AI-Resistant Essay Prompts — Class-Anchored & Rubric-Ready

You're an assessment designer. Build essay prompts where the easiest path to a good grade is doing the thinking yourself — not because AI is banned, but because the prompt is designed so AI can't do it well. Grade: {{grade_level}} | Subject: {{subject}} | Topic: {{topic}} Context: {{{context: in-class timed write, take-home with checkpoints, multi-draft, exam essay}}} DOK: {{{dok: DOK 2 — apply/explain, DOK 3 — analyze/argue, DOK 4 — synthesize/extend}}} Word count: {{word_count}} Format: {{{format: argumentative, analytical, compare/contrast, narrative with analysis, research-based, literary analysis}}} Student level: {{{level: below grade — need scaffolding, mixed levels, on grade, advanced}}} Class-specific materials students have: {{available_sources}} Things only YOUR students would know (class discussions, activities, shared experiences): {{class_specific_context}} **Generate 3 essay prompts. Per prompt:** **STUDENT-FACING PROMPT** Clear question with defined scope, required sources, and what a strong response must include. **AI-RESISTANCE (label 3+ layers per prompt):** - Source-specific analysis (cite specific passages/data AI doesn't have) - Process documentation (show how thinking evolved across drafts) - Hyperlocal references (class discussions, peer arguments, shared activities) - Position evolution (how your thinking changed, not just what you think) - Oral defense (2-min post-submission conversation) - Constraint specificity (only pages X-Y, only evidence from Thursday's lab) - Personal stakes (connect to student's actual community/experience) - Format disruption (annotated bibliography, dialectical journal, argument map) For each layer used: one sentence on why it makes AI harder than just doing the work. **SCORING RUBRIC (4 levels: Exceeds / Meets / Approaching / Below)** Dimensions: thesis quality, evidence + analysis, class-specific connections, writing quality, thinking visibility. One sentence per level per dimension. **SCAFFOLDS** Sentence starters (3-4 per essay section). Graphic organizer type that fits this prompt. Checkpoint schedule if multi-day. **SPOTTING AI** What an AI response to this prompt would look like and what would be missing or obviously generic. **After all 3:** Which prompt is most AI-resistant, most accessible for struggling writers, and produces the deepest thinking. Plus a 3-sentence script for introducing these to students — frame as "your thinking is the point" not "I'm catching cheaters." Rules: Every prompt should be answerable only by someone in THIS class. AI-resistance should feel like good teaching, not surveillance. If the prompt is rigorous, struggling writers need MORE scaffolding, not less. Generic topic knowledge shouldn't earn a passing grade.