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How to Write an Essay
for the SAT
1.
The well-structured paragraph
2.
The standard five-paragraph essay
3.
The SAT essay
4. Using quotes and references
5. Essay errors to avoid
1. The well-structured
paragraph
A paragraph is a
collection of sentences that relate to a single topic. If there is more than one topic, there
should be more than one paragraph.
A typical paragraph will have a topic sentence, several supporting
sentences, and possibly a closing or transitional sentence.
The topic sentence summarizes
the main point of the paragraph.
Every other sentence in the paragraph should support that statement in
some way. The support sentences
may give examples of the topic, or list parts of the topic, or details about
the topic, or give quotes or references that relate to the topic. If the topic expresses an opinion, the
supporting sentences may give reasons for the opinion.
It is possible,
perhaps even desirable, to have subtopics within a paragraph, and for the
subtopics to have support sentences of their own. But everything must relate back to the main topic sentence.
There are only two
formats for the well-structured paragraph.
1. The inductive paragraph starts with a topic
sentence and is followed by support sentences.
2. The deductive paragraph starts with support
sentences and works its way toward a final topic sentence; the topic sentence
often begins, "Therefore..."
It is not a good
idea to write paragraphs with any other format, because other formats make the
reader work too hard. Do not bury
the topic sentence somewhere in the middle of the paragraph. Do not write a series of support
sentences and expect the reader to infer his own topic.
2. The standard
five-paragraph essay
The topic has been
assigned and you have 25 minutes to write your essay. If you are an idiot, you write down the first thought
that comes into your head; while writing, you think of a second thought, and
write that down. Pretty soon, you
have a full page of garbage: badly organized, badly thought out, badly written,
a stream of consciousness that reflects badly on you.
You must start by
making organized notes!
Use an outline
form, if you have been taught that way, or use brainstorming techniques,
if that's your training. They both work the same way: Start with your thesis statement, which
expresses the central point or theme of your essay, then figure out the three
main ways you can support your thesis.
Thesis
Statement
Main
point A.
Main
point B.
Main
point C.
Each of the three
main points will be
Details,
if you describing something;
Reasons,
if you are defending an opinion;
Examples,
usually of quotes or references, if you are drawing parallels that will support your thesis.
Once you have
chosen your main points, you will need sentences to explain and support your
main points. Then your outline
might look something like this:
Thesis
Statement
Main
point A
1.
support
2.
support
3.
support
Main
point B
1.
support
2.
support
3.
support
Main
point C
1.
support
2.
support
3.
support
Now, with your
thoughts complete and organized, you are ready to write.
The introductory
paragraph begins with a thesis statement, which expresses the central theme of
the essay. Everything in the
entire essay must relate back to, and support, this thesis statement. Following the thesis statement (which
is also, logically, the topic sentence for the first paragraph) will be three
support sentences, each previewing
an important point to be made in the body of the essay.
Introductory
paragraph:
Thesis
statement. Introduction. Main point A. Main point B.
Main point C.
The second
paragraph begins with a re-statement or paraphrase of Main point A,
which becomes the topic sentence of this paragraph, and is followed by
support sentences. A good writer
will provide some transition sentences to smooth the jump from one paragraph to
the next.
Main
point A. Support.
Support. Support. Transition.
Paragraphs #3 and
#4 are similar to the second paragraph.
Main
point B. Support. Support. Support. Transition.
Main
point C. Support. Support. Support. Transition.
The fifth paragraph
begins with a recap, or restatement, of your thesis and main points. Then you extend your thesis; what
impact would it have on you - or your school, your neighborhood, or the world -
if everyone adopted your position.
Some teachers refer
to this five - paragraph structure as a "sandwich," with three layers of food
between the two slices of bread.
If you think of it this way,
remember that you plan your sandwich before you make it. Without planning, your roast beef /
lettuce / tomato sandwich could turn out to be a peanut butter / motor oil /
cardboard sandwich.
3. The SAT Essay
The makers of the
SAT do not specifically insist upon a standard five-paragraph essay, but they
do expect intelligent thoughts arranged in a logical structure. If you have a compelling reason to use
some other format, then do so.
Otherwise, play it safe and stick with the good old, tried and true,
five-paragraph essay.
The SAT essay
prompt is similar to a debate question (see samples elsewhere on this website).
Sometimes it takes
the form of a statement, and the student is asked to write an essay either
supporting or attacking that statement.
Sometimes the
prompt offers a dilemma, a choice between two alternatives, and the student is
asked to write an essay supporting one of the alternatives.
Don't waste your
time worrying about which position is the "right" answer. There are no right or wrong answers,
and no one will give you points for choosing the "right" side of the argument,
nor will they deduct points because you chose the "wrong" side. Points are given for the skill with
which you support your position, whatever that position might be.
