When working with students learning how to write an essay for the new SAT exam, I draw diagrams of an essay pattern they can follow. The diagram acts as a prewriting organizer. It shows students an overall perspective of what they must write. Here is a diagram that is easy to follow yet leads to an effective SAT essay.
This diagram separates the persuasive techniques from the summary. In the SAT workbooks, the best essay samples entwine the summary and the persuasive techniques, a more sophisticated pattern to follow.
What is important is to cover all three of the criteria which will be judged: 1) clearly showing that you understand what the essay prompt is all about (the summary), 2) recognizing and analyzing persuasive techniques, and 3) doing all this using excellent English (perfect grammar, a variety of sentence patterns, advanced vocabulary and–most difficult of all–your own voice).
English Writing Teacher 