The Essay

1919 / 1928 · source HUDELSON_SCALE

Hudelson English Composition Scale

Earl Hudelson, 1921. primary contemporary reproduction.

H1–H5 excerpts, prompt, score scale.

Document locator

Source ID
HUDELSON_SCALE
Page / identifier
pp. 2–26; samples 6–10
Accessed
2026-08-02

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5 attached student records

Excerpts and provenance from this document

Each record below repeats its prompt, conditions, honest evaluator role, direct source link, and exact page locator.

Record H1 · 1919 / 1928

H1: Personal Or Imagined Narrative

Written May–June 1919; published in the 1921 scale. First-year Virginia high school; exact age and modern grade equivalence unknown.

Period1919 / 1928
ScopeExcerpt coded
ProvenanceA Calibrated Core
Band statuslower edge of retained middle panel

Original student excerpt

We were going along about 40 mile an hour, when, coming around a short came we saw another car coming at about an equal rate of speed. We missed him by about six inches. After that the road was stright and the speedometer showed that we were going seventy five mile a hour.

Three consecutive sentences from the typeset response; original spelling and punctuation preserved.

Prompt and conditions

Partially Exact prompt. Preserved wording: “the best story you can”; “The Most Exciting Ride I Ever Had”. Write the best story possible on the named topic; the story could use truth, imagination, or both.

Source conditions
Source Free; none.
Time
30 minutes. One regular-session sitting; papers collected immediately.
Production / archive
not documented; do not impute handwriting; typeset faithful reproduction.
Drafting
none documented; treated as timed first response.
Population and selection
First-year pupils in 25 Virginia high schools in 12 counties; 887 analyzable pupils in the survey; individual anchor school and demographics unknown. Whole tested classes in a state survey; published scale points selected blind to school, not random pupils.

Scorer and feedback role

Institutional Assessor. Not an authenticated classroom-teacher feedback pair.

Original source classification
4.509. Median global scale judgment by 96 trained composition assessors; not a classroom grade.
Form
Score Only; response-specific.
Revision after feedback
None survives.

“4.509”

— Published institutional annotation or label, not classroom-teacher feedback
Read the evidence coding

Conceptual claimSpeed and a near collision make the ride exciting.

Ideas and relationships4 coded units. Speed, curve, oncoming car, narrow miss, and later speed are coordinated chronologically and comparatively.

AbstractionConcrete

Causal reasoningSimple

Qualification / counterargumentNone

Evidence usePersonal Detail

OrganizationEvent Then Aftermath

Sentence controlMeaning Clear Uneven

Lexical precisionSpecific Mixed

Articulation limitNo interpretation beyond danger; ‘short came’ is opaque in the printed response.

These are descriptive codes, not scores. No composite or rank is calculated. Scale value 4.509 is below but near the independently reported Virginia median 5.40 and above the poorest anchors; selected as the lower edge, not as average by itself.

Record H2 · 1919 / 1928

H2: Personal Or Imagined Narrative

Written May–June 1919; published in the 1921 scale. First-year Virginia high school; exact age and modern grade equivalence unknown.

Period1919 / 1928
ScopeExcerpt coded
ProvenanceA Calibrated Core
Band statusnear survey median

Original student excerpt

It was the afternoon of a day in July that we started off in an automobile to go to a place about twenty miles away. Before we had gotten half way something happened to the engine and we couldn’t go very fast.

Two consecutive sentences from the typeset response; original spelling and punctuation preserved.

Prompt and conditions

Partially Exact prompt. Preserved wording: “the best story you can”; “The Most Exciting Ride I Ever Had”. Write the best story possible on the named topic; the story could use truth, imagination, or both.

Source conditions
Source Free; none.
Time
30 minutes. One regular-session sitting; papers collected immediately.
Production / archive
not documented; do not impute handwriting; typeset faithful reproduction.
Drafting
none documented; treated as timed first response.
Population and selection
First-year pupils in 25 Virginia high schools in 12 counties; 887 analyzable pupils in the survey; individual anchor school and demographics unknown. Whole tested classes in a state survey; published scale points selected blind to school, not random pupils.

