The Three Free-Response Essays: Planning, Thesis, Reasoning and Timing: Exam Skills Guide (English Language)

How to use this guide

This guide is for students who understand the course ideas but want to turn them into three timed essays. Read the sections in order, then write one essay of each type under time and check it against the rubric near the end.

Every prompt, source summary, model paragraph and rubric in this guide is original Marlbridge practice. None of it is past exam material. The only quotations from other writers are short public-domain extracts, credited where they appear. The six-point rubric is a suggested Marlbridge rubric that follows the shape of the course’s published scoring rows. It is not official scoring.

The free-response section at a glance

Section II is 2 hours and 15 minutes long. It includes a 15-minute reading period, and 40 minutes per essay is the recommended pace. It is 55% of the exam score and has three questions, each worth 6 points.

Question	Task	What you are given
1	Synthesis	A topic and six sources, two of them visual (at least one quantitative), the rest text excerpts of about 500 words
2	Rhetorical analysis	One nonfiction passage of roughly 600 to 800 words, with a short note on the rhetorical situation
3	Argument	A short discussion or quotation about a concept, and a request to argue your position

Each essay is scored on the same three rows, which is why the habits in this guide transfer from one task to another.

Row	Points	What earns it
Thesis	0 or 1	A defensible position (synthesis, argument) or an analysis of the writer’s rhetorical choices (rhetorical analysis)
Evidence and commentary	0 to 4	Specific evidence, and commentary that explains how it supports the line of reasoning
Sophistication	0 or 1	A complex understanding of the topic or situation that is part of the argument

Habits that apply to all three essays

Spend the first minutes planning

A plan of five to seven minutes is not time lost. It gives each paragraph a job. A plan has three parts:

1. Position. One sentence that answers the prompt.
2. Line of reasoning. Three or four claims, in order, each one a step toward the position.
3. Evidence. For each claim, the quotation, detail or example you will use.

If you cannot state the position in one sentence, you are not ready to write. If two of your claims say the same thing in different words, merge them and find a new step.

Treat the prompt as a set of instructions

The prompt wording is stable. Underline the task verb and the object. “Synthesizes… develops your position” asks for your own argument built from sources. “Analyzes the rhetorical choices” asks how choices work, not what they are. “Argues your position” asks for a claim you defend. A strong essay that answers a different question will not score well.

Write commentary after every piece of evidence

Evidence is what you point to. Commentary is what you say about it. A useful test is to look at the sentence after each quotation. If it only repeats the quotation in other words, it is summary. If it says what the choice does, why, and for whom, it is commentary.

Keep a visible line of reasoning

Each body paragraph should begin with a claim that follows from the last paragraph and leads to the next. A reader should be able to read only your topic sentences and still follow an argument.

Leave a minute to read through

One minute at the end is enough to fix a word, add a missing “because”, or cross out a sentence that contradicts the thesis. Do not start a new paragraph in that minute.

Question 1: the synthesis essay

What the task asks

You write an essay that develops your own position on the topic and supports it with at least three of the six sources. The sources are evidence for your argument, not the subject of it. A common error is to write a report on what each source says, in order, with a thesis tacked on.

A plan for the reading period

The 15-minute reading period is best used like this:

1. Read the prompt first (one minute). Mark the question you must answer.
2. Skim each source’s introductory note (two minutes). It tells you who wrote it, when and for whom.
3. Read the sources and tag each (about eight minutes). For each source write a short label next to it: for example “supports”, “complicates”, “counter”, “data”, “example”.
4. Choose your position (two minutes) and select four sources that can serve your line of reasoning.
5. Sketch the order (two minutes).

An original practice prompt

Here is an original prompt and a summary of its sources, written by Marlbridge. The sources are not reproduced in full because this guide is about planning.

Many towns now close a central street to cars on Saturdays so that people can walk, cycle and shop. Carefully read the following six sources, including the introductory information for each source. Write an essay that synthesizes material from at least three of the sources and develops your position on whether closing streets to cars on a regular basis benefits a town.

