The prompt you assign shapes almost everything you will read later. A vague question like "Describe Locke's state of nature" invites a page of summary that is easy to write and dull to grade. A sharper prompt gives students something to argue about, which produces essays that vary in quality in useful ways. This article covers how to design state of nature prompts for the Second Treatise and how to score the responses.

Locke's state of nature is a condition of freedom and equality bound by natural law, and that combination is what makes it good prompt material. Students have to hold two ideas at once: people are free from any earthly superior, yet they are still obligated not to harm one another's life, health, liberty, or possessions. Prompts that force this tension tend to expose who actually read chapter two. Prompts that only ask for definitions reward memorization.

The best prompts ask students to evaluate, compare, or test the theory. A question such as "Is Locke's state of nature stable enough to justify leaving it?" requires students to weigh his argument about inconveniences, like the lack of a settled law and an impartial judge. It also gives strong writers room to challenge Locke while weaker writers can still defend him with evidence. That range makes grading more meaningful.

Prompt Types That Produce Better Essays

Evaluative prompts ask whether an argument succeeds. Comparative prompts place Locke's state of nature beside another thinker's, most often Hobbes, and require students to identify a real difference in assumptions about human motivation. Applied prompts ask students to test the concept against a scenario, such as a stranded community with no authority. Each type stresses a different writing skill, so rotating them across a semester gives you a fuller picture of student ability.

• Evaluative: Does Locke successfully show that the state of nature is not a state of license?
• Comparative: How do Locke and Hobbes differ on whether people can be trusted to follow natural law?
• Applied: Would Locke's state of nature survive in a small isolated community with scarce resources?
• Critical: What does Locke's account of the executioner of natural law assume that he never proves?
• Historical: Why would English readers in the 1680s find a state of nature argument useful against absolute monarchy?

What to Score in the Responses

For any state of nature prompt, look first for whether the student separates liberty from license. Locke insists that natural freedom does not mean people may do whatever they like, and essays that miss this usually end up describing Hobbes by accident. Then check whether the student explains why individuals hold a right to punish transgressors, since that idea surprises most readers and needs support. An essay that handles both points has likely engaged the chapter directly.

Give separate credit for how well the student uses Locke's reasoning about inconveniences. He argues that the state of nature lacks an established law, a known judge, and reliable power to enforce sentences, which is why people consent to government. Students who connect these three gaps to the move into civil society show that they understand the argument as a chain and not a list. Students who only mention that people wanted safety usually have not gone that far.

Common Problems in State of Nature Essays

One frequent error is treating the state of nature as a historical claim about early humans. Locke does use examples from the Americas and from relations between sovereigns, but his argument is largely about moral standing and not anthropology. Another problem is students who write "nature" throughout without saying whether they mean human nature, the natural condition, or natural law. Marking these slips with a short comment helps students tighten their terms in the next draft.

A third issue is the tendency to declare Locke optimistic and Hobbes pessimistic, then move on. That framing is not wrong, but it is shallow, and it often replaces actual textual work. A good margin comment asks the student to point to the passage where Locke shows people violating natural law, since he clearly expects some will. That nudge moves the essay from label to evidence.

Grading Prompt Sets at Scale

If you assign the same prompt to a hundred students, the difference between careful and careless grading shows up fast. Writing a short list of what a strong, middling, and weak response looks like before you begin gives you a reference point. You can also feed a rubric into an AI feedback tool such as GraideMind so every essay is first read against the same criteria. Then you can spend your own time on the papers that need a human judgment call.

Whatever method you use, revisit your prompt after each round. If most students answered it the same way, it was probably too easy or too leading. If most students misread it, the wording needs work. Prompts improve like any other assignment, and the grading pile is the best evidence of how well yours is working.