How to format your SAT essay



How to format your SAT essay

Essentially, you should stick with the basics of a solid essay and not get fancy. This strategy is intended to help you write your essay faster and not get hung-up on minor SAT essay format decisions like "how many paragraphs should my SAT essay be?"

Therefore, I recommend that you use a standard four- or five-paragraph form to structure your SAT essay.

Your SAT essay introduction takes a stance on the topic and mentions the evidence you will use.

Each SAT essay body paragraph focuses on two or three ways that one piece of SAT essay evidence supports your thesis. Clear transitions are essential.

A good SAT essay conclusion restates your stance, reminds them of your evidence, and ends with a thinking point.

The whole thing ideally wraps up into an awesome 5-paragraph SAT essay (4 paragraphs is acceptable as well!)

Why you shouldn't use a fancy SAT essay structure

Your SAT essay should NOT use an experimental or creative format – not this time. I encourage that kind of stuff in everything you do OUTSIDE of the SAT essay. I know how much this bland busy-work essay can suck, but believe me, this is not the time to try writing page-long paragraphs just to prove that you can.

A "boring" four- or five-paragraph SAT essay structure is important because it gives you a repeatable, stable form to practice with and makes it easier to fill both pages, which is one of our primary goals.

You don't want to do any more critical thinking than absolutely necessary on the SAT essay - you just don't have enough time, and it's early in the morning, and so on. So don't think too hard about your SAT essay structure - just go with what works, i.e. the basic intro-body-conclusion format.

Make sure to prepare your SAT essay evidence ahead of time.

Following a format

gives you the confidence that you can finish in the time limit

ensures you cover the topic adequately

gives a sensible structure to your essay

FORMAT I - The one-example essay

Select one suitable illustrative example from your personal experience, or your reading, or knowledge of current affairs, history, science etc. and use this as the basis for a discussion of the topic. The example should be specific and ‘real’ rather than invented. It is best to avoid religion or politics or anything controversial.

There is no word limit but a limited space is provided. The space you have to fill is approximately one and a half sides of A4 paper. The space is sufficient to write a five-paragraph essay. You will have to write in pencil.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Try to create interest in the topic.

The introduction can be general but must include a thesis statement to point the reader in the right direction.

Paragraph 2: Part I of the example

Describe the situation and cover about half the “example” here.

Paragraph 3: Part II of the example

Finish the “example”.

Paragraph 4: Discussion/analysis

Explain what your example shows. Extract the conclusions/moral lessons to show how it supports your thesis.

Paragraph 5: General conclusion

Show how the example leads to more general conclusions about the topic. (If possible, relate to material from the introduction to round the essay off.)

SAT Sample Essay 1 is an essay that uses Format I:

One of the memorable images from Eisenstein’s classic silent film on the Russian Revolution is the toppling of a statue. The destruction of the statue symbolizes the throwing out of the old order along with its heroes and replacing it with a new. Considering this human tendency to ‘ring out the old and ring in the new’ it is surprising that any heroic figures from the past survive in the history books, but they do. There are some heroes who do not get erased from the pages.

One of my personal all-time heroes is Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. At a time when women were not allowed to enter the University of Warsaw, her home city, Marie worked as a governess before getting the opportunity to enroll in the Sorbonne in Paris. She graduated at the top of her class and became the first woman to take a degree in physics from the Sorbonne.

But it is not simply for her breaking out of traditional molds that she is remembered. Her scientific work on radiation led to her two Nobel Prizes: the first joint with her husband, the second alone, after Pierre Curie’s death. She nearly did not get the second prize because of rumors of ‘misconduct’ in her private life. But she bravely went to Stockholm, despite opposition, and said that she believed that there was no connection between her private life and her scientific work. She died of cancer caused by exposure to radium, one of the elements that she discovered.

Many great people from the past have had their reputations destroyed by exposure of their human frailties. But some, like Marie Curie, achieve such greatness that they will be remembered for their achievements. She symbolizes the human quest for knowledge and the capacity to sacrifice self for a higher goal. Women everywhere will gain strength from seeing one woman who could not he suppressed by outdated conventions.

We need our heroes for the inspiration they offer to us and to future generations. Names such as Curie should not, and in fact cannot, be erased from the history books: they tell us so much about the human capacity to strive for excellence.

FORMAT II - The two-example essay

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Explain, in your own words, what the issue is. Include a thesis statement, which is a clear statement of your point of view.

Paragraph 2: Point one in support of your thesis

Explain the point you are making with the aid of a specific example.

Paragraph 3: Point two in support of your thesis

Explain the point you are making with the aid of a specific example

Paragraph 4: Qualification

Explain that, under certain circumstances, the opposite point of view might be correct. (This is to show that you are aware of all aspects of the issue, even though you are 80-90% convinced of your thesis.) [Sometimes this paragraph is replaced by another point and/or further discussion or reasoning.]