Source	Description (fictional)	Role in an argument
A	A table of footfall counts from a fictional town centre before and after a Saturday closure	Quantitative evidence of use
B	A shop-owner’s letter to a local paper, worried about deliveries	Counter-position with a practical concern
C	A transport planner’s report on cycle accidents near closed streets	Evidence about safety
D	A photograph of a closed street with a market and families	Visual evidence of how the space is used
E	A resident’s account of noise reduction	Personal experience
F	A disability-access group’s statement on parking	Complicating perspective

From sources to a position

A weak thesis for this prompt is “Closing streets has advantages and disadvantages.” It is true of everything and takes no side. A defensible thesis takes a position that a reasonable person could dispute:

Regular street closures benefit a town only when they are paired with guaranteed access for deliveries and disabled visitors; without that, the gains in footfall and safety shown in Sources A and C are bought at the expense of the people the closures claim to serve.

Notice what this thesis does. It takes a position, it grants the benefits in the sources, and it names a condition. That condition is also a ready-made line of reasoning: benefits (A, C, D), then the cost (B, F), then the condition that reconciles them.

Using sources as evidence

Choose a verb for each use of a source that shows how it supports you, and avoid the verb “says” when a more exact one exists. Cite by label (“Source A”) or by a short description in brackets.

Weak	Stronger
“Source A shows footfall went up.”	“The footfall figures in Source A rise on closure days, which gives the benefit a measurable basis.”
“Source B talks about deliveries.”	“Source B’s worry about early-morning deliveries is a practical objection that the footfall data cannot answer.”

An annotated model paragraph

This paragraph is original Marlbridge work, for the thesis above.

The benefits of closure are real but narrow. Footfall in Source A is higher on closure days, and the planner’s report in Source C finds fewer collisions near the closed street, so the case that closure makes the centre busier and safer rests on measured change, not mere hope. [1] Yet both measures describe only those who arrive on foot or by bike. [2] The shop-owner in Source B does not deny the crowds; he points out that a crowd cannot buy stock that never arrived, and in that way shifts the question from “how many came?” to “who can still reach the town?” [3] A town that counts only the first question will celebrate the data while the second goes unanswered.

[1] The claim is stated, then two sources are combined (the table and the report) rather than listed one after the other. This is synthesis: the sources work together for one point. [2] The commentary sets a limit on the evidence. This is where a student starts to show complexity, because the data is treated as strong but not complete. [3] The paragraph ends by connecting back to the thesis’s claim about access, and it moves the line of reasoning forward to the next paragraph.

Common synthesis problems

• Source-by-source summary. Fix by grouping sources under claims.
• Dropped quotations. Fix by putting evidence inside a sentence of your own and explaining it.
• No position. Fix by choosing a side, even a qualified one.
• Using the visual sources only as decoration. Describe what the table or image shows and use it as evidence.
• Ignoring the counter-source. A source that disagrees with you is useful. Concede, rebut or qualify.

Question 2: the rhetorical analysis essay

What the task asks

You analyse how and why the writer’s choices work for this audience and purpose in this situation. You are not asked whether you agree with the writer.

Read for the situation, then for choices

In the first read, answer five questions in the margin: Who is speaking? To whom? When and why (the exigence)? What does the writer want? How does the argument move from start to finish? Only on the second read should you mark choices: diction, syntax, structure, evidence, appeals, tone shifts, and comparisons.

Choosing which choices to write about

You cannot discuss everything. A good set of choices has two features. They are connected, so each one helps you explain the writer’s overall strategy. They are varied, so you do not write about three kinds of repetition. A useful rule is to choose a strategy first (“he builds from a shared inheritance to an accusation”) and then pick the choices that show it.

A defensible thesis for a rhetorical analysis

Thesis	Verdict	Why
“Douglass uses repetition, contrast and imagery to be persuasive.”	Weak	A list of devices with no claim about what they accomplish
“In his speech, Douglass argues that the Fourth of July is hypocritical.”	Weak	Summarises the message and says nothing about choices
“By first praising the founders and then turning the same language of liberty against his audience, Douglass makes his listeners judge the nation by its own ideals.”	Defensible	Names choices, gives their effect and ties them to the audience

A good thesis can follow the pattern “By [choices], [writer] [accomplishes something] for [audience/purpose].” Treat the pattern as a starting point, not a template to copy.

