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acrosstheuniverse said:

Writing an essay for the SAT may seem like a pretty daunting task. So, in this thread I’ll be posting a new nugget of essay info to help you prepare, improve your writing and having you saying yes to your SAT essay!

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #1

Be Audience Worthy

You may not realize this, but who you’re writing for should have a large impact on what you’re writing. Think about it, would you write an email to your friend about a sweet concert you just went to in the same way you might write a letter to a teacher asking for a job recommendation? I don’t think so. In order to tailor your writing, you might want to ask yourself the following questions…

- how can I connect the message of what I’m writing to who’s reading it? - does my writing have appeal to my specific audience? - what might the interests of the audience be in relation to my own? - is my choice of subject relevant and appropriate?

Think of whom ever you’re writing this SAT essay for as something genuinely interested in what you have to say. Make it a good experience for them. Try to engage their interest and you’ll do well in return.

oLahav said:

I think tip #1 is a great tip! Targeting your audience is very important when writing essays, just as it is in other areas of life.

However, I have a tiny disagreement. I actually think that when writing standardized test like the SAT or any test that involves an essay, the markers are NOT interested in what you have to say. They just want to get the essay over with so that they can give you a mark and move on. Trying to write an original and engaging essay will definitely get you a good mark, but if you’re not 100% confident of your essay-writing abilities, stick to the basics. Remember that what you say is not as important as how you say it when writing essay tests. Also, watch spelling and grammar, that’s what markers usually take off the most points for. And try to keep your essay short- writing 50 pages is impressive, but thinking about the marker’s point of view, it’s better to have to read and mark 3 good pages than 50 bad ones.

When writing regular, non-test essays, the other tips would be more appropriate though.

acrosstheuniverse said:

I definitely agree with your advice to stick to the basics, know your grammar and to keep up the quality more than the quantity. That being said, when writing the essay, you should try to be as engaging and confident in your writing as you can. If while you’re writing you think that the marker is uninterested, your writing will follow in the same direction. The main thing here is confidence. Whether it’s in the basics of grammatical context or holding the interest of your reader, being able to show what you’ve got to the marker is very important.

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #2

Prethink

Because you only have 25 minutes to write your essay, time restraints seem to be a big factor. In order to get all of your ideas written down and expressed in time, prethink your essay before writing. To save yourself time, think of the structure in your head.

Choose a central idea you’d like to focus on, from there gather your thoughts around supporting evidence and claims that support your working thesis. From there you can start writing. Remember to be clear, precise and interesting starting with your quick brainstorming.

By prethinking, you save time, since you don’t have to go back and make as many revisions. It also helps to focus and solidify the basic structure you want to work with for your essay.

lechuck said:

Krista, what do you think about those brain-storm bubbles?

A central idea – surrounded with sub-thoughts. I agree you need to have the idea in your head before you can write it properly. If you try to write on the fly you’re going to dig yourself into a deep hole. I am a visual writer and I need to picture my goal before I can write it. The brain-storm bubbles is the best way for me to do it.

acrosstheuniverse said:

I actually use brainstorm bubbles all the time! I like to start with the phrase “what if” inside the main bubble then branch off from there. To be SAT specific, it would be good to jot down a few brainstorm bubbles to get your started so you’re not in a rut for time. But it’s definitely worth the 2 minutes or less to get your ideas straight before you start actually writing, so brainstorm bubble away!

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #3

Basically, just don’t use it

You want to be as clear and concise with your ideas as possible. This includes leaving out words that can be described as vague qualifiers. Very, basically, totally, truly, so much are examples of words that draw out your ideas and dilute the actual message of your essay.

You can improve your writing by replacing these words with more selective choices that add more description while being more specific and concrete in what you’re trying to say.

For example, instead of saying “the fireworks at the park were so-so, although the weather was very, very warm” you could say “the fireworks at the park were mediocre, whereas the weather was pleasantly warm”. By using descriptive words that carry more value, you get your point across faster and show the marker your breadth of vocabulary at the same time.

Hansikas said:

wow, theses are such lucid tips! :-) My only regret is that i wish i could have had access to them when i was in the process of preparing for my SAT !! I might have actually managed to score a few brownie points on the essay section. But even then,i’ll definitely spread the word for future SAT aspirants. P.S.This community is a real info. capsule .. Way to go!

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #4

Cut the Fluff

When writing your SAT essay, it will be hard not to use language in which makes your language seem longer than it needs to be. Case in point, this last sentence! Which could read: For the SAT Essay it is best to use simple language to get your point across. Tada! Not so hard after all. Common phrases that some may used to lengthen their essays are as follows:

• my personal opinion = my opinion
• ruby in colour = ruby
• which makes = makes
• bit very hard = chomped

These are only a few examples, however I’m sure you can think of more! Clarifying your writing and making your main points clearer for the marker will only be beneficial.

