1. Sit next to a partner in the desks that are grouped as twowith handouts on them2. Please take out your DGP

SAT essayIt’s a basic formula! Take notes on the processWe will practice brainstorming

and compose a partner essay, following these rules

Essential question: How can I improve my essay by organizing it effectively and focusing on subject matter and style? (The answer to this will earn you 30% of the total Writing section score. This is the first exercise you complete that early Saturday morning!)

Remember this formula? Use it ONLY for the SAT, not for other classes!

Ends with old school, 2- or 3- prong thesis

On the SAT, you’re proving that you know how to organize a paper so that when you arrive on campus, colleges can trust that you can keep a 10- to 20-page paper organized, too. 

It’s a basic structure

Put together an essay with a beginning, middle and an end

All parts of the essay should be extremely identifiable

This means it serves you well to write in such a way that screams, “OK! I GET THIS!” Get it?

Guest speaker

How are you graded?

Five key ingredients:1. appropriate examples2. organization and focus 3. language and usage (Use your

glitzy vocabulary correctly! Right now, jot down SAT vocab words that you remember! Add “exemplifies,” not “is an example of..”)

4. varied sentence structure5. grammar

The beginningSentence 1: the hook2: explanation or comment

on the hook3: introduction to the topic4: introduction to your

answer to the question5: old-school thesis

statement(This information follows

the recipe on your handout!)

This sample prompt

“I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. ” ~Thomas Jefferson

Prompt: What brings success: determination or luck? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your studies, reading, experience or observations.

Take a moment to brainstormCurrent or recent news eventsLiterature HistorySports and activities The artsScience and technology

Now build a thesis, which must answer the question, offering the specific examples you will develop in body paragraphs

Let’s write a thesis nowConsult with

your partner, deciding which two literary and/or historical examples would answer the prompt

Write the thesis statement on your paper

Essential question: How can I improve my essay by organizing it effectively and focusing on subject matter and style?

“I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. ” ~Thomas JeffersonPrompt: What brings success: determination or luck? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your studies, reading, experience or observations.

1. The hookThis can be any kind of quote, fact or

saying that you think somehow relates to the topic and will grab the reader’s attention

For example: “Today’s preparation determines tomorrow’s achievement,” declares a poster that hangs in many high school classrooms.

(This came from a student who said she actually saw that hanging on the wall in the room where she took the SAT. It worked; she used it!)

As we review these elements …… think about

how you would write the essay

What hook would you use?

Jot down ideas

2.Explanation of or comment on the hookThis is a little sentence that helps

ease you into the topic:The American populace believes the

ideology that effort results in guaranteed results.

This sentence just says “Lots of people think hard work yields success,” but does so in a fancy way.

3. Introduction to the topicThis means we need to think about the

topic, in this case success, overall. Don’t tell your opinion just yet.Instead make sure that we’re all clear that

the essay is about the concept of success and not about the poster in the classroom from the hook.

Sadly, the achievement of success per the American people is not as cut and dry.

Obviously, but now we wonder what defines success (or at least realize that more is to come about this!)

4. Introduction to one answer to the questionThis is the big preparation sentence

that keeps the thesis from sounding like it came out of thin air.

In the United States today, success is defined by celebrity, wealth, fame and power.

Look! This gets the reader thinking about how we define success. The first step in actually answering the question is defining the terms.

5. Old-school thesis statementThesis needs to tell two things:- your direct answer to the question (in

this case, “What brings success?”)- the examples you will use to support that

claim in the order that they will appear in the essay

Those who pursue the ultimate in the American dream, although their dreams may be as disparate as success on Broadway to attaining the most powerful position in the world– the United States presidency– find that success is largely determined by luck.

Take 5 minutes + 5 minutesYou may work with one partner to

write (if you desire)1. Sketch out your ideas for the

introduction in the space provided

2. Then write your complete introductory paragraph on the back of the handout

Follow the recipeThe last sentence in the intro is

your two- (or three-) pronged thesis statement

The middle

Point 1: Intro and brief background

2: Character example I3: Character example

II4: Character example

III5: Summarizing

comment that directly relates to your thesis

Work to put together a list of possible examples for the essay to jog your memory on test day. Your list should include books you’ve read in high school, historic situation (wars, famines) that you’ve learned about, and maybe some influential and/or inspiring people.

Should I get personal?The use of books, movies or history rather

than personal anecdotes allows you to explain the ins/outs of a situation in an analytical sense.

This is difficult to do with a personal situation.

You earn no higher points for enduring difficult situations or personal experiences, btw.

At 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning, you will be glad to have a list of examples.