Don't be a
weasel. Don't equivocate in your
essay, first supporting one side and then supporting the other. If the two alternatives are truly
opposites, then you can support one side by attacking the other side; but most
prompts don't offer a choice of exact opposites. Your thesis statement comes down solidly on one side of the argument, so any paragraph that
does not support that thesis is "off point," and weakens the forcefulness and
logic of your essay.
4. Using Quotes and
References
The SAT asks essay
writers to "...show how well you can
develop, support, and present your point of view. You will need to support your ideas with reasoning. You can draw on any part of your
knowledge base that supports your reasoning, including any or all of the
following:
What
you have learned in school
What
you have read in and outside of school in literature, science, or other area
Current
events
Your
extracurricular and outside activities
Your
observations and you own experiences"
So here you are in
the SAT. You have just read the essay
prompt, and it offers the usual two-choice dilemma. Probably the first thing you do is to decide: which horn of the dilemma will become
your thesis statement. Then you
need to do a quick mental scan of your knowledge base, because supporting your
thesis will require three main points.
The best source for
a "main point" is literature, because many essay graders are teachers, often
English teachers. Your "main
point" might cite how a character in literature dealt with the same dilemma, or
how that character was guided by a principle similar to your thesis... or should
have been guided...
Another excellent
source is your knowledge base of history.
You might draw a parallel to the historic impact your thesis had on a
person, movement, or nation of the past.
After literature
and history, your best source for main points would be the arts and sciences. Among the arts, you might scan your
knowledge base of painting, sculpture, architecture, drama, music, and the
movies. Beware of the last two
options; familiarity with pop music and action movies does not make an
impressive knowledge base. Among
the sciences, you are more likely to find references in the social sciences
(political science, economics, psychology, sociology) than in the laboratory
sciences (physics, chemistry, biology).
Current events are
problematic as a source for main points.
You run the risk of taking a position that offends the subconscious
opinions of an essay scorer.
You may be tempted
to use your own personal experiences as a "main point." This would be a mistake, unless your
personal experience is wildly distinctive from the personal experience of most teenage
Americans. The objective, in
choosing main points, is to demonstrate the breadth and relevance of your
knowledge base. Reliance on
personal experience may give the essay scorer the impression that you lack a
broad knowledge base.
Drawing main points
from three different sources is better than drawing three main points from a
single source, because your objective is to show off a broader base of
knowledge.
In preparing for
the SAT essay, it is not necessary or useful to write a lot of essays. Your writing skills and style are not
likely to change much as you prepare for the SAT. And the actual writing part is never the hard part of essay
writing; that hard part is the planning.
It's that time you spend, staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out
what your "main points" are going to be - what examples, what quotes, what references
are relevant to your thesis. Once
you have the main points, the details fall easily into place; once you have the
details, the essay practically writes itself.
So - here's how to
prepare for the SAT essay. Use
essay prompts, either from the list on this website, or from your teacher, or
from collegeboard.com's daily questions.
For each prompt, make a brief outline that includes only your thesis
statement and your three main points.
Do this for as many prompts as you can.
The chances are
good, that the SAT essay you are assigned will be similar to one you have
prepared for. If this allows you
to save even 5 minutes of that staring-at-the-ceiling time, it gives you a 20%
time advantage over other students.
And if the essay prompt is one you aren't prepared for, you still have
an advantage over other students, because your preparation has trained you to plan
your essay in a logical, well-structured way.
To help you come up
with main points, use the Quotes and References part of this website. It includes short, easy-to-remember
quotes on 130 different topics often found on SAT essays, and has references
from literature, history, and the sciences, to help you do a mental scan of your
own base of knowledge.
5. Essay Errors to Avoid
One of worst
mistakes a newspaper writer can make is to "bury his lead," which means to put the main idea
anywhere but the opening sentence.
The reader has to know immediately what the article is about.
The essay scorer
has to know immediately what the essay is about. Don't bury your lead.
Put your thesis statement in the first sentence, and make your topic
sentence the first line in each paragraph. Make it easy for the reader / scorer to see the structure of
your essay. Style is nice, but
scorers don't like a triumph of style over substance. Let the scorer know that you have substance, that your
thinking is well-organized and so is your writing.
Make your quotes
and references stand out, so the scorer doesn't miss them. Underline the
author, book, or play that is your source. Historic names should begin with
noticeably capitalized letters.
Be very explicit in
showing how each quote or reference relates to your thesis statement. Don't make any assumption that the
reader will make the connection - you must make it for him, and spend part of
your paragraph explaining that relationship. Exactly how and why is it an example of the thesis
statement?
Stay on point. Everything in the essay must
relate to the thesis statement.
When using an example, quote, or reference, don't get bogged down giving
lots of detail or background that doesn't directly support the thesis.