What "Works" and What "Doesn't:" The Proper Way to Show Sample Work to Students

Upon reading the sample essay responses in class on Monday, it occurred to me that reading exceptional, beautifully-crafted pieces is seemingly useless if we are not also exposed to examples of what we should not do, that is. It was pretty clear to the entire class that one essay was stellar, one was mediocre, and one was inadequate. An outsider might think question the benefits of showing students examples of average and poor work, but from a student’s perspective, this type of exposure is actually quite necessary in order for us to achieve our greatest potentials on our work.

Okay, so it’s nice to see A-level, exceptional work once in a while, but the most we can do is simply enjoy it because, chances are, most of us high school students are not capable of writing an essay of that quality and substance in forty minutes. In Monday’s situation, I really enjoyed reading the “9” essay; I was drawn in by the complexity of the argument and amazed by the fluidity of the language. However, out of all three of the essays we read that day, I feel that I gained the least knowledge from that one. And by “knowledge,” I mean “things that I can apply to my own in-class essay writing.” The essay that would have received a score of a six or seven was even more necessary for us to read, as the level of the language and argument-development featured in it was similar to the majority of our writing capabilities. Exposure to critiques on writing similar to our own helps us form a better understanding of what “works” and what doesn’t. Even reading and critiquing the lowest-scoring essay was beneficial to us because it exemplified what we should specifically avoid doing in our writing.

Overall, I believe that the decision to have us read three different essays, each with a distinct level of quality, was an essential one. Had we just been presented with the exceptional essay, we would not be able to fully understand what the AP graders are specifically looking for in essays of our level. I believe that more teachers in more departments of education should adopt this method of giving examples. Most of the time, in almost any class, we are shown samples of A-plus-earning work as “examples” of what we should be doing. However, we should instead be shown samples of both average and underperforming work as well, as these are the exposures that will truly help us clearly organize our own ideas before we put them into a final product.