Scorer and feedback role

Institutional Assessor. Not an authenticated classroom-teacher feedback pair.

Original source classification
5.062. Median global scale judgment by institutional composition assessors; not a classroom grade.
Form
Score Only; response-specific.
Revision after feedback
None survives.

“5.062”

— Published institutional annotation or label, not classroom-teacher feedback
Read the evidence coding

Conceptual claimA trip is delayed by engine trouble.

Ideas and relationships4 coded units. Season/time, transport, distance, halfway point, and mechanical effect form a setup and complication.

AbstractionConcrete

Causal reasoningSimple

Qualification / counterargumentNone

Evidence usePersonal Detail

OrganizationSetup Then Complication

Sentence controlControlled

Lexical precisionGeneral

Articulation limitThe fault and any larger claim are not developed.

These are descriptive codes, not scores. No composite or rank is calculated. Scale value 5.062 is 0.34 below the Virginia median 5.40 and was selected blind to school to mark a score step.

Record H3 · 1919 / 1928

H3: Personal Or Imagined Narrative

Written May–June 1919; published in the 1921 scale. First-year Virginia high school; exact age and modern grade equivalence unknown.

Period1919 / 1928
ScopeExcerpt coded
ProvenanceA Calibrated Core
Band statusnearest retained anchor to survey median

Original student excerpt

When we reached a narrow place in the road at a corner, another car was coming towards us but we didn’t know it until we were about three feet away from that car. Both cars were going very fast and if the brakes hadn’t been in good order, we would never have gottened home alive. The two cars hit each other and we were thrown out of our seats.

Three consecutive sentences from the typeset response; original spelling and punctuation preserved.

Prompt and conditions

Partially Exact prompt. Preserved wording: “the best story you can”; “The Most Exciting Ride I Ever Had”. Write the best story possible on the named topic; the story could use truth, imagination, or both.

Source conditions
Source Free; none.
Time
30 minutes. One regular-session sitting; papers collected immediately.
Production / archive
not documented; do not impute handwriting; typeset faithful reproduction.
Drafting
none documented; treated as timed first response.
Population and selection
First-year pupils in 25 Virginia high schools in 12 counties; 887 analyzable pupils in the survey; individual anchor school and demographics unknown. Whole tested classes in a state survey; published scale points selected blind to school, not random pupils.

Scorer and feedback role

Institutional Assessor. Not an authenticated classroom-teacher feedback pair.

Original source classification
5.506. Median global scale judgment by institutional composition assessors; not a classroom grade.
Form
Score Only; response-specific.
Revision after feedback
None survives.

“5.506”

— Published institutional annotation or label, not classroom-teacher feedback
Read the evidence coding

Conceptual claimGood brakes prevented a worse outcome even though the cars collided.

Ideas and relationships6 coded units. Narrow road, unseen approach, distance, speed, brakes, collision, and ejection form a causal counterfactual.

AbstractionEmerging

Causal reasoningMultistep

Qualification / counterargumentCounterfactual

Evidence usePersonal Detail

OrganizationSituation Risk Result

Sentence controlMeaning Clear

Lexical precisionSpecific Mixed

Articulation limitThe life-or-death conclusion may be rhetorical; visibility and braking are not explained.

These are descriptive codes, not scores. No composite or rank is calculated. Scale value 5.506 is almost exactly the survey median 5.40 and is the strongest individual middle-band fit.

Record H4 · 1919 / 1928

H4: Personal Or Imagined Narrative

Written May–June 1919; published in the 1921 scale. First-year Virginia high school; exact age and modern grade equivalence unknown.

Period1919 / 1928
ScopeExcerpt coded
ProvenanceA Calibrated Core
Band statusmoderately above survey median

Original student excerpt

One day we started out, and he did very nicely for a while, until he saw a automobile and then the fun began. He tried to turn around right in the road, and when he found that he could not he started to run. There were only two of us in the cart, my brother and myself and neither were very strong.

Three consecutive sentences from the typeset response; original spelling and punctuation preserved.

Prompt and conditions

Partially Exact prompt. Preserved wording: “the best story you can”; “The Most Exciting Ride I Ever Had”. Write the best story possible on the named topic; the story could use truth, imagination, or both.

