The Essay Slide 2 Facts about the SAT Essay It will be the first
section on your test. You will receive a score from 0 to 12. Two
scorers each assign your essay a score from 1 to 6, with 6 being
the highest possible score, and these scores are then combined. You
must write on the assigned topic. If you write on another topic,
you will receive a score of zero. DO NOT WRITE ON ANOTHER TOPIC.
The essay will count for 30% of your total SAT Writing score. (The
other 70% are M.C. questions on grammar, improving sentences,
etc.). Slide 3 FAQs 1. Is it better to print or write in cursive?
Whatever is more legible; although CollegeBoard says it really
doesnt matter, neatness counts. Write as neatly and clearly as you
can. 2. Should I skip lines, or should I write on every line?
Single space. You only have two pages on which to write your essay,
so dont risk running out of room. 3. Will the length of my essay
affect my score? According to a 2005 analysis of a graded sample of
SAT essays conducted by an MIT professor, the longer the essay, the
higher the score. Granted, this is just a correlation; you must
have strong, specific content, but write as much high quality
content as you can. Slide 4 FAQ continued 4. Should I write in pen
or pencil? Pencil. You get no credit if you write in pen. Also, it
must be a #2 old school pencil (no mechanical pencils). 5. Will the
readers give me any credit for the outline and notes I write on
page 2? No. The readers will read only what youve written within
the lined pages of your student response sheet. 6. Should I prepare
a standard essay in advance and tweak it to fit the topic? No. You
must write on the assigned topic. If you write off- topic, you will
receive a score of zero. 7. Is it better to use personal examples,
or examples from literature, history, etc.? It doesnt matter. The
key is that your examples must support the position you take; if an
example doesnt further your argument, it is worthless. Slide 5
Essay Scoring What does the prompt look like? The writing prompt
presents one or two quotes about an issue and then provides you
with a writing assignment. How will my essay be scored? Two readers
will each give your essay a score from 1 to 6, so your total
sub-score can range from 2 to 12. If you dont write on the assigned
topic, no matter how brilliant your ideas are, youll receive a zero
from both scorers. Slide 6 Essay Scoring How much time do I have?
The essay comes at the beginning of the Writing section, and youll
have 25 minutes to do the following: read the prompt brainstorm
your ideas plan your essay write your essay proofread This may
sound like a lot to accomplish in the allotted time, but the
readers know the time limitation, so theyre not expecting a perfect
essay. Instead, theyre expecting a quality first draft. Slide 7
Essay Scoring What is the key to doing well on the essay? There are
two keys to doing well on the SAT Essay: the right attitude and the
right method. Attitude: If you think of the essay as an ordeal, as
yet another hoop that you have to jump through, it will be hard to
do your best, no matter how well you write. Instead, think of it as
an opportunity to be expressive as opposed to the rest of the test,
where you are answering multiple choice questions. Method:
Accomplished writers often talk about the importance of method.
Stream-of-consciousness may be an interesting literary technique,
but its not such a great way to write an essay. Its best to use
some organization techniques. Those will follow. Slide 8 Essay
Scoring Development and Support Development and Support refers to
the writers ability to respond to the question in the prompt and
follow through with her ideas. This is the most crucial partan
essay that doesnt develop and support ideas will not score well.
Development and Support include: how fully the essay responds to
the prompt. the essays sense of completeness. the essays focus on
the issue and avoidance of fillerextra words or sentences that do
not contribute to the essay. the quality and sufficiency of
examples supporting the writers position. the depth of critical
thinking and reasoning. Slide 9 Essay Scoring Organization
Organization relates to the writers ability to organize her ideas
effectively. Organization includes: the order of sentences and
paragraphs. the use of effective transitions. the flow of ideas
from the essays introduction to its body through to its conclusion.
