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PREPARING FOR THE AP EXAM
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Free-Response Question:
Argument

Establishing a Line of Reasoning

One of the free-response questions you will encounter on the AP® English
Language and Composition Exam requires that you develop an argument that
establishes a defensible position based on a literary or rhetorical concept or idea
provided in a prompt. To argue your position effectively, you must establish a line
of reasoning and support it with sufficient and relevant evidence.
This workshop will begin to explore the first steps of this process with an
example question.
Read the following practice prompt, which is like one you may see on the
AP® English Language and Composition Exam.

Prompt:
In considering societal laws that govern nations versus natural laws that guide
human behavior, early Christian theologian St. Augustine (354 A.D.–430 A.D.),
famously wrote “an unjust law is no law at all.” Write an essay that argues your
position on St. Augustine’s claim that societal laws cannot contradict natural laws.
In your response you should do the following:
• Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position.
• Provide evidence to support your line of reasoning.
• Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
• Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your
argument.

➔ Step One: Determine Your Unifying Idea and Brainstorm Potential
Examples
Read the prompt carefully so that you understand the question and the writing
task. In developing your argument, you will need to convey your position and
include your perspective about an idea. Consider the ideas that the quotation in
the prompt suggests.
Consider the example prompt. You might connect the abstract ideas of justice,
unjust laws, society, individual, etc. Next, you will choose one of these abstract
concepts to serve as your controlling idea in the argument and convey your per-
spective. For example, you might determine that unjust laws are harmful to others

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