Consider this statement:

A politicians lifestyle should reflect his or her political views.

Write a unified essay in which you perform the following tasks. Explain what you think the above
statement means. Describe a specific situation in which a politicians lifestyle might not reflect his or
her political views. Discuss what you think determines whether or not a politicians lifestyle should
reflect his or her political views.
Essay #1: A politicians lifestyle should reflect his or her political views.
When people in a city get ready to vote, they look towards the best political candidate
for the job. A politician must live his life the way he encourages other people to do
when campaigning to build a better community. For instance, a politician encourages
people to recycle and to keep the streets very clean by not littering, he too must due
the same thing. Some body in office must not be hypocritical. By recycling and not
littering in his personal life, sets a good example for the other people in his community.
However, there are times when a politicians life style should not reflect his ideas
during specific campaigns. If the issues that he is discussing dose not pertain to him
personally, why must he live in such a way as though it does. An example of this would
be wellfare, he may suport welfare but how can he show his support through his own
personal life when he himself is not on government assistance.
In order for a politician political opinions to be part of his personal life is if they
pertain to him as well. If a politician has opinions on specific issues that in no way
effect him or his life, he does not need to incorporate that issue into his life.
SCORE POINT: 2
ANNOTATIONS:
This essay shows us a writer with some promise, but problems with language control and
underdeveloped ideas prevent the writer from achieving clarity of ideas. The simple ideas around
which the essay is structured may be relevant and valid, but they arent explained to a degree that
makes their meaning clear to the reader. Rather, we see only dogmatic assertions that lack any
supporting reasoning. Furthermore, the contrived example in the second paragraph does not allow the
writer to connect the example back out to a larger principle, since the point is unclear and the logic
seems confused. Consistent and disruptive breakdowns in syntax make it difficult to establish the
relationships between the parts of sentences, and vagueness in word choice compounds this problem
with language control. Underdeveloped, poorly expressed ideas lead to problems with clarity in this
fairly typical 2.
Essay #2: A politicians lifestyle should reflect his or her political views.
A politicians lifestyle should reflect his or her political views is a statement that can

be complex if we take the time to analyze it. Its meaning is clear, in that people and
politicians in particular, in order to be effective, must practice what they teach and not
fall victim to hypocrisy. A great example of this undoubtedly Ghandi. He was a pacifist
and anti-materialist in public, and when examining his personal life, it becomes clear
that the two correspond. Accounts of him being very gentle in person and often times
denying himself worldly goods, and even fasting, are not uncommon. Another example
that is of someone who is quite different, but true to himself nonetheless, Genghis
Khan preached to his soldiers to be fierce in battle and never run in the face of death.
His personal life obviously reflected such sentiments and he created one of the most
powerful armies the world has ever seen, despite killing his own soldier if he caught
them running away.
The leaders mentioned were obviously effective at what they do by being true to their
word, but as we shall see, there are others who can achieve the same end without doing
so. Bill Clinton, for example, was obviously the leader of the free world and thus must
be honest and just, but from the Monica Lewinsky scandal, it is known that he lied on
the witness stand about that affair, a trait that is undesirable to say the least.
However, few will say that because of the incident, he is not as good of a leader. This is
where the contradiction between their leaders views and actions are irrelevant.
Another good example is that of Benjamin Franklin. He routinely reminded people of the
saying a penny saved is a penny earned, but historical records indicated that he spent
frivolously on whatever he desired. He also taught on the evil of being lazy, but often
was accused of being such.
In conclusion, I believe that, although it is preferred that a politician or leader should
practice what they preach, it is unnecessary unless their lifestyle or habit poses a
danger or creates disaster for his/her people. To paraphrase a great man whose name I
cannot recall, It is better for a leader to seem virtuous than for him to actually be so.
SCORE POINT: 4
ANNOTATIONS:
This essay achieves adequate clarity of ideas through adequate development of two well-explained
and clear examples in both the first task (explaining the statement) and the second task (providing a
counterexample). Unfortunately, the analysis ultimately falls flat, becoming too brief as the writer tries
to reconcile the two main ideas in the final paragraph (determining factors). There is a recognition of
complexity in the quote in the last sentence (i.e., the idea that appearing virtuous is perhaps more
important than actually being so), but this idea is not pursued in the way that a 5-level essay might
incorporate itas an integral part of the analysis that is then further explored and illustrated.
Language use shows only a basic command, with inconsistencies: many of the sentence structures are

