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Essay made easy peasy

Tackling the Essay
Use this easy-step method when tackling the essay:
Step 1: Read and interpret the prompt.
Step 2: Brainstorm.
Step 3: Outline.
Step 4: Write.
We’re going to detail each step to show you how you can achieve a well-organized, well-supported, and well-written essay. But first, some suggestions for how to break up your 25 minutes among each step:
StepSuggested Time (Minutes)
Read and interpret the prompt.1
Brainstorm.3-–4
Outline.2-–3
Write.around 15
Proof/Edit.1-–2
Note that these times aren’t exact. A prompt that requires more brainstorming—say, on something you’ve never considered before—might need a minute more; a prompt for which you have almost too much to say might require an extra minute or so for the outline.
The more you practice this method, the quicker you’ll get at each step and the more time you’ll have for step 4, the writing. Notice, too, how this method separates the achievement of the three goals into separate tasks:
GoalStep
OrganizationSteps 1, 2, and 3
Support
WritingSteps 4 and 5
Let’s look at each step in depth to see how each prevents typical errors and advances you toward your goals.
Tackling the Essay Step by Step
Step 1: Read and interpret the prompt (1 minute).
Prompts, as you now know, are written in purposely general terms. The SAT wants to make these prompts open to as many different types of answers as possible. To make sense of the prompt, you need to consider the terms being used. For example, if the prompt asks about “freedom of speech,” you first have to determine what that term means to you. Is it the freedom to say whatever you want whenever you want, or is it the freedom to say whatever you want so long as it doesn’t harm another person? Also, in defining the terms, you’ll be working toward your thesis statement, which is a one-sentence explanation of your position or point of view.
Step 2: Brainstorm (3–4 minutes).
Brainstorming means using the space beneath the prompt to jot down a few ideas that come to mind. Depending on the prompt, you may know exactly which position you’d like to take.
In that case, start listing reasons and examples. However, you might not know which side of the argument you want to take. If you find yourself in this situation, use a T-chart to organize your brainstorming. Here’s an example:
ProCon
reasonreason
exampleexample
reasonreason
And so on.
Brainstorming helps you decide what position to take and what ideas and examples will support it. You’ll generate your thesis statement here, after you’ve chosen which side to take. These are important features of the scoring rubric.
You’ll soon get a chance to use a T-chart in our slow-motion example.
Step 3: Outline (2–3 minutes).
The number one mistake you can make is not to take at least a couple of minutes to create an outline. Organization is one of the key criteria by which you’ll be judged. The outline is where you select and arrange your supporting reasons and the examples that back them up.
Your outline does not have to be pretty. Your outline should match the final structure of your essay:

