Coming up with examples for essays on the spot

<p>I realize that you can make up stuff whether it's a made up book or a made up history event or even made-up personal. But nonetheless, concrete, stoic and established history or events always wins over made-up stuff. How do you guys think of examples in the 25 minutes of the essay on the SAT ?I don't really like reading and when I do read I dno't really "enjoy" it thus nothing really sticks. The only books would be harry potter but that's rather behind my times. So anyone have any suggestions/ideas/strategies for thinking of examples? I did PA World and now AP Us.. but i usually don't come up with history examples on the spot as fast as i would..</p>

<p>Oh man...I think making up history is probably a bad idea. It helps to have a good amount of examples that you can refer to, such a wide range that you can apply them to many different prompts. Cliffnotes some meritous literature. I shall refer you to this thread:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>nice link! and i agree, making up history is bad... make up a book instead! hypothetical examples are never a good idea, but how would they know if you made it up or if they've simply never read it?! Plus, it could be fun :D</p>

<p>IMO, i think it's dishonest, but technically no one said you couldn't - it is allowed I believe, and I've heard of people doing it who got a perfect 12... And if you must do so, make up a book rather than history. It's much more believable, especially if your grader knows history well...</p>

<p>here's my little advice:</p>

<p>Do some brainstorming before the day before the test.</p>

<p>It's that simple.</p>

<p>oh, forgot to mention that! that's what i did! i came up with a list of potential topics the night before, and brainstormed potential books and historical events for each. i ended up not using any of my brainstormed examples, but the confidence from that turned out to be all i needed to write. i felt more prepared, and maybe that made a difference i think.</p>

<p>Think up a believable-sounding author, title, and publication year ahead of time (like right now), then make a story to go along with it while you are writing the introduction.</p>

<p>lol, yeah as a last resort, make up a book and apply it that actually could be fun. wow, tempted to do that</p>

<p>You shouldn't come up with essay examples on the spot. Prepare before hand; brainstorm a list of topics. The SAT essay topic is so vague that you can apply ALMOST ANY example to it.</p>

<p>can/should we use "I" in the essay?</p>

<p>some prep books say u can use it...others say you cant..</p>

<p>I would say avoid it. The way my teacher explains why: in any persuasive/argumentative essay, the goal is to raise your point and to convince others that your point is the right one, and a good way to do this is to present it as the fact. Adding "I" and "we" turns your message into your personal opinion, weakening the potential for it interpreted as the right way to think. People have gotten 12s on the essay using it, but I would think it's harder to do so for that reason.</p>

<p>I think if you use I in a paragraph that cites a personal example/experience it's fine just don't throw in a prodigious amount of first persons throughout your essay.</p>