Source conditions
Source Free; none.
Time
30 minutes. One regular-session sitting; papers collected immediately.
Production / archive
not documented; do not impute handwriting; typeset faithful reproduction.
Drafting
none documented; treated as timed first response.
Population and selection
First-year pupils in 25 Virginia high schools in 12 counties; 887 analyzable pupils in the survey; individual anchor school and demographics unknown. Whole tested classes in a state survey; published scale points selected blind to school, not random pupils.

Scorer and feedback role

Institutional Assessor. Not an authenticated classroom-teacher feedback pair.

Original source classification
5.933. Median global scale judgment by institutional composition assessors; not a classroom grade.
Form
Score Only; response-specific.
Revision after feedback
None survives.

“5.933”

— Published institutional annotation or label, not classroom-teacher feedback
Read the evidence coding

Conceptual claimAn automobile frightens a pony and causes it to bolt.

Ideas and relationships5 coded units. Initial calm, automobile stimulus, failed turn, running, and weak riders form an escalation.

AbstractionConcrete

Causal reasoningMultistep

Qualification / counterargumentFailed Alternative

Evidence usePersonal Detail

OrganizationCalm Trigger Escalation

Sentence controlMeaning Clear

Lexical precisionFunctional

Articulation limitThe referent of ‘he’ depends on prior context, and reflection or resolution is absent from the excerpt.

These are descriptive codes, not scores. No composite or rank is calculated. Scale value 5.933 is moderately above the 5.40 survey median but below high anchors; school and identity were unavailable to selectors.

Record H5 · 1919 / 1928

H5: Personal Or Imagined Narrative

Written May–June 1919; published in the 1921 scale. First-year Virginia high school; exact age and modern grade equivalence unknown.

Period1919 / 1928
ScopeExcerpt coded
ProvenanceA Calibrated Core
Band statusupper-middle retained anchor

Original student excerpt

We heard a very familiar sound behind us and upon looking back we saw just what we expected, my father’s bull, coming on close behind us. The attraction for the bull seemed to be our red ties so we pulled them off as we rode and let them fly; but alas! Mine caught on the back of my bicycle and the bull was so near that it was impossible to stop to take it off, so I exerted all my energy in getting over the bridge.

Two consecutive sentences from the typeset response; original spelling and punctuation preserved.

Prompt and conditions

Partially Exact prompt. Preserved wording: “the best story you can”; “The Most Exciting Ride I Ever Had”. Write the best story possible on the named topic; the story could use truth, imagination, or both.

Source conditions
Source Free; none.
Time
30 minutes. One regular-session sitting; papers collected immediately.
Production / archive
not documented; do not impute handwriting; typeset faithful reproduction.
Drafting
none documented; treated as timed first response.
Population and selection
First-year pupils in 25 Virginia high schools in 12 counties; 887 analyzable pupils in the survey; individual anchor school and demographics unknown. Whole tested classes in a state survey; published scale points selected blind to school, not random pupils.

Scorer and feedback role

Institutional Assessor. Not an authenticated classroom-teacher feedback pair.

Original source classification
6.5. Median global scale judgment by institutional composition assessors; not a classroom grade.
Form
Score Only; response-specific.
Revision after feedback
None survives.

“6.50”

— Published institutional annotation or label, not classroom-teacher feedback
Read the evidence coding

Conceptual claimRed ties attract a pursuing bull, and a snag increases the danger.

Ideas and relationships7 coded units. Recognition, pursuit, inferred attraction, attempted decoy, snag, inability to stop, and escape effort form a contingency chain.

AbstractionEmerging

Causal reasoningMultistep

Qualification / counterargumentReversal

Evidence usePersonal Detail

OrganizationDetection Plan Complication Response

Sentence controlControlled

Lexical precisionSpecific

Articulation limitThe red-tie cause is inferred and untested; ‘seemed’ signals uncertainty.

These are descriptive codes, not scores. No composite or rank is calculated. Scale value 6.50 is above the 5.40 median but below Sample 11 and high non-Virginia anchors; included so ordinary does not mean only at or below median.