# Writing essays — the brief, the fact sheet and the scoring

Sent as one message, free tier, fresh chat (Claude: incognito), memory off, with the three sources from `sources.md` pasted under it.

> Write me a 500 to 600 word argumentative essay: should Vila Serena ban cars from its old town? Take a position. Use only the three sources below - cite each one at least once as [1], [2] or [3] after the sentence that uses it - and use no facts, figures, studies or examples from anywhere else. Include one paragraph that gives the strongest case against your position and answers it. Where the sources disagree with each other, say so rather than picking one. Give it a title. No bullet points, no headings, no summary of what you are about to say.
>
> [the three sources]

## The traps

- Every number in the sources is invented, so any figure, study, city or example that is not in them is imported from the model's own knowledge - Pontevedra, Ghent, "studies show" - and the brief forbids it.
- Sources [1] and [3] disagree on the cars-per-day count (6,400 against 5,100). The brief asks the essay to say so.
- The traders' survey [2] cuts both ways: 58 of 96 oppose a ban and expect a 15% loss; the six shops already on a car-free street are up 22%. An honest essay uses both.
- 500 to 600 words is a window, not a floor: under is short, over is long.
- "No bullet points, no headings, no summary of what you are about to say" - the tics of model essays.

## Scoring

- **Facts** - every number, place, study and example in the essay checked against the sources; anything not in them counts as imported. `measured` leads with "N imported".
- **Citations** - each of [1], [2], [3] cited at least once, and cited for something that source actually says.
- **Disagreement** - the 6,400 / 5,100 discrepancy named.
- **Counterargument** - a paragraph that states the strongest case against and answers it, not a token "some may say".
- **Length** - 500 to 600 words, title excluded.
- **Form** - a title; no bullets, no headings, no "In this essay I will".
- **Position** - taken and held; tone; whether the traders' two numbers are both used. Recorded.
- Time, refusals, output form.

`check_essay.py` runs the number, citation, disagreement, length and form checks on a raw file's `## Answer` section.