<p>As most of you know by now, the SAT essay is no cake walk, and requires thinking maturely, and worldy in just a short period of time. Most of you have probably checked out the thread for getting a 12 in just "10" days, well, here's how I got my 12 in just 2 days (plus, I'm tired of explaining how I did it on every "grade my essay" forum).</p>
<p>The SAT essay is like an octopus. As a whole, with all its components looming before you, it seems like a huge task. Not only do you have to complete it in 25 minutes. But you have to write a lot, with good vocabulary, about worldy items. But when you break it down, when you separate all the tentacles, it really is not all that scary.</p>
<p>The first part is the time. Most people have no idea how to write more than 1.5 pages (if you want a 12, you need to write at least that much) in that short time they give you, but to do this, it's very simple. Most people say to think of examples beforehand, but I say... USE FAKE EXAMPLES!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>The SAT essay is not about thinking of examples that are correct, it is about coming up with examples that are persuasive. Instead of memorizing 20+ examples in depth, you only have to memorize a modicum of information (but we'll get to that). What I did was use real life events as background and then focus in on a fake person. For example, you could use a real war as background, and then focus in onto a general, who is fake, which could be molded into any topic that the SAT throws at you. So now, instead of memorizing a ton of information about history, you only have to know the basic details of the war.</p>
<p>Here's an examples. </p>
<p>This first example is from an essay on the June SAT which scored an 8:</p>
<p>Topic: Do people need to know the source of any information before they use it.</p>
<p>Another reason is that some professions demand it's workers are constantly updated with the latest discoveries and information, thus being exposed to erroneous and unreliable information could drive the worker into making several mistakes, and quite possibly leading to the injuries and deaths of consumers especially in fields such as engineering. Thus it's necessary that one makes sure of the credibility of writers and their sources.</p>
<p>That example is lacking. It is general, and is not very persuasive. By simply creating a fake example, I can be much more persuasive. Here's the example I created in just under 3 minutes:</p>
<p>Checking where information on the internet comes from is very impotant for all aspects of life. For example, Joe Cullen, a structural engineer who specialized in bridges caused the deaths of 22 people, just because he failed to check the source that his information on the internet came from. Joe was on a strict budget for an upcoming bridge project, and so, quickly searched the internet for a cheap source of steel. He found one, and bought it without checking the credentials from where the steel was actually coming from. It turns out that the steel was made cheaply, and was too weak to support the bridge. Sadly, Joe did not learn about that until after it collapsed."</p>
<p>The next step about the SAT essay is format. Some say that any format could get a 12. I say that that could be true, but that one format in particular gets the most 12s. The best format I found is the "3-paragraph body" format. You start with an introduction paragraph, then 3 "examples" for the body paragraphs, and then finally a conclusion. You can break it down even further though:</p>
<p>Opening paragraph: </p>
<p>Start with a hook. It does not need to be long, and it should just be a general statement about the prompt, that you will not mention further in your essay.</p>
<p>Then, restate the question, and after, say whether it is true or untrue. "So the question, "..." is fallacious/true."</p>
<p>Finally, comes your very strong thesis.</p>
<p>And end it all off with, "The evidence throughout history/literature/etc. is very pervasive."</p>
<p>Body Paragraphs (It's good to use 2 fake examples from history, along with 1 literature example sandwhiched between them, so it's good to go over the synopsis of a couple good books before the SAT):</p>
<p>Start with a transition into the example. "The first case where... The next time... Finally... etc.."</p>
<p>Then go into the basic details of the event (where it occurred/ who was involved, etc.)</p>
<p>Then focus in on your specific person who you will mold to the topic, and explain what happened to the person. </p>
<p>Finally, relate it to your thesis (this could actually be done in the middle of the paragraph too, before you focus on the person).</p>
<p>Repeat for all 3 examples.</p>
<p>Conclusion:</p>
<p>The conclusion is the part you should focus on the least, and only really needs to be 2 or 3 sentences that just sums up what you were talking about throughout the essay, and relate all your examples to your thesis one last time.</p>
<p>Here's my 12 essay from March. You can easily identify all the parts of my format throughout the essay:</p>
<p>Prompt: Is it a disadvantage to pay attention to details?</p>
<p>Response:</p>
