<p>I know many people say reading classic books help you write SAT essays better, but that’s not really true if you can’t analyze the book properly. </p>
<p>I’ve thought about reading books full of critical essays on classic novels. Will that help my essay writing? </p>
<p>Will sparknotes suffice?</p>
<p>You need reading material that is well enough written to teach you good habits, but is also interesting enough to hold your attention and make you want to read more. You also need to practice writing because reading alone won’t improve your writing ability. IMHO magazines such as the New Yorker, the Economist, and Atlantic Monthly, and newspapers such the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are all great options. </p>
<p>Although more complex than SAT essays, high quality magazines–like those I mentioned–are full of well written essays that will make you smarter. A good newspaper article also generally has a thesis and uses supporting evidence, thereby modeling some of the strategies you should use on your SAT essay.</p>
<p>If you want a real workout, find 3 articles that say different things but are all somehow related to an interesting topic. Think of a prompt related to the topic and write a ‘5 paragraph essay’ based on information from the articles. Get feedback from a good writer. </p>
<p>You will improve significantly if you do a few rounds of this.</p>