documents might provide

evidence for an argument and notice

they're going to give you documents that

can support the argument in several

different ways so next to the articles

of confederation i'm just going to write

a quick note about how the weakness of

the central government hindered

policymaking next to brutus 1 i'm going

to write a note about how a large

republic will keep people from knowing

their representatives and vice versa

next to federalist 10 i'm going to write

competition of factions now you should

also think about some evidence that is

not on this list and since this is a

question about federalism i'm just going

to jot down fiscal federalism since that

has to do with policy making and i also

think of federalist 70 which has to do

with the efficiency of a single

executive okay now that's actually way

more evidence than i need to score full

points but it's good to have more than

you need just do a brain dump here and

it's gonna help you in the next step

speaking of which step three get a six

now in order to get a six you need to

get real cozy with the rubric because

the rubric tells you exactly what the

readers of these essays are going to be

looking for and the standard by which

they're going to judge your writing so

let's get into the weeds and talk about

each point the first section on the

rubric is for the thesis and you can

earn one point for it now technically

your thesis can be anywhere in the essay

and still earn the point but i strongly

suggest that you put it either at the

beginning or the end of your essay and

the reason is this you want to signal to

the reader that you know what you're

doing and that you have a plan remember

that these are human beings reading

these essays and you don't want them to

have to go on a hunt to find your thesis

in order for you to earn the point now

to be clear they will go on a hunt for

it and find it and give you the point if

it's there but just make it easy for

them and put it at the beginning or at

the end my suggestion is to put it first

so that you know what you're doing and

where you're going now as i'm fond of

reminding my students don't let your

theses be feces if you want to earn the

thesis point then you need to do two

things you need to make an argument and

be specific with your evidence so going

back to the prompts we already looked at

here's the thesis that would earn the

point the expanded powers of the

national government benefit policymaking

because of the strength of the

constitution the increase of cooperative

federalism and the advantages of fiscal

federalism okay this is a thesis written

by a student and notice it makes an

argument expanded powers benefit policy

making and then it's also specific why

do expanded powers benefit policy making

because of the strength of the

constitution the increase of cooperative

federalism and the advantages of fiscal

federalism boom that gets the point

because it makes an argument and is

specific with the evidence and those

three pieces of evidence give you a

roadmap for how you're going to

construct your body paragraphs now the

last thing i'll say about the thesis is

this i cannot overemphasize how

important it is that you write a good

argumentative thesis because if you

don't earn this point the highest score

you can get on the whole essay is one

out of six because this whole essay is

going to be about supporting an argument

with evidence then you have to have an

argument to support so get the thesis

down and you'll be fine okay the next

section on the rubric is the evidence

section and here you can earn up to

three points now i debated whether to

walk you through all the possibilities

for how to get points or whether just to

focus on how to get full points so

everything will be a little simpler but

i think it's helpful for you to see how

each of these points is awarded so you

know exactly what to do to earn full

points so on the evidence section you

can start by earning zero points you'll

get this if your evidence is just flat

out wrong or too vague and to avoid the

vague part just make sure you're

thinking about actual vocabulary words

from your textbook or your notes or

class or whatever that will keep you

from being too vague okay then you can

earn one point here for naming one piece

of evidence relevant to the topic of the

prompt for example if you say under the

articles of confederation the central

government was weak and the states were

strong then that definitely is relevant

to the prompt but there's no real

argumentation there so if you do that

you will get one point and by the way

when i said earlier that if you don't

get the thesis point you can only earn

one out of six this is the point that

you can earn this is literally a soft

toss from the college board it's like

they're saying you know we don't want a

bunch of zeros on this essay so what's

the lowest possible bar that we can set

and that's it okay now let's talk about

how you get two points in this section

this just builds on the previous point

if you successfully identify one piece

of relevant evidence you get one point

but if you use that evidence to support

your thesis that will earn you two

points and i'm going to show you the

difference between just mentioning

evidence and supporting an argument with

evidence when we get to the next section

of the rubric just to be clear this

piece of evidence doesn't have to come

from those three documents listed there

it can come from anywhere in the course

as long as it's relevant but hey you

didn't click on this video to score two

points on this section so let me show

you how to earn the full three points

this point also builds on the last point

and the last point you earn two points

for using one piece of evidence to

support your thesis here you just need

to add one more piece of evidence to

support your thesis and that will get

you three total points however let me

hasten to add in order to earn three

points at least one piece of evidence

has to come from the documents they list

in the prompt the second piece can also

come from another document in the list

or it can come from anywhere in the

course but one of them has to come from

that list okay so now that we've earned

the thesis point and the three points

for evidence let's move to the next

section of the rubric the reasoning

section and for this you can earn up to

one point this point has to do with the

evidence you've already used it's not

for a third piece of evidence here they

want you to go one step beyond

supporting your thesis with your

evidence and go further by demonstrating

how or why your evidence supports your

thesis you're probably like what so let

me try to explain that as simply as i

can essentially you need to do three

things with your evidence you need to

name it explain it and analyze it now to

be fair this isn't the only way to do it

but i think it's helpful to have a

formula so name it like we're actually

gonna write the name of our evidence

here then explain it which is to say

define it for me and then analyze it

show me how that evidence supports your

thesis so let me just give you a student

example with the prompt that we've been

using the articles of confederation is a

prime example of why a strong national

government is better okay i just named

my evidence with the articles the

government could do very little it made

the states more independent by allowing

them to have their own currency and

impose their own taxes there the answer

just explained what the government was

like under the articles and now watch

how it goes one step further and

demonstrates how the evidence supports

the thesis the article's confederation

made it harder to pass laws because each

state has very different agendas and

required over a majority of them to

agree to amend it required a unanimous

decision this makes it nearly impossible

to add a new amendment to change policy

okay that is how you earn the reasoning

point and the final section on the

rubric is for an alternate perspective

and for this you can earn one point now

as you know that i've learned in this

course there is not a general consensus

on day near anything in politics so in a

couple of sentences all you're going to

do here is acknowledge an opposing view

and then you're going to show how your

argument makes better sense of the

evidence now there are other ways to

earn this point you can consult the

rubric if you want to know them but to

me this is the most straightforward way

that students understand show an

alternative perspective and then show

why your argument is better and here's a

student example some people may argue

that the federal government is too large

and that states are best suited to

address the needs of their people

without interference from the federal

government okay that's the summary of

the alternative perspective now why is

my argument better however this is not

true the state governments are not

equipped to handle all the problems they

face without the federal government the

federal government can act with

uniformity to affect all states to

ensure that everyone is guaranteed the

same protections as everyone else and

that's it if you can do all of that you

will certainly earn a six on this essay

best of luck all right i hope that

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