SAT Prep Plan: SAT Learning Topic - Strategy
for the Essay Question
Strategy for the Essay Question
Description:
The essay section of the SAT provides you with a specific
topic, or prompt, and allows you 25 minutes to write an original essay.
The essay is scored on a scale of 2 to 12. Two evaluators read
every essay, and each assigns a score from 1 to 6; the two scores
are then combined for your final essay score.
This section is intended to test your ability to develop and express
ideas clearly and effectively. You will not be required to have
special knowledge about the topic; you are expected to draw upon
your experiences from courses you have taken, reading you have done,
and experiences you have had both inside and outside of school.
The essay is scored as a “first draft,” but you will
need to have a sound strategy before starting.
Top scores are given to essays that:
demonstrate critical thinking and a clear point of view on
the assigned topic
well organized and focused, with a logical progression of ideas
demonstrate skillful use of language and structure, including
varied and sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structure
are free of grammar and mechanical errors
There are a variety of ways to achieve an essay that merits a score
of 12. Fundamentally, the most important aspect is building your
essay on an explicit viewpoint, or thesis. A thesis statement should
clearly establish the main point or goal of your essay; everything
you write should ultimately support your thesis.
Fundamentals for the essay:
Only write an essay that directly addresses the topic provided.
Essays that are on a different topic receive a score of 0.
Plan on spending the first five minutes of your time to create
a thesis and outline for your essay. This will be time well spent,
as you will not have to organize on-the-fly as you write.
As you write the essay, think of ways you can vary your sentence
structure. Remember that while the correct use of a semi-colon
can impress the scorer, too many complex sentences in a row can
sound awkward.
Use clear and appropriate vocabulary. Don’t use “big”
words just for the sake of using them; instead, use more sophisticated
vocabulary choices when they seem appropriate.
Plan on leaving a few minutes at the end to review your essay.
The scorers will not penalize you if you have to cross out words
or sentences and re-write them; in fact, it is better to show
that you identified an error and corrected it. At the same time,
make sure your essay is legible; don’t cross out so much
that the scorer won’t be able to read the essay easily.
Learning Resources:
Review the following materials on good writing practices:
If you are particularly concerned about your writing skills, take
the time to review the short book Elements
of Style by William Strunk; this is a standard reference used
by many professional writers.