An annotated model paragraph (public-domain text)

The passage is from Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”, delivered at Rochester, New York, on 5 July 1852. The words in quotation marks are taken from the speech. The analysis is original Marlbridge writing.

Douglass narrows the distance between himself and his audience in order to widen it again. [1] He opens the contrast with the possessive “your”, saying that “This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine”, and then follows it with two short clauses of near-equal length: “You may rejoice, I must mourn.” [2] The balance of the pair of clauses mirrors the division it describes, so the form itself shows two groups on opposite sides of a line. [3] By choosing plain words in place of denunciation, Douglass lets the facts of exclusion speak, and a listener who came to celebrate is given nothing to dismiss as anger. [4]

[1] The topic sentence is a claim about strategy, not a label such as “he uses contrast”. [2] Two kinds of evidence, one word and one sentence structure, support the same claim. [3] The commentary explains how the form carries meaning, which is the heart of analysis. [4] The final sentence ties the choice to the audience and purpose. It says what the choice does to the listener.

Verbs that analyse

Replace “shows”, “uses” and “talks about” with verbs that describe action on the audience:

Describes the writer’s move	Describes the effect
contrasts, concedes, redirects, reframes, escalates	unsettles, reassures, disarms, challenges, invites
qualifies, anticipates, narrows, widens	persuades the audience to, leads the reader to, builds trust by

Common rhetorical analysis problems

• Device spotting. Naming “anaphora” and moving on. The device is a starting point.
• Plot summary. Retelling what the writer says in order, without analysing how.
• Judging the argument. “I agree with her” is not analysis.
• Analysing in isolation. A choice has meaning in context. Always ask what it does at this point for this audience.
• Ignoring shifts. Many passages turn, and the turn is often the most interesting evidence.

Question 3: the argument essay

What the task asks

You take a position on a concept and defend it with evidence you choose. The evidence can come from history, literature, current events, science, your reading or your experience. The standard of evidence is that it is specific and explained.

Choosing a position and evidence

Pick the position you can defend best, not necessarily the one you believe most. Then ask what is the strongest evidence you know. If you can think of an example from reading or history, you can usually develop it in more detail than a vague generalisation. A good plan names three different kinds of evidence, such as a historical case, a text and an observation, so the argument is not resting on a single leg.

Handling the prompt’s quotation

When the prompt includes a quotation, it is a way into the topic, not a command to agree. Restate the idea in your own words in the introduction. You may agree, disagree or qualify. A qualified position, such as “yes, but only when…”, is often easier to defend than an absolute.

An original practice prompt

Many people say that boredom is a waste of time and should be filled as quickly as possible. Others say that boredom is the soil in which new ideas grow. Write an essay that argues your position on the value of boredom.

A defensible thesis for this prompt:

Boredom is valuable only when it is chosen and finite: left unplanned, it invites distraction, but protected as a deliberate pause, it gives the mind the room that purposeful activity never offers.

An annotated model paragraph

This paragraph is original Marlbridge work.

The strongest case for boredom is that it forces the mind to generate what the world would otherwise supply. [1] A child left alone on a long train journey may at first complain, but within an hour she is inventing a game with the passing signal boxes or composing a story about the passenger across the aisle. [2] That shift from complaint to invention suggests that the discomfort of having nothing to do is the push that starts the mind working on its own. [3] The same example also shows the limit: the invention depends on the absence of a screen that would have ended the discomfort at once, which is why the value of boredom is protected by choice, not left to chance. [4]

[1] The topic sentence states a claim that supports the thesis and is arguable. [2] The evidence is specific and concrete, with a sequence of events, not a general statement such as “children get creative”. [3] Commentary explains the mechanism that links the evidence to the claim. [4] The paragraph closes by qualifying its own example and returning to the thesis’s condition, which is where sophistication often begins.

Common argument problems

• A thesis that cannot be disputed. “Boredom can be good or bad.”
• Over-generalising from one personal story. Combine it with other evidence.
• Evidence that is named but not used. “Think of the Industrial Revolution” is not an argument.
• Ignoring a reasonable objection. Concede or refute it in a sentence or two.
• Repeating the thesis in every paragraph. Each paragraph should advance it.

Writing a defensible thesis: a checklist

Before you write the body, check your thesis against these questions.