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #5

Paragraph Perfect

The whole idea behind paragraphs is that they help clarify for your reader where one idea starts and ends, as well as leads to the next separate point. Indentation as well as white space help the reader organize what they’re reading into tidbits of information.

Paragraphs should be used so that your ideas flow, but are not stifled by too much information at once. In your SAT essay, you may have around 5 paragraphs or more, depending on how many body paragraphs and supporting statements you wish to bring in. However, keep in mind that time is limit, so structuring your thoughts using paragraphs shows the marker that you had a set plan in which to talk about the different aspects of the question.

From there, you’ll allow your reader to pause between and see the true positive aspects of what you’re saying. Structure here is key!

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #6

Me, My, Ours, We

The SAT Essay will be asking of your opinion of a short reading and you will need to prove such opinions with background information, personal experience or evidence from the reading. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in making the story all about personal experience and so you will be using starters such as “in my experience” or “I once”. This is okay on occasion, but remember you want your essay to be as professional as possible.

If you are going to tell of a personal experience, make sure to reference it back to the main topic always. It is very easy to go onto a tangent, especially with personal stories, so keep this in check. Also, when describing a story, try to link in the most important details simply and then go into specifics in contrast or similarity to the question or topic at hand.

Always remember that it is an essay and not a personal epilogue. It’s great to put your own personal experience into your writing, but always keep in mind clarity, connection as well as reflecting on your main argument or thesis.

Astha said:

Mind…..if i add in?

An ideal essay according to me: is focused; is logical; is clear; is well-structured; is deeply–argumentative; grabs the reader’s interest from the first lines; does not pad; provides illustrative evidence; gives credits to sources.

oLahav said in response to:

I agree about your points Astha! However, they’re hard to accomplish, especially in a 25-minutes SAT essay which is very stressful.

My advice is- practice. That’s the only way to be ready and prepared. If you practice enough you’ll be able to time yourself perfectly so that you can plan an essay, come up with fast ideas, put them in writing, and even save a couple of minutes for last minute revisions. Practice makes perfect!

acrosstheuniverse said in response to:

I think that a lot of these tips are very plausible Astha, especially keeping it logical, clear, well-structured, maintaining interest and not padding. These not only help clarify and simplify things for your reading but really save you time. So, kudos for the great tips!

Oren, I totally agree that practice makes perfect. What can help with this preparation is going over the structure of an essay and drilling the steps to make an essay great. This both improves your speed and problem-solving abilities for when you attempt the real thing.

Astha said in response to:

You both are right practice does make a man perfect and i think if we are regular at writing essays we can probably do all that i said in those 25 minutes.

Also i believe we should always write the essay on a topic about which we are fully convinced, because if we ourselves are wavering from the topic we can never convince the examiner!

oLahav said in response to:

You’re right Astha, it’s important to stick to one side of an argument and not waver from it, otherwise you’d end up with a non-convincing, weak essay. Even if you don’t really believe with an opinion or even care about the subject, you should pretend you do and choose one side in order to write a good essay.

acrosstheuniverse said in response to:

I definitely agree. “Sticking to your guns” as they say, means taking one argument and backing it up as much as you can. Examples, evidence, personal experience and references from the text given are all ways to make sure you don’t waver on your topic. Great advice Astha and Oren!

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #7

Grammar not Grammer, Please not Plz!

Why not seem as professional as possible? It’s something that most markers notice, especially when reading over so many essays one after the other. Good grammar and spelling are crucial to a smooth, flowing piece of writing. It is important to think critically while writing. This means to always be aware that you’re avoiding short forms (abbreviations such as wuz, thanx, cause, gud etc.). This also means keeping your tenses correct and putting everything together with proper punctuation, capitalization and the rest.

If you’re nervous about these sort of rules, check out the English Community as well as the ESL (English Second Language) Community for some great lessons and tips on how to improve.

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #8

Argue but don’t Ignore

It is great to have your own opinion and to back up this opinion with as many examples, perspectives, etc. that you’d like. However try not to discount the other side. It is common to pigeon-hole yourself sometimes by getting so in-depth on one side of an argument. Be sure to step back every once and a while and see what others may say on the topic. Write a “aside” paragraph if you’d like. This not only shows that you’ve done extra research into the topic, but also that you are a whole-picture thinker. You never know, this new perspective may change yours and create an even more interesting discussion within your essay.

acrosstheuniverse said:

Tip #8

Argue but don’t Ignore

It is great to have your own opinion and to back up this opinion with as many examples, perspectives, etc. that you’d like. However try not to discount the other side. It is common to pigeon-hole yourself sometimes by getting so in-depth on one side of an argument. Be sure to step back every once and a while and see what others may say on the topic. Write a “aside” paragraph if you’d like. This not only shows that you’ve done extra research into the topic, but also that you are a whole-picture thinker. You never know, this new perspective may change yours and create an even more interesting discussion within your essay.