SAT Essay

1. Read the SAT Essay prompt carefully

This is the step where many students go wrong. Read the
prompt and with your pencil underline the main idea you need
to be writing about. Most students who get low scores fail
to read the prompt carefully. Don't be one of them.

2. Decide on a thesis

Now that you understand the prompt, choose one side of the
issue presented. Your thesis must be the equivalent of a
'yes' or 'no' to the prompt. Don't be afraid to use the
words of the prompt in your thesis. For example if they
ask, "Are people basically good?" You can have a thesis
that says "This essay will show that people are basically
good."

3. Brainstorm 3-4 examples to support the thesis

Now that you have a thesis you can go in search of examples
to support it. Quickly make a list of several works of
literature you read in school or events you studied in
history that support your point of view. Once you have
these go on to the next step.

4. Create a short introduction that incorporates the thesis

You basically have the outline for your essay now. A thesis
and a one sentence description of each of your examples.
Now begin writing the introduction by saying a few words
about the topic. Then one sentence on your thesis. It does
not have to be anything fancy.

5. Write 3-4 body paragraphs in your SAT Essay

Now that your introduction is written support your thesis
with the examples you generated in step 3. Make sure that
in your paragraph you tell them what you are going to prove
in the first sentence. Give a few details that prove your
point in the next two sentences. And finally give a
concluding sentence that tells how your example supported
your thesis.

6. Write a conclusion that uses an analogy or metaphor to
back up your thesis

The best essays end with an analogy or very brief anecdote
that drives the point home. You can also make a prediction
about the future. Whatever you do don't force yourself to
come up with a brilliant conclusion. At the minimum you can
just summarize the evidence you came up with to support your
thesis.

1. Write a topic sentence that gives a title to your
example and explains what about your example will prove
your thesis

For example in one essay a student wrote "Atticus
Finch's actions in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
show that to truly know a person's convictions we must
observe his or her actions."

The thesis was "To truly know a person's convictions we
must observe his or her actions" and this is reflected
in this topic sentence. And yes, it's OK to repeat
your thesis in your topic sentence.

The student also explained what in the example supports
the thesis by saying that it is Atticus' actions that
proves her point.

2. Give the minimum background information needed to
support your argument

For the second sentence the student wrote, "Atticus, a
small town lawyer in a racist, white, southern town,
was charged with defending Tom Robinson, a black man
accused of raping a white woman."

These details are necessary for the logic given in the
third sentence below to make sense.

3. Give the evidence and logic that shows how these
details prove your thesis

The student wrote, "Before Atticus took this task he
spoke like a person who believed in fairness and
equality, after taking on this task, despite ridicule
from the people in his town, it was obvious that he
believed in the ideals of which he spoke."

In this sentence the logic is very clear and you can
see how the background given in the second sentence was
necessary for this logic to work.

4. Conclude your paragraph by explaining how the
information in the paragraph proved the thesis

The last sentence of this student's paragraph was a
perfect example of this, "So only after Atticus acted
on his beliefs despite difficulty could we know his
true convictions."

This four point plan for writing good body paragraphs
makes it much easier to organize your ideas on test
day. And practicing this technique with example SAT
Essay prompts will allow you to make this thinking
process automatic so you can write with ease on test
day.

You can't afford to have writer's block since you only have 25 minutes to write your SAT Essay. So to help my students put pen to paper faster I created these 8 techniques for creating a compelling introduction quickly. Try them and they'll help you too.

1. Understand the prompt first

The number one thing you must do to write a great introduction is to make sure you know what you are writing about first. The biggest mistake I've seen in scoring SAT Essays is that many students misread the prompt. To avoid this I have my students underline or circle important words and phrases to make sure they have truly digested the prompt. I suggest you do the same.

2. Use an analogy or metaphor

Analogies require creativity. A trait that SAT Essay graders love to reward. For an essay in which the prompt was "Is it true that to make progress people must make sacrifices?" A student created the following analogy,

"To climb a mountain a person must struggle and strain. And this is the case with any worthwhile goal..."

3. Tell a brief anecdote

You can create an engaging introduction by telling a brief (1-2 sentence anecdote) such as the following.

When I trained for my first marathon it was difficult and often painful. But I wanted to have the accomplishment of running 26.2 miles so I did it anyway. To make progress in life requires sacrifice.

4. Use a quote that was not used in the prompt

It is useful to memorize quotes that you love. You never know when they can come in handy on the test. For example for the essay topic "Do mistakes lead to growth?" one of my students wrote

Someone once asked Edison, "how can you feel good about your work, having failed nine-hundred and ninety-nine times to make a light bulb?" To this Edison replied, "I have not failed so many times, I have merely learned nine-hundred and ninety-nine ways not to make a light bulb. Why did Edison react this way? Because he knew that mistakes are always experiences that lead to learning and growth."

This was a great quote to begin his essay with and would definitely impress SAT Essay graders.

5. Mention a topic in the news

SAT Essay Experts will often say to stay away from news in the body of your essay. And they are right. However, in the introduction it can be very useful IF you have the facts straight AND it's even better if it is a news story that isn't well covered. If you use this idea make sure it clearly fits the topic.

6. Make up an anecdote using very specific details

I don't recommend this as you don't need a creative introduction badly enough to take the trouble to make one up. I had a student insist on trying this and his were so bad at first anyone could guess they were fictional. Finally, however he started to put details that were so specific that I couldn't tell if it was real or not. So you can fool graders if you want to but I don't recommend it.

7. Use a cliche in an inventive way

Most books and articles on writing say to stay away from cliches however, it's a secret of professional writers that if you change a cliche it captures people's attention.

One student used the following cliche to make a great introduction for the topic "Which is a better indicator of a person's true character, their actions or their words?"

"A picture tells a thousand words" is a saying that applies to the newspaper industry but which also applies to people. The picture created by a person's actions tells us a thousand words about him or her and goes much farther than words do in telling us about a person's true thoughts and feelings. Several examples from literature and history demonstrate this point.

Using the cliche "A picture tells a thousand words" to make the point that actions speak louder than words is very unique and very powerful.

8. When all else fails just do a quick summary of what you will cover in your essay

Make sure you clearly state your thesis and state which categories of information your examples are from

For example, "Examples from history, literature and science will prove that people care far too much about what others think of them."

Most of all remember, you do not need to write an impressive introduction so badly that you sacrifice the rest of your essay. In fact I taught my students to write great body paragraphs first as these are just as important. Then when they could write them quickly I taught them how to write great introductions and powerful conclusions.