<p>1) what are the general prompts that the test makers use? like the ideas...</p>
<p>2) what are some strong examples for these prompts? are personal/made up examples stronger or weaker than literary/historical ones?</p>
<p>1) They always start off with a quote and ask you about your opinion about topics like "Is it better to have high expectations or low expectations?" "What motivates change?" and "Have technological advances benefited or harmed humanity?" Stuff like that. Then, of course, they ask you to support your reasoning in a well-crafted essay. </p>
<p>2) It's generally held that literary and historical examples are stronger than personal/made-up ones, because it seems more scholarly and appropriate, but I'm sure that there are just as many top-scoring essays with personal experience examples as there are top-scoring essays with literary/historical examples. The important thing is to have relevant examples and to support your argument by explaining how these examples relate to your topic sentences and thesis.</p>
<p>Here's a link for more information:
<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/essay/pracStart.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/essay/pracStart.html</a></p>
<p>And here's a link to a post I wrote that many people have found useful:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=389570%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=389570</a></p>
<p>The important thing to remember is to try to impress the readers with your clear thought and well-developed argument that you wrote in only 25 minutes! All the top-scoring essays have that characteristic. And this is done by developing an argument with good examples and clear analytical thinking.</p>
<p>If you want more advice, look at RocketReview Revolution by Adam Robinson. It has interesting and good advice on tackling the SAT essay.</p>
<p>Before you start posting essays and asking people to grade them, read this, which I took from another one of my posts:</p>
<p>"You've probably figured out that people on CC generally do not like to read and grade essays! The essay posts always attract few people. </p>
<p>Try getting the rubric that the SAT readers use to grade essays. It's probably available on the CollegeBoard website.</p>
<p>The most helpful piece of advice is to try to impress the readers by how much good stuff you've written in 25 minutes. That means having a catchy introduction, a clear thesis, clear topic sentences, good and relevant examples, commentary that relates the examples to the topic sentence and the thesis, logical and good transitions, and a conclusion that not only restates the major points but also lingers at the end. And throughout your essay, make sure you show your own thinking. That means not so much elaboration on your examples as clearly revealing the depth of your critical thinking about the topic."</p>
<p>Lots and lots of people ask us to grade and comment on their essays. I've graded a lot of them, and I have to say that a lot of the comments I have end up being the same. This is why I suggest that you look at the "please grade my SAT essay" threads on the SAT Preparation forum and read what people have said.</p>
<p>Here's how to grade essays on your own:</p>
<p>Steps:
1. Get a rubric that the SAT readers use.
2. Read a sample 12 essay.
3. Read a sample 10 essay.
4. Why did the 12 get a 12? Why did the 10 get a 10? Try to use the rubric guidelines to support your answer.
5. Read a sample 8 essay. Why did this essay fit the criteria for an 8 but not for a 10?
6. Read a sample 6 essay. Why did it get a 6 and not a 12? Can you cite sections of the essay to support your answer? Why could the writer have done specifically to get an 8? A 10? A 12?
7. Read a sample 4 essay. How would you improve it?
8. Read a sample 2 essay. How would you improve it?
9. Write an SAT essay.
10. What would you give it? Why? Would you be impressed by the essay if you were an SAT reader? If so, you've written a 10-12. If you've written an essay that's pretty good, it's a 7-9. If it's just average it's a 6. If it's below average, if it doesn't really support your argument well, if it's unclear, it's a 4-5. If it's just bad, it's a 1-3. These are general guidelines.</p>
<p>If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. I think I've basically said it all!</p>