Point 1: Intro and brief background 2: Character example I 3: Character example II 4: Character example III 5: Summarizing comment that directly relates to your thesis Becoming a “star” in modern culture is deemed a valuable

vocation to pursue. There is no better example of the iconic rise to the top than current Broadway leading lady Sutton Foster. Ms. Foster, Tony award winner and nominee, finds herself at the top of her profession, but not through hard work alone. Her career started at 17 when she auditioned for the national tour of “Les Miserables.” She was offered the job promptly—even as an unknown. So started her road to success. Not long after, she found herself in the chorus of a Broadway workshop. There her luck proved significant again: the lead actress was unable to fulfill her commitments, was fired, and Foster found herself cast as the title role. Although Ms. Foster is a highly talented and well-trained individual, no amount of training guarantees the luck– and precipitate success—that she currently experiences.

The next body paragraph follows the same structure

The same success of attaining the job of U.S. president requires the same final dose of luck. Potential presidents are groomed from childhood to be dynamic individuals with exceptional social skills and fundamental political acumen. They attend the best educational institutions and travel in the best influential circle in the interest of “earning” the nomination. Ultimately, though, preparation succumbs to luck, as the decision is not made by the candidate. Earning a nomination and the election are the product of circumstance, the media, and again, luck.

You have written a thesisNow sketch out the specifics that

you will use to build your answerFor example, if you have listed

“Abraham Lincoln” as a main idea, list two or three supporting details What ABOUT Abraham Lincoln? Be very specific (but these can be bullet points)

You may work with a partner if you desire

4 minutes

The EndThese final sentences tie everything together. It is simply a rephrasing (not an exact copy) of

the argument in your thesisDo NOT allude to the other side of the argument

(that is, don’t say “maybe success is earned…”)And DO NOT introduce an entirely new example

in the last paragraphAlthough you may think that the examples you

have already chosen aren’t as strong as the one you have miraculously thought of in the 19th minute, the strength of your paper is really found in its organization, and you will ultimately be better off leaving out the new idea

Sample conclusion:It is interesting that modern culture defines

success in terms that are circumstantial. Perhaps if success were redefined as personal happiness and peace, the world would be populated by a significantly larger number of “successful” people.

You knew it was coming!How will you bring your essay to

closure? Sketch out this “So what?”

paragraph2 minutes(It’s likely that you will run short

on time during the SAT essay, so I am modeling this need to focus.)

After some final elements of the essay, plan to share

Emergency SituationsMaking up examples,

names, places, facts or even dates for the SAT essay is acceptable

The whole point of the essay is to prove your strong rough-draft writing technique – and to prove this technique using “appropriate examples”

The College Board doesn’t say “true examples”

A caveat …Is the example actually

related to the essay topic?

Is it neither stupid nor in bad taste?

If you pass both of those tests, you’re golden!

However, be careful. You may not be good at making up examples.

How To Up Your ScoreVary sentence structure: Starting a

sentence with Despite, Although, Though, In spite of … will force you to use a dependent clause and put the subject in the middle of the sentence rather than at the beginning.

English teachers (and essay scorers) love this!

Where can you add such words to your introduction? Take a moment to do so.

Use the right word the right wayThey’re versus their versus thereYour and you’reIts and it’sLame words: Replace a lot with many or

multiple or often or frequently. Avoid get and try; instead use attain, attempt, works to achieve

Misusing simple words is like reaching out from your essay and punching the reader in the face. These essay scorers are expert writers; they freak out about the smallest details.

Add these tips to your notes/hand

out for future

reference!

Don’t use contractions

You should exhibit formal writing on the SAT.

No Slang!Just like you want to avoid

informal contractions, you also want to avoid informal language of slang

A character won’t be bummed; he’ll be disheartened

Use the most formal, uppity, professional-sounding language you can muster

Use better vocabularyUse this selection of broad words

that can be applied universally.Ultimately, fundamentally,

quintessentially, significantly, demonstrably, consequently, remarkably, broadly, generally

Where can you add these to your body paragraphs? Jot down the word(s) you like.

No Personal PronounsAvoid I and you like the plague!Instead of saying “I think Dickens

implies that…” just say “Dickens implies that …”

Instead of saying “When you really want something, you tend to work hard for it,” write something more powerful. “Desire produces effort.”

Avoid Passive VoiceThis is just a remote, drawn out

way of saying something, usually by putting the subject after the verb

For example:The game was played badly by

the team.Hester is told to wear a scarlet

letter … (Who told Hester? Could just write: Hester wears a scarlet letter…)

Avoid Extra WordsSteer clear of phrases like

“because of the fact that” and “being as she is” that unnecessarily wordy. Either of these phrases could be replaced with because.

The more powerful writing often uses the fewest words.

Learn, Study and Know Grammatical Rules

The rules for the other Writing section apply to the essay as well! Learn them, own them, and use them!

We write differently than we talk!

Self-fulfilling Prophesy

The essay is the first task you will encounter on test day

Feeling successful on the essay, although it is only 30 percent of the Writing score, can take you into the rest of the test with high confidence!

Let’s practiceMore brainstorming25 minutes to write exerciseHigher scoring essays fall around

350-450 words