simple and clipped, but others show better sentence construction. Some of the diction is nicely
effective (frivolously and just), but other choices are repetitious (obviously) or trite (practice
what they preach and the world has ever seen.) Overall, a few inconsistencies in language use,
focus, and slightly abbreviated development of ideas are not problematic enough to diminish the
essays strengths, and it remains a 4.
Essay#3: A politicians lifestyle should reflect his or her political views.
Voters are often surprisingly tolerant of seemingly major transgressionsleading the
country into a futile war, or allowing the national debt to soar to unimaginable heights,
for instance. However, if there is one thing that voters despise and reject, it is blatant
hypocrisy. We expect our elected leaders to model the values they seek to impose on
their constituency, be they the time-tested virtues of honesty, probity, and
forthrightness, or the more mundane virtues of hard-work, attention to detail, and
compassion. Any sort of discordance between a politicians lifestyle and his or her
political views is, in general, highly politically inexpedient.
This reality is well depicted in the recent scandal involving former House Majority
Leader Tom Delay. After Delays espousing of a highly conservative ethos, rooted in the
teachings of Christianity, the subsequent revelation that Delay was likely involved in a
sordid bribery and corruption scheme was too much for even the highly conservative
electorate of Delays Texas district to swallow. With polls showing that Delay faced an
extremely difficult reelection campaign, he resigned his seat in the House, a victim of
his own hypocrisy and his constituencys rejection of such duplicitous manipulation of
the political system. While surely any politician embroiled in illegal activities would face
a tough campaign trail, the fact that this scandal centered on a man with such avowed
moral virtue at the heart of his political appeal made the difficulty doubly so.
However, in ceratin cases, it is impossible for a politicians lifestyle to reflect his or her
political views. Under some circumstances, the very nature of political life makes it
difficult for a successful politician to fully practice what they preach. An example of
this can be seen in the fiscal conservative who advocates reduced government spending,
personal frugality, and a dedication to responsible debt management or a debt-free
existencewhile raising and spending large sums of money to be elected to a
competitive congressional seat. Senator John McCain of Arizona exemplifies this:
McCain, an avowed fiscal conservative, spent millions and millions of dollars on such
things as 30-seconds TV spots, posters, and campaign buttons to be reelected to his
Senate seat.
However, had McCain not spent that inordinate sum of money, he would not still be a

Senator, most likely; this demonstrates the exception to the general principle that
politicians should always live their lives in accordance with the political views they hold.
If the political career of a politician is absolutely dependent on a momentary
discordance between lifestyle and political assertion, then it is acceptable to ultimately
favor ones own livelihood over policy dialogue. How can one be expected to make
meaningful change in Washington unless one is around to vote? Perhaps we may not like
the political reality of what it takes to get elected in 21st-century American politics,
but we cannot fault the individual participants for an unfortunate system that they
themselves did not put in place. Dont hate the player, hate the game. So in general, we
see that the public looks at hypocrisy with great disfavor, and that a politicians
lifestyle should correspond to the lifestyle they lead, but we can also see that an
understanding public will not unduly punish their leaders when other, compelling
interests force them to transgress their professed beliefs.
SCORE POINT: 6
ANNOTATIONS:
This is a highly thoughtful, well-articulated argument that centers around a complex insightthat not
all forms of political hypocrisy will be (or even should be) treated the same by the voting public.
The writer demonstrates complexity by skillfully describing this subtle distinction between the wellintentioned contradictions that may be necessary to survive politically and the baseless hypocrisy
represented by the illegal and immoral conduct of corruption. This extensive analysis of the two
supporting examples also demonstrates a good depth of understanding about the political process and
how politicians are elected. A coherent, unified, and focused argument, developed with precision
through a sophisticated command of language (both sentence style/variety and diction), this essay is a
6 in all respects.

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