Question	If the answer is no
Does it answer the prompt rather than restate it?	Rewrite it with a position
Could a reasonable person disagree or see it differently?	Make it more specific
Does it say why, how or under what condition?	Add a “because”, “by” or “only when” clause
Does it point to a line of reasoning?	Make sure its parts match your body paragraphs
(Rhetorical analysis) Does it name choices and say what they accomplish?	Add the effect on the audience

Building a line of reasoning

A line of reasoning is the order of ideas through which the essay proves its thesis. A weak essay is a list (first, second, third). A strong essay is a chain (this leads to that, which makes the next point necessary).

You can test your plan with the “so what?” and “therefore” checks:

• After each body-paragraph claim ask, “So what does this show about the thesis?” If you cannot answer, the claim is not doing work.
• Read the topic sentences in order and place “therefore” or “but” between them. If the result makes sense as an argument, the line of reasoning holds.

Ways to order a line of reasoning

Pattern	When it suits
Cause to effect	Arguing about consequences
Concession, then rebuttal	When a strong counter-position exists
Narrow to broad	Moving from a case to a general claim
Stages of change in a text	Rhetorical analysis of a passage that shifts

Timing

Forty minutes per essay is the recommended pace. A sample allocation:

Task	Planning	Writing	Reading through
Synthesis	In the reading period plus 3 minutes	about 33 minutes	2 minutes
Rhetorical analysis	6 minutes	31 to 32 minutes	2 minutes
Argument	5 minutes	33 minutes	2 minutes

Some practical points:

• Do not run out of time on the last essay. If you are at 40 minutes, finish the paragraph you are in and write a conclusion of one or two sentences.
• An incomplete essay is better than none. A thesis and two developed paragraphs can score better than five paragraphs promised and not written.
• Do not abandon the plan halfway. If a better idea arrives, add it as a qualification, not a rewrite.

A suggested Marlbridge six-point rubric

Use this to mark your own practice essays. It follows the shape of the published rows but is not official scoring.

Row	Points	Suggested Marlbridge descriptors
Thesis	1	The thesis takes a defensible position (or, in rhetorical analysis, analyses choices and their effect). It is not just a restatement of the prompt or a list of devices.
Thesis	0	Restates the prompt, summarises, or gives no position.
Evidence and commentary	4	Specific, relevant evidence supports every claim. Commentary consistently explains how the evidence supports the line of reasoning, and the reasoning develops across the essay.
Evidence and commentary	3	Specific evidence supports most claims. Commentary explains how the evidence works, though it may be uneven or occasionally generalise.
Evidence and commentary	2	Some specific evidence, with commentary that mostly summarises or repeats the evidence.
Evidence and commentary	1	Evidence is mostly general or is summary of the sources or passage. Commentary is minimal.
Evidence and commentary	0	No relevant evidence, or none that is connected to the thesis.
Sophistication	1	The essay shows a complex understanding as part of the argument, for example by exploring a tension, accounting for a limit or a counter-position, or explaining the situation’s wider stakes. A phrase or a single sentence is not enough.
Sophistication	0	Does not meet the above.

Evidence and commentary is the largest row. If you can improve only one thing, improve the sentences that come after your evidence.

Practise it

Try these under timed conditions. Write the plan first and then the essay.

1. Synthesis. Using the summary table of Sources A to F above, write a plan (position, line of reasoning, sources for each step) in six minutes. Choose at least three sources. Then write the essay, or at least the introduction and one body paragraph.
2. Rhetorical analysis. Read the Douglass sentences quoted in this guide, and write a thesis and one body paragraph about how the contrast works. Compare your paragraph with the annotated model and mark it using the rubric.
3. Argument. Write a different defensible thesis on the boredom prompt, taking the opposite position from the one above. List three kinds of evidence you would use.
4. Revise. Take any past essay of yours. Underline each quotation or example. Draw a line under the sentence of commentary that follows it. Rewrite any that only repeat the evidence.

Where this leads

Once you can plan, state a thesis and write explained evidence, the work is practice. Combine this guide with the multiple-choice guide, because the questions in Section I train the same reading and writing choices, and with the topic guides for the course’s units on claims, reasoning, style and argument.