Sample Essays
To help you prepare for the WPA, we recommend you study the sample essays and questions we’ve selected from past exams. These essays exemplify the quality of a typical essay at each of the five score points. Recall that a score of 5 is excellent, 4 is good, 3 is adequate, 2 is limited, and 1 is poor. Each essay is scored twice by separate readers. Passing scores contain 3, 4, or 5.
Comments at the end of each essay indicate an essay’s strengths and weaknesses in the eyes of a trained reader. All the essays have flaws, especially because they were written in a timed environment without much time to revise. You will benefit from them most by comparing and contrasting them with one another. What makes one more readable than the other? How does adequate differ from good? How do successful essays begin compared to those that are less successful? To help you identify it, the thesis statement in each essay is highlighted.
Sample Essays I
The first set of sample essays is taken from an exam given in 2002. The essays are based on an excerpt from Marie Winn’s 1977 book The Plug-In Drug. In the excerpt, Winn argues that compulsive television viewing is comparable to drug or alcohol addiction. First, she distinguishes between a tendency to overindulge in a pleasure (such as gardening or sewing) and true addiction. Addiction, she asserts, has serious adverse consequences. The addict depends on a substance in order to feel normal, and craves it again and again, to the exclusion of other pleasures. Thus, according to Winn, the addict “leads a damaged life”. Winn goes on to argue that heavy viewers of television “blot out the real world” with their television watching, have difficulty turning the set off even when it no longer provides pleasure, and forego productive pastimes, including socializing. She concludes that these characteristics demonstrate that heavy television viewing is an addiction rather than a harmless diversion.
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Sample Essays I
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Score
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1.1 |
45 |
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1.2 |
34 |
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1.3 |
33 |
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1.4 |
22 |
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1.5 |
11 |
Sample Essays II
For the second set of sample essays, we have isolated three essays from a past exam that received scores of 4, 3, and 2, respectively—the most common WPA scores. Within the text of each essay, you’ll find commentary that explains the strengths and weaknesses of the writing and clarifies the rationale for the essay’s score.
Note that, like the essays above, they were written to a prompt that asked the student to explain whether he/she agrees with the author’s position. Sometimes you are asked to critique the author’s argument, which is a somewhat different task. It is possible to disagree with an author but acknowledge that he/she has constructed a persuasive argument, just as it is possible to share an author’s stance but feel that his/her argument is flawed. In any case, if you are asked whether you find an argument persuasive, you are being asked to look closely at how an author goes about making his/her argument and to evaluate its degree of effectiveness.
Sample Essays II |
Score |
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|---|---|---|---|
2.1 |
44 | ||
2.2 |
33 |
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2.3 |
22 |
Sample Questions
Not all WPA questions are like the ones illustrated above. Here are some additional sample questions to help you get an idea of the range of questions that appear on the test.
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Sissela Bok examines how some people in power have traditionally defended the “noble lie”. Do you share Bok’s view that a citizenry ought to freely discuss the issue of political deception? Why or why not? Write an essay that answers this question with specific reference to Bok’s text. Your essay should include your own defensible thesis statement and reasons and examples from your studies, experience, or observations that develop and support it.
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Tutko and Bruns lament the “delusions” Americans suffer from when it comes to sports. Do you agree that many Americans fail to see the truth about winning? Write an essay that answers this question with specific reference to Tutko and Bruns' text. Your essay should include your own defensible thesis statement and reasons and examples from your studies, experience or observations that develop and support it.
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Malcolm X was literate when he entered Norfolk Prison Colony but until he expanded his vocabulary it appears he did not enjoy reading. Do you share Malcolm X’s belief that wide reading has the power to “change[] forever the course of [one’s] life?” Why or why not? Write an essay that answers this question with specific reference to Malcolm X’s text. Your essay should include your own defensible thesis statement and reasons and examples from your studies, experience, or observations that develop and support it.
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In your view, can thinking critically about the tools we use in contemporary life “preserve the human race”? How or how not? Write an essay that answers this question with specific reference to Rodden’s text. Your essay should include your own defensible thesis statement and reasons and examples from your studies, experience, or observations that develop and support it.
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