Slide 10 Essay Scoring Language Language relates to the writers
ability to correctly use a variety of words. Language includes: how
accurately words and phrases communicate the authors ideas. how
well the author varies word choice. the level of vocabulary the
author displays. Slide 11 Essay Scoring Sentence Structure Sentence
Structure relates to the writers ability to correctly and
appropriately use a variety of sentence structures. Sentence
Structure includes: how well the author uses a variety of sentence
types that are correctly punctuated. how well and often the author
varies sentence structure in meaningful and purposeful ways. Slide
12 Essay Scoring Conventions Conventions relate to the authors
ability to write error- free sentences. Conventions include: how
correctly the author uses punctuation (commas, apostrophes,
periods, colons, etc.). the authors correctness in grammar and
mechanics (subject-verb agreement, verb tense, subject-pronoun
agreement, etc.). Slide 13 Essay Scoring Overall Score The essays
are scored holisticallywhich means that the final score is based on
an overall impression. Essay readers wont keep track of your errors
or assign a subscore for each writing element to determine your
final score. The best plan is to make your essay as good as
possible according to all five scoring elements. However, holistic
scoring means that an outstanding job in one of the elements, such
as language, may make the scorer somewhat more lenient if you make
several mistakes with another element, such as conventions. To get
the best score possible, you want not only to improve in your weak
suits as a writer, but also to take advantage of your strong suits.
Slide 14 SAT Essay: The Prompt You will be given a quote. Youll
then be asked to answer a question about the quote. To answer this
question, you must state your position and then support this
position with varied and specific examples. Examples can come from
your personal experience, literature, history, current events,
and/or popular culture. Slide 15 Directions: Consider carefully the
following excerpt and the assignment below it. The plan and write
an essay that explains your ideas as persuasively as possible. Keep
in mind that the support you provideboth reasons and exampleswill
help make your view convincing to the reader. A popular song says,
You dont know what you got til its gone. And Holocaust survivor
Elie Wiesel, accepting the Nobel Prize, said No one is as capable
of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of night.
Assignment: What is your view of the claim that we often appreciate
the things that we have no when we gain them but when we lose them?
In an essay, support your position by discussing an example (or
examples) from literature, the arts, science and technology,
current events, or your own experience or observation. A Sample
Prompt Slide 16 Two people score it, each out of 6, based on
overall impression. Your scores are added together to give you a
number out of 12. Grammar/Spelling, Organization/Structure, and
Style count (so does handwriting) Keep in mind: Theyre reading
THOUSANDS of essays make it easy to give you a 12!. How Its Graded
Slide 17 1. Length 2. Structure 3. Appropriate Examples The 3
Things You Need Slide 18 Length is important. Use most of the
booklet! Depth is better than breadth. Make sure to develop your
ideas at length. Dont just list a whole bunch without support.
Consider your audience. Catch their attention right off the back.
Dont worry about accuracy; they dont have time to fact-check!
Writing the Way They Want Slide 19 Make sure you stay on topic You
need to agree or disagree, and its okay to do either as long as you
are EMPHATIC!!! Address the prompt directly so that the reader
knows youre answering it. Use the Prompt Slide 20 Directions:
Consider carefully the following excerpt and the assignment below
it. The plan and write an essay that explains your ideas as
persuasively as possible. Keep in mind that the support you
provideboth reasons and exampleswill help make your view convincing
to the reader. A popular song says, You dont know what you got til
its gone. And Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, accepting the Nobel
Prize, said No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has
emerged from the kingdom of night. Assignment: What is your view of
the claim that we often appreciate the things that we have not when
we gain them but when we lose them? In an essay, support your
position by discussing an example (or examples) from literature,
the arts, science and technology, current events, or your own
experience or observation. A Sample Prompt Slide 21 If you love the
Five Paragraph Essay youre in luck Intro Topic Sentence/Example 1
Topic Sentence/Example 2 Topic Sentence/Example 3 Conclusion
Everything has to tie back to the intro. Structure Slide 22 You
need to do four things: 1. State your position 2. Interpret the
prompt 3. List the examples that youre going to use 4. This one is
just as important as the other 3: Establish the level of
proficiency of your writing Your Intro Paragraph Slide 23 I agree
that sometimes we learn the most from failure. In fact, sometimes
failure makes us realize things that enable us to act differently
the next time. This important lesson can be seen in World War II,
The Crucible, and the failure of the American peace mission in
Somalia. Good Intro Slide 24 It is totally true that sometimes
failure teaches us. Life is full of situations where if we would
just learn from our mistakes, we would do better. Not As Good Slide
25 Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence that also works as a
transition sentence. Make sure it connects back to your position
(thesis) in your intro. Use only one example per paragraph Body
Paragraphs Slide 26 You must make sure that you develop your ideas
if you want to score well. Spend two or three sentences explaining
the example. Use three or four sentences to connect the example to
your position. Then move on to the next paragraph! Depth is the
key!!! Slide 27 These tell your reader that you are moving from one
idea or from one section of the text to another. Its like holding
their hand Another example of (blank) is This effort was very
successful. Not everyone, however, was so lucky. While beneficial
to some, the new program will harm others. Transitions Slide 28
However While Although Furthermore Despite In addition Therefore
Though Moreover Similarly Another (example, reason, point, etc.)
