<p>(Copying from my post on another thread)</p>
<p>Essay: most important is a STRONG STRUCTURE. Start with an intro (reiterating the prompt), two examples (make them up if need be, I always do that: My uncle always used to spend his money on his passion for painting or some stupid made-up-on-the spot example that's relevant), and strong concluding paragraph that once again restates your thesis AND ties it in to some other, broader topic. Structure, structure, structure, and of course strong writing (but it doesn't have to be exemplery) and grammar.</p>
<p>MC: Ok, here's the way I helped my friend study. Most of these MC questions, especially the type where you find the one word that's wrong in the sentence, follow the same type of formula. Many of them try to trick you by making subject-verb disagreement, then filling in the space between the subject and the verb with a really long prepositional clause that confuses you.</p>
<p>Example: Every pet belonging to doctors of the neurological branch of medicine are spotted.</p>
<p>This is a VERY simplistic version, but the main point is that 'pet' and 'are' do not go together. However, someone could easily be tricked because that prepositional phrase 'to doctors of...' makes them think that 'doctors' and 'are' agree, so the sentence is correct. Many MC problems follow this sort of setup. (Like instead of subject-verb disagreement, it might incorrectly compare 'Jane Austen's BOOKS' with 'Charles Dickens', but again insert that long, distracting phrase in the middle to throw you off.)</p>
<p>So try to block out all that pointless stuff in the middle of a sentence and concentrate on the main particles that matter. I've helped my friend raise her SAT Writing by about 60 points this way.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I have an 800 on writing, so if you want to know if I'm trustworthy.</p>
<p>EDIT: And here's an actual question that follows that same tricky format: After hours of futile debate, the committee
has decided to postpone further discussion
of the resolution until their next meeting.</p>