The scoring guide evaluates persuasive essays across six components: Focus, Organization, Sentence Fluency and Word Choice, and Conventions. A score of 6 indicates clear focus, strong organization with effective transitions, varied sentence structures and word choice. Minor errors do not interfere with understanding. A score of 3 suggests an uneven essay with some disjointed parts and simple structure. Frequent grammatical errors sometimes interfere with understanding. A score of 1 exhibits little organization and numerous errors that prevent full comprehension.