Transition Words Slide 29 Make sure you have one! Again, youre not
going to gain too many points here, but you can lose them. It
should be around three sentences. Wrap up your idea and leave the
reader thinking about the brilliant lesson on life that you have
just pointed out. Conclusion Slide 30 Essay Scoring What does the
prompt look like? The writing prompt presents one or two quotes
about an issue and then provides you with a writing assignment. How
will my essay be scored? Two readers will each give your essay a
score from 1 to 6, so your total sub-score can range from 2 to 12.
If you dont write on the assigned topic, no matter how brilliant
your ideas are, youll receive a zero from both scorers. Slide 31
Perhaps we can all learn from the loss of others and start to truly
appreciate the wondrous gifts that life has bestowed upon us now,
before it is too late. Life is too short to live with the regret
caused by the failure to do something that is within the grasp of
each of us. Although it seems that appreciating what we have only
once weve lost it is a prime example of 20/20 hindsight, perhaps
the pain of our past losses can sharpen our focus so that we can
truly cherish what we have today. How Cheesy Can I Be? Slide 32
Dont use big words just to sound smart; you wont help yourself.
Just use the best word that you can think of. Make sure to vary
your sentence structure, but dont worry about making every sentence
long and complicated remember, they have to read THOUSANDS of
essays! Make it look pretty indented paragraphs, even margins, neat
handwriting, etc. Odds and Ends Slide 33 These are the bread and
butter of your essay. You MUST have them! Make them accessible and
understandable for the reader. Tie them to your position and the
prompt. You can pick them out beforehand Seriously. Try to use
three examples from three different categories. Examples Are
Crucial Slide 34 They should be events that are taught in almost
every high school in the US. Think of events with universal themes
things you can say a lot about. Examples: The Holocaust, The Civil
Rights Movement, WWII, The Revolutionary War, The Civil War, etc.
Examples: History Slide 35 Anything that has been in the news
lately will qualify here: Syria, Obamacare, The Economy etc.
Examples: the US Election, the Winter Olympics in Sochi Examples:
Current Events Slide 36 Stick to the Classics. If youve read it in
your high school English class, its fine. Try to avoid TV Reality
Shows. As Shakespearean as some of them may seem, they arent
literature. However, dont be afraid to use Duck Dynasty to extoll
the virtues of life on the Bayou. (Just Kidding) Dont spend too
much time explaining the plot; focus on the themes. Examples: To
Kill A Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, Things Fall Apart, Of Mice
and Men Examples: Literature Slide 37 You can make these up! How
are they ever going to know if youre telling a true story or not?
Try not to go too far overboard though Just make sure to relate
your experience to the prompt. Examples: Personal Experience Slide
38 Two people score it, each out of 6, based on overall impression.
Your scores are added together to give you a number out of 12.
