How bad is a 2290?

citybirds27
Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:41:39 +0000

Warning: Real Advice on the topic

Since you’ve done good at BOTH parts of the writing in the past, then I guess just keep going over the grammar rules that helped you get a 75/80 and the day(s) before the SAT just think about what you can write about on the essay portion…

Someone named Laurel wrote this somewhere and I copied and pasted it to Word:

First rule–carefully read the question, not the quotation that’s in the box. The quotation they use is only to introduce the topic. The question is printed AFTER the quotation, in smaller type. If you write on the topic, but do not answer the question that follows directly, you will lose points.

You have 25 minutes for the essay. Spend the first five thinking and writing an outline that looks like this:

I. Introduction and Thesis Statement

II. Explanation of your position
A. How you logically arrive at your position
B. Supporting example(s) from history
C. Supporting example(s) from literature
D. Supporting example(s) from your experience

III. Summary statement to conclude

The outline should only take you 5 minutes because you are not going to write out the sentences, you are just going jot down your ideas as key words organized in this format. Use a blank page in the exam book.

Write for 15-18 minutes. When you start to write, use the outline to keep yourself organized, and so you don’t forget your main points that occurred to you as soon as you read the question. This will result in a 5 or 6 paragraph essay (you might not have anything for D, for example, so just leave that out). Resist the impulse to add later thoughts–stick to the outline. This is because organization ALWAYS makes anything you write more understandable to the reader, and therefore leaves a more favorable impression. It is at least as important than content, IMO.

Spend the last 3-5 minutes proofreading for spelling, punctuation, legibility & so forth.

Watch your handwriting–print if you have to. If your handwriting is not legible, your argument will not be understood (at best) or you may receive an essay grade of zero (at worst).

Finer points: don’t rely heavily on personal experience, because as a teenager you have very little of it that the readers will understand. Show you are ready for a broader perspective than high school. Don’t use slang–ever. Try not to use writer’s cliches. Longer is NOT better, unless you really have something important to say. NEVER use “etc.” Use metaphor sparingly.

If you are not used to doing these sorts of impromptu writing assignments in class, I think you should practice. Here’s how:

At first, just practice writing outlines, giving 5 minutes. In our Saturday sessions, we did 2-3 of these every week, and didn’t actually practice writing the entire essay until the last 2 weeks. At the beginning, start with the outline guide above in front of you; the more you practice the more at ease you will be with the process.

In order to judge if you are on the right track, you have to see how well you’re doing. If you cannot get the basic outline done with all your ideas plugged in within the 5 minutes, you are writing too much down. Use key words and phrases that will remind you. Do not use whole sentences. To judge if you are making the outline detailed enough, set the outline aside for a day, then go back and look at it. Is it still usable, or have you forgotton what the point was you wanted to make with that key phrase?
When you’re comfortable with the outline process, practice writing a whole essay in order to get the timing down (see above). ALWAYS allow time for proofreading.

How can you practice without questions? Make your own up. Go to your bookshelf & choose some non-fiction. From the introduction, forward, back-cover reviews, first paragraphs of chapters you should be able to lift a quotation as a topic. Then write a simple question which basically comes down to “Do you agree and why?” Another good source for topics is the Book of Proverbs, in the Bible. Also, make use of thoughtful magazines, such as Atlantic Monthly, the Economist, the New Yorker, Human Events, Harper’s (political slant doesn’t matter)-- anything with some meat to it, not Time, Newsweak, and so forth.

I know that this is hard to believe, but when my guys in the study group took the test in March 2005, the essay topic happened to be one we had practiced 2 weeks before. I had pulled the first sentence out of a chapter in a book by James Bovard, a libertarian writer on current events.