I. Intro

      A. Thesis statement

      B. Reasons for thesis statement

II. Reason 1

      A. Example/evidence in support

      B. Example/evidence in support

      C. Example/evidence in support

III. Reason 2

      A. Example/evidence in support

      B. Example/evidence in support

      C. Example/evidence in support

IV. Reason 3

      A. Example/evidence in support

      B. Example/evidence in support

      C. Example/evidence in support

V. Conclusion

      A. Restate—but don’t repeat—thesis statement

      B. Expand thesis to larger point or relate to another area (optional)

Now, some very important points about the outline. Let’s do it as a Q & A:
  1. Do I have to have a thesis statement?
  2. Yes. That shows that you’ve taken a position, that you have a point of view, and that you’re thinking about the promptcritically.
  3. Should I introduce all my reasons in my intro paragraph?
  4. Yes. It builds out the paragraph, introduces what’s to come (which lays out a “map” for the flow for your readers), and it can also flesh out your thesis statement.
  5. Do I have to have three reasons and three examples or pieces of evidence?
  6. No. You can have two reasons, each of which has four examples. But you must have at least two reasons, and they must be well supported. You can also have only two pieces of evidence for each reason if you have three reasons, but avoid having more than three reasons, as you’ll likely run out of time or insufficiently support one or more of the reasons.
  7. Do I have to have a conclusion?
  8. Yes. Round out your structure by restating the thesis. Do not use the same words—remember, vocabulary variety is part of the scoring rubric.
  9. Is expanding my thesis to a larger point really optional?
  10. Yes. If you’re sure you’ve covered everything, you’ll add this later, as you’ll see below.
Step 4: Write (around 15 minutes).
OK, steps 1, 2, and 3 took care of creating the kind of support and organization you need to impress your readers. Time to turn to issues of writing. By this, we mean all the concepts we introduced in the Essential Concepts section. Your job is to make sure your language is as clear, varied, and forceful as possible.
Organization and support are taken care of; you don’t need to worry about what you’re going to write, but how you’re going to write it. Concentrate on clarity, variation of sentence structure and vocabulary, and the transitions between sentences and paragraphs.
We’ll practice this together in a moment.
Step 5: Proof/Edit (1–2 minutes).
Don’t blow off this step unless you’re really pressed for time. Catching and fixing writing errors and adding new thoughts that might come up will raise your score. You won’t necessarily come up with new thoughts to change your essay, but leave a minute or so just in case.
If you’ve covered everything, and you feel you have a decent way to expand your thesis or relate it to another area, go ahead. But this is optional. We’ll show you an example of a legitimate expansion shortly.
Tackling the Essay in Slow Motion
You’re now ready to work through an entire SAT essay experience.
This will not be timed; we’re working on method now, not speed. If this takes you up to about an hour, as opposed to exactly 25 minutes, that’s fine. In order to demonstrate the step method in action, we’ll do this essay in slow motion, making all thought processes explicit.
We want your practice to be as realistic as possible. So before you start this exercise, do the following:
  • Prepare essay sheets. Get two sheets of college-ruled 8 1/2"-by-11" paper. That’s about the size of your actual Student Response Sheet. Count off about 50 lines and give yourself left and right margins of about a half inch each. That’s about the size you’ll be given. We’ll refer to these sheets of paper as essay sheets throughout the exercise.
  • Give yourself some planning space. In addition to the 50 lines above, give yourself about two-thirds of a separate sheet of paper to plan your essay. We’ll refer to this sheet of paper as the planning space throughout the exercise.
  • Use the two-column method. We suggest that you separate your planning space into two columns. Use the left column for steps 1 and 2, defining terms and brainstorming. Use the right for step 3, outlining. You’re much less likely to run out of space for your outline that way.
We’ll let you do the steps on your own. After you’ve completed each step, we’ll show you our version for comparison.
When you’re all set, start with step 1 below.
Step 1: Read and interpret the prompt.
On the following page is that prompt from the beginning of the book. Read it carefully.

Essay Prompt:

Think carefully about the issue presented in the quotations and the assignment below.

1. Technological progress, while often beneficial, has nevertheless outpaced human social and ethical development. We lack the wisdom to manage these increasingly dangerous tools.

                  —Adapted from Hugh B. Riis, “Techno-hazard”

2. The past four centuries have seen the greatest improvement of the human condition in history. Technological progress, while not without its pitfalls, holds out the possibility of achieving a healthier and more humane society in which people lead richer and longer lives than were ever thought possible.

                  —Editorial, “Technology: The Way Forward”

Assignment: Is technology dangerous, or does it provide a way to solve our problems? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your position on this issue. Support your point of view with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

In the left column of your planning space, jot down how you interpret or define technology and progress.
Also, are you sure you know what ethical development and human social development mean? How about the human condition? Define them if they seem too broad.
Don’t try to be “deep”; just think a little and start refining these terms if they’re not clear.
Don’t worry about taking a few minutes to work this out. The skill of interpreting the prompt is critical to all the rest of the steps in this method. You’ll get faster as you practice.
Our Version
Notice that each quote is balanced. Quote 1, which is mostly against technological progress, admits that it’s often beneficial. Quote 2, which is mostly for technological progress, notes that it’s not without its pitfalls.
This kind of measured terminology is not uncommon and shouldn’t throw you. The SAT is just trying to make the prompt as answerable in as wide a range of ways as possible, without prejudicing any test-taker one way or the other (pro or con).
Here’s how we interpreted the quotes:
  • Quote 1 maintains that we humans haven’t caught up morally to our technological power (technological progress . . . has outpaced human social and ethical development . . .). Therefore, we’re not wise enough to manage these tools.
  • Quote 2 says that even though technology has its dangers, it’s still the best hope for improving human life.
Here’s how we defined our terms:
  • We defined technology as “modern machinery or technical processes, like nuclear energy, cars, the Internet, genetic engineering, or medicine.”
  • We defined progress as “when more and more people’s lives are made better and better.”
You may have defined these terms differently—no big deal. But these are examples of what you have to do to make the prompt “answerable” and to display your ability to think critically.
Remember, there’s no right or wrong answer here. Unlike a history or literature essay test, you don’t have to provide any absorbed facts. The SAT essay is the ultimate open-book test: you can literally “make up” your answer!
Finally, don’t worry about handwriting in the planning space—that’s all for you. You’re graded only on the essay itself.
Step 2: Brainstorm.
Make a T-chart like the below in the left column of your planning space to generate ideas and examples (i.e., evidence) you can use for either side to see which one you’d like to do:
ProCon


