Paragraph 5: Reinforcement of thesis

Show how your viewpoint, despite the qualification you have just made, is more persuasive under the present circumstances.

SAT Sample Essay 1 is an essay that uses Format II:

Every age, and every culture has its heroes. In some times and places the heroes have been gods or god-like creatures from mythology, or mortals apparently much above the mass of humanity. But today, sports stars, film stars, and political leaders with clay feet have replaced Ram, Achilles, Cleopatra, and Alexander. In fact there are almost no heroes of any age that can withstand our tendency to debunk. There are figures who will always be in the history books, but they won’t always be regarded as heroes.

Let’s consider Julius Caesar – a hero in his own time but regarded, thanks mainly to Shakespeare’s play, as a man with mortal failings: vain, superstitious and arrogant. He can no longer be thought of as a hero – just a man who came to prominence for his actions at a certain point in history. He has his place in the history of the Western world and his face on ancient coins, but scarcely fits our need for a hero for all times who we can revere.

Even Shakespeare himself, the writer of immortal plays and poetry cannot fit our need for a heroic figure. He created heroes but cannot qualify as one himself: we know too little about him. History will always try to heap accolades on the man who wrote such sublime words, but that doesn’t stop critics from trying to take away his glory. There are those who claim that he didn’t even write the plays.

Of course the history books are full of great men and women who are long gone, and no doubt we can all find our personal heroes from their pages. But the dead cannot defend their reputations and so every biography and every film chips away at their greatness. Alexander the Great will never seem so great once we have seen the film.

Finally, we must agree that very few ‘heroes’ will be revered for all time. The man who saves a child from a tsunami will find himself lauded in the newspapers for a few days, the sports superstars will last a little longer. But no modern human, except for a very few such as Mother Theresa, will be guaranteed a page in the book of all-time heroes.

Introduction:

Many of SAT prep students worry far too much about the beginning of their SAT essay, particularly the first sentence.

Redirect your focus towards your SAT essay body paragraphs, where the “meat” of the argument will take place. The purpose of the intro is simply to smoothly get the grader reading.

Your SAT essay intro just needs to restate the topic, take a side, and introduce your SAT essay evidence. That’s it – you’re done.

Here’s how you can do all that:

Restate the SAT essay topic and take a side

Restating the prompt is something you should do out of courtesy to the grader. It helps them orient their mind to your argument.

Restating the prompt will also subconsciously encourage you to stay on topic when you rewrite it.

You can use this formula to restate the prompt while immediately taking a side.

If you are taking the affirmative, say “It is true that [restate prompt with slight variations in wording], as some have said.”

On the other hand, if you are providing the negative response to the prompt, do this:

“Some have said,” then restate the prompt with a few words changed. “However, examples from [whatever], [whatever], and [whatever else] prove otherwise.

Two examples of answering the SAT essay prompt:

An example of how this works, with the prompt “Is it important to question the ideas and decisions of people in authority?”

If your stance is “yes”: “It is true that we should openly question the decisions of people in positions of power, as some have said.”

If your stance is “no”: “Some have said that it is fundamentally important to second-guess the decisions of our leaders. However, examples from history, literature, and my personal life prove otherwise.”

That’s it. A simple, easy formula to get your first sentence written by restating the prompt and taking a side.

We still need to introduce our SAT essay evidence!

Give each piece of evidence (you should have about three per essay) its own sentence. We don’t want to give away our entire argument yet, just give a preview of what’s to come.

Name your evidence, give a few words of description, and make the first connection between your evidence and your thesis – provide an idea of why you picked this specific evidence to answer the prompt.

We also want to take up space on the page with the introduction of our evidence.

An example of good introduction of evidence:

For this prompt, I might say: “Gandhi, a non-violent leader of the oppressed Indian nation, openly questioned authority and led his people to freedom. Likewise, Amelia Earhart refused to obey the voice of male authority in a time when air travel was in its infancy and dominated by men. And don’t forget, we wouldn’t even be here if the legendary explorer, Christopher Columbus, had not had faith in his sailing route despite the prevailing wisdom of ‘authorities’ that his voyage would never be successful.”

To cap it off: a good SAT essay intro paragraph:

1. Restates the essay prompt

2. Takes a clear side

3. Introduces your SAT essay evidence

How to write a great SAT essay body paragraph 

Good body paragraphs are the “meat” of an SAT essay.

All two/three body paragraphs should be approximately the same length.

The best length for an SAT essay body paragraph is between a third to a half of a page per paragraph.

No need to get fancy; just provide your amazing SAT essay evidence, pick two specific facts that fit, and spend a couple sentences connecting those facts to your thesis.

