Hello
So I’ve done a bunch of practice essays, and I noticed that I spend a lot of time coming up with what I am going to write. With the 25 minutes that I have, I end up spending 10 minutes thinking of ideas and then the rest writing, which makes me run out of time. I was wondering how to come up with ideas quickly or any SAT essay tips
Thanks
It helps to have an arsenal of examples, ranging from books, films, or video games to historical events or research papers. Many of the prompts are such that you can formulate an opinion pretty easily; pick a side and stick with it.
If you have at least 10 great examples, thinking of examples becomes a lot easier. Use what you read in school and history such as U.S. History and world history can be used too. Personal anecdotes can be sources as well. Rather than writing the full essay, train yourself by just listing two examples and a thesis for a prompt and do this a few times every day and essay writing will become very easy.
it’s always a good idea to have a selection of examples from which to choose. most SAT essay topics are written in a way that makes it easy to apply many different kinds of examples from many different kinds of fields. I’ve personally used the example of Alfred Nobel’s invention of dynamite and subsequent establishment of the nobel peace prize for multiple actual SAT essays. examples are best when taken from history or literature; try to think back to people and events you have learned about throughout your social studies classes or classic books you have read in your english classes.
tip: the classic “Middlemarch” by George Eliot is a great resource for literary examples because of the many intersecting plotlines and complex characters.