SAT ESSAY

SAMPLE ESSAY 2 Read the following passage, and think about how the author uses:           Evidence, such as applicable examples, to justify the argument.           Reasoning to show logical connections among thoughts and facts.           Rhetoric, like sensory language and emotional appeals, to give weight to the argument.   The Last Amateurs A man owns a factory that produces an item consumed regularly by hundreds of millions of captive customers. As his product is a cultural staple, the factory earns billions of dollars every year, and the man becomes extravagantly wealthy. Yet, while this golden empire flourishes, the factory workers toil day after day without compensation, nary a cent passing from the owner’ s pocket to their own. They labor on, resigned to destitution, cognizant of the corporeal cost of their existence. You have been to this sweatshop. You have yelled at the workers ...

SAMPLE ESSAY 1 Read the following passage, and think about how the author uses:           Evidence, such as applicable examples, to justify the argument.           Reasoning to show logical connections among thoughts and facts.           Rhetoric, like sensory language and emotional appeals, to give weight to the argument. The Importance of Studying Philosophy  Consider the work that you must enjoy doing. How do you figure out what to do when complications arise? Relationships with family members, friends and other enrich our lives. What makes those relationships go well? Many forms of recreation contribute to living a good life. But is there any ultimate meaning or purpose to these temporary activities, or even to life itself? Studying philosophy equips us with the skills needed to understand these and many other important questions.    “Philosophy” literally means the love ...

TEN KEY STRATEGIES FOR SAT ESSAY WRITING SUCCESS 1.        KEEP YOUR PERSONAL OPINIONS TO YOURSELF: In SAT, your task is to analyze how the author makes his or her argument, not to make your own argument on the topic. 2.        LOOK FOR WHAT IS GOOD IN THE ARGUMENT-DON’ T IGNORE IT APART: The source text you will analyze will be a well-written argument for a general audience. Carefully look for the skillful ways in which the author uses evidence, reasoning and rhetoric to make his or her argument. 3.        THE PROMPT WILL NOT CHANGE, WHILE THE SOURCE TEXT WILL KNOW THE QUESTION, FORMAT AND DIRECTIONS AHEAD OF TIME: You will always need to write a response that describes and analyzes how the author makes this argument. With the source text changing with essay, but question format remaining consistent, prepare yourself by being completely familiar with what stays consistent with each...

WRITING SKILL BUILDING In addition to having a command of English grammar, your essay should demonstrate excellent writing skills by having the following four elements: 1)       A clear thesis 2)       Good progression of ideas. 3)       Variety in wording and sentence structure. 4)       Precise communication with well-chosen words. 1 Thesis The thesis of your essay is a clear statement of your central claim that previews your argument. Read the following examples to see what poor and good thesis in response to questions would like. QUESTION: Should the penny coin be eliminated? GOOD THESIS: “Since it costs more to manufacture a penny than a penny itself is worth, it is the time that to abandon this antiquated relic, making the nickel the smallest unit of hard currency”. This gives a clear idea of where the author is going to take the argument. QUESTION: Sh...

ANALYSIS SKILL BUILDING The SAT Essay is not a book report: it requires you to analyze the argument of the source text. You need not only to understand what the author has said—you must also articulate why the author has used certain evidence, reasoning and stylistic approaches to make his or her argument. The following charts display some of the major methods that an author can use to persuade his or her audience:                Evidence Type of Evidence                            What is it?  Example Statistics Information from scientific studies are popular polls, based on observation and presented using numbers. “According to a recent study of how teachers allocate their time in classroom management, approximately 15 percent of students in the class monopolize most ...