Stick close to the main keywords of the essay prompt to ensure you’re on-topic.

A well-thought-out plan makes your body paragraphs very easy, so practice brainstorming/first 5 minutes.

That’s because in your planning stage you should be picking the evidence that best supports the SAT essay prompt, so you should already have done the hard work of thinking about your supporting evidence.

Now you just have to write down all that thinking, really quickly, and without going off-topic.

Straying off-topic is the biggest risk in the SAT essay body section. Stick with your prompt keywords religiously.

Not moving quickly enough is the second biggest risk, so practice the following formula, or one similar:

Body Paragraph Formula:

Step 1: Topic Sentence: Introduces focus for paragraph

Step 2: Introduce 1st idea that supports topic sentence

Step 3: Provide specific example

Step 4: Fully explain connection between example and 1st point

Step 5: Transition into 2nd idea that supports topic sentence

Step 6: Provide specific example

Step 7: Fully explain connection between example and 2nd point

Step 8: Appropriate transition and connection to topic sentence

To cap it off, a good SAT essay body paragraph will:

• Transition smoothly from the previous paragraph

• Introduce your SAT essay evidence

• Tie specific facts from the evidence back to your thesis

Conclusion

If you're like most students, you might have questions about the conclusion paragraph of the SAT essay.

This seems to be one of the topics that my tutoring students are most interesting, and everyone tends to have a few questions about it.

First things first, though...

Do you HAVE to have a conclusion paragraph in your SAT Essay?

Every student should know that a concluding paragraph is optional. It's by far the least important section of the essay, and you can still get a perfect score without one.

In other words, if you have a great intro paragraph, and solid body paragraphs that use good examples and evidence, the conclusion is just a footnote.

If you're running out of time and can't complete a whole final paragraph, you could either just gently end your last body paragraph without a separate conclusion, or you could write a one- or two-sentence conclusion instead of a longer paragraph.

That said, a conclusion is nice to have as it rounds off and completes your argument, bringing everything to a convenient stopping point, and leaving the grader with a clear idea of what they just read about.

So, assuming you're going to write a conclusion in your SAT essay...

What does a great SAT essay conclusion need to do?

•  Restate your position for clarity and emphasis.

•  Summarize your argument.

•  Remind the grader of the SAT essay evidence that you used to prove your point so well.

•  Take up space and fill the last few lines of the paper.

•  End with something to think about.

Instead of putting your “hook” at the beginning of the SAT essay, which ensures that it will be wasted and forgotten by the time the grader gives your essay a score, save it for the last line of the conclusion, where it will be remembered and appreciated. Plus, this gives you the whole 25 minutes to think of just one creative idea for your SAT essay conclusion, rather than holding your head in your hands at the beginning as you struggle to think of the perfect hook.

Use your essay's conclusion to put the grader in a good mood:

I had a great student who consistently wrote well-structured, well-reasoned SAT essays with a great use of vocabulary, effective use of evidence, and good handwriting… “the works.”

This student deserved a 12 on every essay they wrote, but he was getting back scores of 8s and 10s.

The reason for his lower-than-expected scores? His pessimism and cycnicism showed through in every essay… he’d prove how World War III is coming any day now, how humans will destroy the planet with carelessness and greed, and how the education system was horribly flawed… go dig a bomb shelter and stock up on Spam. And that’s kind of how his SAT essays would always end.

When advised to end on a positive note, he started getting higher scores.

All he had to do was say, “Despite these myriad failings, humanity has always striven to reach our highest nature. We may make mistakes along the way, but we have infinite potential to learn from our mistakes!

Restate your position and use up leftover time by adding words:

If you have a lot of time left after writing the body of your essay, use it to fill up the page, since longer SAT essays generally score higher!

Good filler material comes from rewording your thesis, or restating your evidence, or coming up with a creative “thinking point” or personal observation that ties in (directly) with your thesis (and yes, your personal observation can be made up.)

Just be careful not to wander off topic at the last second and confuse the SAT essay grader. The conclusion requires laser-like focus to avoid getting confusing at the last second by going off-topic.

Also, don’t be lazy just because it's early in the morning and you want to put your head on the desk. Make the use of any leftover time to proofread.

"Best SAT Essay Format Tips | ESAT Prep ." ESAT Prep . N.p., n.d.

Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

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SAMPLE TASK

“Time has a doomsday book, on whose pages he is continually recording illustrious names. But as often as a new name is written there, an old one disappears. Only a few stand in illuminated characters never to be effaced.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

ASSIGNMENT:

Are there some heroes who will be remembered forever? Or are all heroes doomed to be forgotten one day? Plan your response, and then write an essay to explain your views on this issue. Be sure to support your position with specific points and examples. (You may use personal examples or examples from your reading, observations, or, knowledge of subjects such as history, literature, science.)

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