Grammar/Spelling, Organization/Structure, and Style count (so does
handwriting) Keep in mind: Theyre reading THOUSANDS of essays make
it easy to give you a 12!. How Its Graded Slide 39 There is no real
markup of your work. The reader gains an overall impression from
reading your essay and scores it based on that impression. There
are no numbers of spelling, grammar or punctuation errors that
translate into a specific score. No single aspect of the essay can
be the determining factor in the overall score. IN SHORT ITS
APRETTY SUBJECTIVE PROCESS How Its Graded What Is Not Done Slide 40
1. Length 2. Structure 3. Appropriate Examples The 3 Things You
Need Slide 41 How to Write an Essay in 25 Minutes The following
slides will take you through what you should be doing during each
minute of the 25 youre allotted to write the SAT Essay. HERES A
SAMPLE PROMPT Slide 42 SAT Essay: Sample Prompt If we rest, we
rust. This statement is certainly true; inactivity and lack of
exertion over time can cause our skills to deteriorate through
disuse. In fact, people who have ceased practicing an activity for
a long period and who attempt to take it up again frequently are
thwarted in doing so because of the decline of their skills. Do you
think that rest has a detrimental effect on us and that we must
keep active to avoid losing our edge? Plan and write an essay in
which you explain your position on this issue. You may use examples
from history, literature, popular culture, current events, or
personal experience to support your position. Slide 43 Minute One:
Analyze the Prompt If we rest, we rust. This statement is certainly
true; inactivity and lack of exertion over time can cause our
skills to deteriorate through disuse. In fact, people who have
ceased practicing an activity for a long period and who attempt to
take it up again frequently are thwarted in doing so because of the
decline of their skills. Do you think that rest has a detrimental
effect on us and that we must keep active to avoid losing our edge?
Plan and write an essay in which you explain your position on this
issue. You may use examples from history, literature, popular
culture, current events, or personal experience to support your
position. Ask yourself: what exactly is this prompt asking me to
do? Underline the question(s) and given task(s): Do you think that
rest has a detrimental effect on us and that we must keep active to
avoid losing our edge? Plan and write an essay in which you explain
your position on this issue. Slide 44 Minute Two: Brainstorm
Brainstorm potential examples you could use that are connected to
the prompt: Do you think that rest has a detrimental effect on us
and that we must keep active to avoid losing our edge? Personal
experience: example #1: rest is necessary to avoid injury: stay
active with running, swimming, etc. but rest is necessary to
improve and to avoid injury (overtrained for half marathon:
injured) [opposes prompt]; example #2: rest is necessary to avoid
mental burnout as well: took graduate classes for 6 years in a row,
and although I did well, the classes became more about the credits
and less about actual learning. Similarly, consider senioritis with
students, and how ready they are for a break from schooling.
[opposes prompt] Slide 45 Brainstorming continued Current events:
Literature: History: Sports and activities: even professional
athletesthe most well- conditioned human beings in the worldrequire
rest to avoid injury, and they still get hurt. Consider the short
professional life of an NFL runningback for example, and how few
games are played in an NFL season (in fact, current event: players
opposing the proposal of adding games to the season). [opposes
prompt] The arts: Science and technology: consider current society
and its rapid technological growth; the concept of the singularity
where technological growth has become exponential, increasing at an
increasing rate. Ray Kurzweils theory that well reach a point in
only a few decades where technological advancement is so
significant that it changes the way our society functions. [favors
prompt] Slide 46 Minute Three: Take a Stand (Write your Thesis)
Look at your evidence and decide what position you are going to
take in response to the prompt; will you support it or oppose it?
Keep in mind that what you personally believe is much less
important than what your strongest and most specific evidence
supports. Choose the position that will allow you to write the best
essay. Write your thesis: respond to the prompts question by
stating your position clearly and succinctly; the entirety of your
essay should then support this statement. Avoid I believe that
phrasingif this is the way you think of your thesis, simply take
that beginning phrase out before you write the final version. Slide
47 Minute Three: Take a Stand (Write your Thesis) [supports prompt]
If we rest, we rust: inactivity and lack of exertion lead to loss
of vitality and to decay. [opposes prompt] If we rest, we do not
rust: our times of rest enable us to restore our mental and
physical energy and to gain perspective on our lives. [opposes
prompt] Staying mentally and physically active is crucial to our
health, but rest does not cause us to rust; in fact, calculated
rest can allow us to achieve at our greatest potential, avoid
injury and burnout, and thus give us an edge over those who would
avoid rest. Slide 48 Minute Four: Outline Your goal is to produce a
four or five paragraph essay that includes a brief introduction
with a clear thesis, two or three body paragraphs that support the
thesis with specific examples, and a conclusion that restates your
thesis. Your most important job in this essay is to prove your
writing competence, not to demonstrate your original literary
style; show the readers that you know how to write an introduction
with a clear thesis, at least two body paragraphs with supporting
examples, and a conclusion. Slide 49 Minute Four: Outline contd I.
