Let’s look at the SAT essay and how you can score higher on it.
Your response to the prompt (a persuasive essay provided in your testing packet) is an essay. It is judged based on three criteria:
- Naming the author and title of the prompt; identifying the thesis of the prompt, and summarizing the main ideas in the prompt plus important details.
- Identifying what persuasive techniques the author of the prompt uses, pointing out examples of those persuasive techniques in the prompt, and explaining why those persuasive techniques work.
- Writing your response in standard essay format (an introduction, body, and conclusion) while using excellent, stylish English.
Today let’s look at the first of the three criteria, the summary.
Before you read the essay prompt, I would go straight to the paragraph after the prompt ends. That paragraph directs you to write an essay, but more importantly, it identifies the thesis of the prompt. You don’t need to figure out what the thesis is because the test information identifies it. Underline the thesis and in the margin write “thesis.”
(Yes, you can write in your test booklet. It will be shredded after the test, so no one but you will see it. Write any notes that help you.)
Now that you know what the essay prompt is all about, you can read the prompt aware of what you are looking for, that is, the main ideas backing up that thesis. Underline the main ideas as you read and in the margin next to the ideas write “MI1” or “MI2.” Why? You need to be able to find the main ideas quickly later on. Underlining them and annotating them in the margins makes finding them easier
Usually the prompt is five or six paragraphs, so you might wind up with four or five main ideas, one per body paragraph. But sometimes an author begins the first main idea in the first paragraph and offers the last main idea in the last paragraph. So read carefully.
Now that you know what the prompt is all about you can write your summary paragraph. I would make that summary the first paragraph of your essay. No need for a separate introduction–and no time. In your first sentence, write an overall summary of the essay, and in the next few sentences, identify the main ideas. That’s right. Write a one sentence summary of the article to start your essay.
Remember, the SAT is a test designed to see if you are ready for college. In writing the summary of the essay prompt, the test is asking you to prove you can read and understand college level material, and to prove that by summarizing the material.
How can you become proficient at this kind of writing without working with a tutor like me? Go online to a well-written newspaper and read an op-ed article (an opinion essay on the page opposite the editorial page). Do this several times a week. Download one copy and mark it for its thesis and main ideas. Write a five or six sentence summary. Choose different authors with different writing styles and topics.
Or from your library, take out a book of essays and do the same thing. Or find a book of essays from a resale book store or Goodwill which you can mark. Choose persuasive essays because that is the kind you will be tested on.
English Writing Teacher 