When you’re done, generate a thesis statement. This doesn’t have to be beautifully written; you’ll have time for that in step 4: writing.
Feel free to take a few minutes or more to brainstorm. We want you to internalize this method; there’ll be plenty of time to get faster once you know how to do it.
Read on when you’re ready.
Our Version
We didn’t feel we had a clear opinion one way or the other; we saw both sides of the issue. So we made a T-chart and started scribbling down reasons and examples:
Pro TechCon Tech
longer life spansmore people—can’t support them all; ecological stress; fewer resources; more wars
medicines, better health care, public healthweapons of mass destruction
more art/entertainment: TV, Internet, video games, electric instruments, travelaccidents from WMDs or from nuclear power
more wealth—computers and business, more jobsglobal warming; environmental destruction; new diseases traveling around the world
more time to do more things as travel and computers get cheaperthreat of altering ourselves genetically



loss of privacy—surveillance technology



less quiet time—more stress
Looks like we’ve got more material on the “con” side, so we’ll go with that. Go with the side that has the most material. You’re judged on how well you support your argument, not what side you take.
Here’s our quick-and-dirty thesis statement:
Technology, while not totally negative, causes more problems than it solves, and should therefore be controlled.
Not pretty, but it describes a position/point of view.
Step 3: Outline.
Use the right side of your planning space to jot down your outline.
You need to decide which of your brainstorming points are reasons, which are examples you can use as evidence, and which order to put them in.
Take the time you need to get the hang of creating an outline. Outlining is where a lot of the hardest writing work is done.
Use the model outline reproduced below for reference:

I. Intro

      A. Thesis statement

      B. Reasons for thesis statement

II. Reason 1

      A. Example/evidence in support

      B. Example/evidence in support

      C. Example/evidence in support

III. Reason 2

      A. Example/evidence in support

      B. Example/evidence in support

      C. Example/evidence in support

IV. Reason 3

      A. Example/evidence in support

      B. Example/evidence in support

      C. Example/evidence in support

V. Conclusion

      A. Restate—but don’t repeat—thesis statement

      B. Expand thesis to larger point or relate to another area (optional)

Read our version when you’re done.
Our Version
Pay attention to both sides of your brainstorming chart when creating an outline, as sometimes a positive statement can help you form an argument against it. For example, one of our reasons will be that longer life spans, due to better medical technology, are causing a population explosion.
Here’s our thesis statement:
Technology, while not totally negative, causes more problems than it solves, and should therefore be controlled.
And here’s our outline:

I. Intro

      A. Thesis statement

      B. Reasons for thesis statement

II. Medical advances cause population explosion

      A. More people mean fewer resources; more wars: oil wars in

            middle east

      B. More people mean more travel (made easier by tech) and

            spread of disease

      C. Coming genetic alteration of humanity; eugenics becoming

            possible

III. Ecological stress

      A. Fewer resources as population grows—oil

      B. Global warming as more people burn fossil fuels

      C. Environmental destruction killing species

IV. Imminent dangers

      A. WMDs—technology spreading; terrorism; accident

      B. New diseases from rise in population and travel: HIV, Ebola

      C. Loss of privacy as terrorism rises; end of democracy?

V. Conclusion

      A. Restate—but don’t repeat—thesis statement

      B. Expand thesis to larger point or relate to another area (optional)—end of democracy?

Note a few things about our outline:
  • We thought of more evidence as we made the outline. That’s to be expected and is a good thing! Furthermore, we didn’t use everything from our brainstorm. You don’t have to shove it all in. As you make decisions on structure, via the outlining process, you’ll discard some ideas and include new ones.
  • We only filled in the middle paragraphs with actual reasons and their supporting evidence. Why? To save time—we already know that the first paragraph will contain a thesis statement and introduction, and that the last paragraph will restate the thesis statement and maybe expand it a bit.
  • We put one idea—end of democracy—in two places. You don’t have to make every decision up front in the outline. We may use this idea in either of two places, or we may chuck it. We’ll find out as we write.
  • We wrote this out more completely than you would. Your outline probably looked more notelike than ours. That’s fine. Onlyyou need to understand it.
Step 4: Write.
Use your essay sheet to write your essay. Refer to your outline: follow that structure and don’t make any changes to the structure in the middle of your writing. You’ve thought through your structure: trust that structure. Now concentrate on using the clearest, most correct, and most varied language you can to express your ideas.
Resource http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/bo
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