<p>Details are what make up life. Life is not just sixty or eighty years when one gets by only paying attention to the main idea of everything. If that were true, then every person in the world would be seen as just a person; the little details would not matter - the intelligence, the look, the hair color - all the details that make up who a person is. So, the question, "Is it a disadvantage to pay attention to details?" is fallacious. In other words, paying attention to details is an important part in life, whether making an easy decision, or the most trivial. The evidence supporting this fact through history and life is very pervasive.</p>
<p>The first case where paying attention to details proves to be an advantage is in the Chinese battle of Penghu, in the middle of the 19th century. At the time, the ruler of the Qing dynsasty was the omnipotent King, Kangxi. At the time, the King got into a horrible dispute with the leader of Taiwan, in which no discussion or treaty could solve. So, the King declared war, sending admiral Shi Lang with 100,000 men and 600 warships to attack Taiwan. AT first, the attack was deflected, so the admiral split up the trops. One of the generals of the split up troops, Jiang Tzu, played a large role in the decisive victory that later occurred, all by paying attention to details. As he was in Taiwan, he noticed weird occurrences - one man in his troops did not quite add up, and after looking at the details, he found him to be a traitor, and so, capture d him, found out where the enemy was, attacked, and won the battle of Penghu.</p>
<p>The next occurrence where details play a large role is in "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. In it, Jurghis, his wife, Ona, and her family travel from Lithuania to America to experience the American Dream, but because they did not pay attention to the details, they soon found out it was the "American Nightmare". At the beginning, Jurghis, with the pittance of money he had left, buys a house with a mortgage of $12 a month. But because he did not pay attention to the little details in the deed, he soon found out he owed interest, insurance, and other cots, the money for which he did not have. The family was soon evicted, one family member left, Ona and her baby died, and the others dispersed throughout Chicago, leaving Jurghis to become a criminal. As can be seen, little details play large roles. </p>
<p>Finally, the little details played a large role in the life of Donald Cullen, a wealthy and munificent stock broker of the 1920s. His life was good - he made tons of money, and even gave a lot to charity - but then, as the '30s approached, he noticed the little details, like how many people were buying on a low margin and could easily become in debt, and also how Joe Kennedy ,one accused of insider trading, pulled his money. So when Black Tuesday came, Donald did not have money in the market. The little details helped him to keep his wealth.</p>
<p>To reiterate, little details do, much of the time, add up to huge things. If little details are seen, good decisions can be made, to do big things. But if they are missed, prodigious consequences can occur.</p>
<p>Miscellaneous information:</p>
<p>Just by following all that I've stated above, you can get a high score, but if you really want that 12, there are a couple of key things that must be done.</p>
<p>1) Vocabulary - you do not need to fill the whole essay with amazing vocabulary, but instead, just include a couple key words throughout the essay that show you know what they mean.</p>
<p>2) Example variety. If a reader were to grade an essay where all 3 examples were from the same exact part of history, they might think that the writer was a bit narrowminded, but if they were to read an essay with 2 history examples from two completely different parts of history and the world (even if they're not real), and also with one literature example, then they would think you are a cultured, and knowledgeable person, which would definitely increase the score they give.</p>
<p>3) More example variety. It's not just good enough to use examples from different times and places, but also, to use examples that prove your point in different ways. For example, in my essay, I use two examples that show how it's good if you do pay attention to details, but then I also use an example which shows why it is so bad if you do NOT pay attention to details. By using examples that prove both viewpoints of the question, my essay is strengthened even more.</p>
<p>4) RELATE TO YOUR THESIS!!!!!!!!!!! I know I mentioned this above, but it is just so important, that I had to mention it again. You have to connect each example that you come up with back to your thesis, to show how it proves your viewpoint.</p>
<p>5) Never use an opinion! It may be okay to use first person if you are including an example from your own life (if you really don't wanna use a literature example, but I still advise to use a literature one), but NEVER NEVER NEVER, use first person to state an opinion. Facts are way more persuasive than opinions, and opinions can really hurt the persuasiveness of your essay.</p>
<p>Well that's about it. Just by following all of this stuff, I got my 12, and I'm sure you guys can too. Have fun!</p>