This booklet has two purposes: to illustrate and compare two important levels of expectation, or standards, set for the Alberta English 30 diploma examination writing (Satisfactory and Excellent) and to provide suggestions to help students move beyond the Satisfactory level by developing their unrealized writing potential. Sample papers from "Part A: Written Response" of the June 1991 English 30 Diploma Examination form the major part of the booklet. The booklet, which is organized into four major sections, compares the students' approaches as illustrated by their papers and suggests ways to improve student writing for the examination. Section 1 presents an introduction. Section 2 presents a selection of papers produced by students achieving the Satisfactory level (3). Section 3 presents a selection of papers produced by students achieving the Excellent (5) level. Both sections also include specific commentaries discussing the papers in terms of the marking categories, a general commentary about the level of expectation under discussion, and a summary of features that emerge at both levels. Section 4 presents a summary, conclusions, and suggestions for instruction. Two appendixes contain sample papers from the English 30 Written-Response Assignments from June 1991, and the English 30 Scoring Guide, June 1991. (SR)