INTRODUCTION: State your overall thesis If we rest, we rust:
inactivity and lack of exertion get in the way of progress and lead
to the loss of vitality and to decay. II. BODY PARAGRAPH #1 Topic
Sentence: State the supporting point of your first body paragraph:
We have to keep moving to keep up with others and to avoid falling
behind. This is as true for industries as for individuals.
Examples: Provide specific examples that support your argument. Be
as detailed and specific as possible; give names, places, events.
A. U.S. auto industrys decline: GM vs. Honda; B. Outmoded
technology: pay phones, cassettes III. BODY #2 (rinse and repeat)
IV. BODY #3: Write a third Body ONLY if you have time to write your
Conclusion. IV. CONCLUSION Recap: Summarize your argument,
restating your main points (1 sentence). Expand your position:
apply your argument on a broader, universal level. So what? How
does this apply to everyone? Slide 50 Minutes Five to 17: Write!
Remember: write neatly but efficiently since your time is limited.
If you need to delete something, you can cross it out rather than
taking the time to erase it, without penalty. Slide 51 Minute 18:
Reality Check You should have been writing for 12 minutes straight,
and you only have seven left. If youre barely through your first
body paragraph, then you should abandon the idea of writing three
body paragraphs. Instead, go for your intro, two body, and a
conclusion. Slide 52 Minute 19 to 22: Wrap It Up Finish whichever
body paragraph youve been working on (should be second or third
body), and bring your essay to a close. Slide 53 Minute 23: Read
and React Although you cant read your essay out loud, read it to
yourself (this is one of those times when its okay to listen to
that voice in your head). Do the ideas and the sentences flow into
the next? If they dont, add transition words (therefore, however,
nevertheless, similarly). Is a key example missing? Add it. Does
any sentence or word seem out of place? Delete it. Do recognize,
however, that if your outline was good, your content should be
good. Dont try to do too much here. Slide 54 Minute 24: Proofread
Think of yourself as an editor. Look over your essay for any
run-ons, other grammatical issues, or spelling errors. Correct
them. Remember that you can cross things out that you want deleted,
rather than erasing them. Slide 55 Minute 25: Reword, Reread,
Relax. Look over your word choices: are there any verbs that could
be made stronger or more active? Any adjectives that could be made
stronger or more precise? Any vague words for which you can come up
with more precise synonyms? For example: Instead of keep our skills
from going bad we could say keep our skills from deteriorating
Instead of not important we could say insignificant Again, dont do
too much; simply replace a few words with stronger, more precise,
or higher level vocabulary. And DO NOT attempt to use a word whose
meaning you do not know. Relax and breathe for the 10 to 15 seconds
that you have left. Slide 56 The SAT Scoring Guide See handout Pay
attention to key descriptors from the rubric. For example: Slide 57
A Score of 6 A 6 is outstanding and demonstrates clear and
consistent mastery. A typical 6: effectively and insightfully
develops a point of view[and uses] clearly appropriate examplesand
other evidence to support its position [responds to prompt
persuasively and provides specific supporting examples] is well
organized and clearly focused, demonstratingsmooth progression of
ideas [organized and uses transitions between sentences,
paragraphs, and ideas] [uses] a varied, accurate, and apt
vocabulary meaningful variety in sentence structure free of most
errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics Slide 58 A Score of 4 A 4
is competent and demonstrates adequate mastery. A typical 4:
develops a point of view on the issue and uses adequate examples,
reasons, and other evidence to support its position is generally
organized and focused and demonstrates someprogression of ideas
exhibits adequate but inconsistentuse of language and uses
generally appropriate vocabulary some variety of sentence structure
some errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics Slide 59 A Score of 2
A 2 is seriously limited and demonstrates little mastery.
Additionally, its flawed by ONE OR MORE of the following
weaknesses: develops a point of view that is vague or seriously
limited and provides inappropriate or insufficient examplesto
support its position is poorly organizedor demonstrates serious
problems with coherence or progression of ideas Uses very limited
vocabulary or incorrect word choice frequent problems in sentence
structure contains errors in grammarso serious that meaning is
somewhat obscured
