How to Ace the SAT Essay: A Skilled Tutor Teaches the SAT Writing Test

By Valerie Estelle Frankel

Learn how to create a dynamic hook and thesis, budget your time, and make killer outlines. Write quality paragraphs full of specific facts and clever insights. Learn where to get your information by reading the right books, visiting the right websites, and even watching the right movies! With a bonus section on Grammar, Idioms, and Verb Forms for the SAT Writing Test, this book has everything you need to succeed. Worksheets on grammar, style, and content, exclusive essay prompts available nowhere else, and much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Valerie Estelle Frankel
• Release date: Dec 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301133888

Valerie Estelle Frankel

Valerie Estelle Frankel has won a Dream Realm Award, an Indie Excellence Award, and a USA Book News National Best Book Award for her Henry Potty parodies. She's the author of 75 books on pop culture, including Doctor Who - The What, Where, and How, History, Sherlock: Every Canon Reference You May Have Missed in BBC's Series 1-3, Homages and the Highlands: An Outlander Guide, and How Game of Thrones Will End. Many of her books focus on women's roles in fiction, from her heroine's journey guides From Girl to Goddess and Buffy and the Heroine's Journey to books like Women in Game of Thrones and The Many Faces of Katniss Everdeen. Once a lecturer at San Jose State University, she's a frequent speaker at conferences. Come explore her research at www.vefrankel.com.

Book preview

Scoring and Evaluating the SAT Essay

The first section of the SAT is always a 25 minute essay on a rather general prompt such as courage or honesty. Some are famous quotes or excerpts from essays. There’s a collection of sample prompts available in this book, and there are many on the web.

Some people have trouble preparing for the essay since it’s not graded as clearly as the grammar or math problems, but the graders have clear criteria. Two graders look over the essay and each gives it a score between 1 and 6. An off-topic essay earns a 0. If the graders give it a 4 and a 5, that’s a 9 out of 12. If they give it scores too far apart, such as a 3 and a 5, a third grader breaks the tie. This score out of twelve forms a large portion of the SAT Writing Score, which is determined by the one essay score plus the score on two SAT sections of grammar questions. This book focuses on the trickiest section: the essay.

Step One: Write a Good Essay

Basically, a 4 and above is a competent essay, while 3 and below is not a competent essay. That’s one of the first questions the grader asks: is this a qualified, proper essay, or not?

A good essay writer does all of the following:

Shows he/she understands the rules of grammar, spelling, and proper sentences with minimal mistakes.

Varies word choice and sentence style.

Includes a thesis, body paragraphs, and a conclusion

Logical progression of ideas to make an argument

Each sentence supports its paragraph topic, which in turn supports the thesis.

Step Two: Push it from Good to Phenomenal

To earn a six, the essay has to impress two different graders. It can’t just be acceptable – the reader must finish it and think, "Wow, now that’s an essay. Or That was really clever – I never thought of it that way."

A Six essay does the following:

Demonstrates clear and consistent mastery – this author clearly knows all the rules of grammar and writing. (These rules are listed in this book.)

Develops a thoughtful point of view on the issue and demonstrates outstanding critical thinking, using clear and appropriate examples to support its position

Shows excellent organization with clear coherence and smooth progression of ideas

Varies word choice and sentence style skillfully, cleverly, and effectively.

Studies show that essays over 400 words in length receive better scores, as do ones with more literature, history, and scholarly examples.

College Board Official Scoring Guide with Sample Essays:

http://sat.collegeboard.org/scores/sat-essay-scoring-guide

Other sample SAT essays are available on many websites:

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/about/sections/essay

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/409070-sample-sat-12-essays.html

http://www.majortests.com/sat/essay-sample1.php

http://www.collegeadmissionsessay.com/sample_essays.asp

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/cavalcade/PDF/april2005/SAT_ACT_p32_33.pdf

http://www.education.com/reference/article/essay-1/

http://www.sat-essay.net/sample-sat-essays.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/newsat/chapter6section5.rhtml

Sample paragraphs are also used within this book.

Graders are looking for deep thought – a real understanding of the topic. There are several ways to do this: You can apply the topic to current issues and show how they’re affecting lives today. You might add