<p>The essay was the part of the SAT that I prepared least for in my already scant initial review for the exam. That is because I perhaps arrogantly assumed I am am the master of all things having to do with the essay.</p>
<p>While that is an extremely unqualified and probably grossly inaccurate statement, I was neverthless able to write a 12 essay on exam day with relative ease. I thought I'd offer the mechanisms I employed to this forum. If you disagree with anything I say, you are wrong. (Just kidding. Flame away.)</p>
<ol>
<li>Go in with some initial "tools":</li>
</ol>
<p>This has been refuted many times by prep books and no doubt, by people on this forum. But I really think going into the essay with at least some key advanced vocab you think would seem "impressive" is a good idea. I found that going in with a range of preset vocabulary helped me keep from stressing midtest over how to sound "smart" and focus more on writing salient content. A couple of my friends went in with preset quotations too. You would be surprised how malleable some quotes are to different prompts. I think a good feel of what vocab you're going to use will suffuce, however.</p>
<ol>
<li>Try not to pick a side:</li>
</ol>
<p>If you go in neutral on an issue, qualify whenever you can. To pick a well defined side may show decisiveness but to qualify, when done well, shows sophistication. By considering both sides of an issue, you are showing the readers you can think critically and broadly. The more advanced, subtle technique of qualification, that I use, isthe lopsided qualification. Through this, I pick a general side, but I don't make it obvious; or at least, I structure it differently than a simple rebuttal paragraph. I make my thesis two-pronged: "while the issue of ijopfjepofj is ihfiehfipoefh, in certain situation, irhfiepojfeopfj must be put into perspective." Notice how I make the other side of my position a KEY point of discussion rather than a side note I would usually tack on at the end. This gives me a chance to highlight both a decisive opinion while still showing the readers I can think critically, without resorting to a conventional rebuttal paragraph. If you really feel passionatley on an issue, go ahead and pick a side if you can display your full breadth of argumentative and critical prowess. </p>
<ol>
<li>Fill out the two pages:</li>
</ol>
<p>Really, whatever people may tell you about avoiding "filler", write until you can't anymore. If you run out of pertinent things to say, unless you digress into a discussion of why you consider rape to be a fun and fulfilling pass time, the readers will, at the very least, give you points for trying. As long as you get down something to do with the topic at hand, writing past the point of unforced sophistication will never harm you. (There's a study that shows a correlation between length and higher scores. I am not positing that correlation necessitates causation, but I still think the trend is worth noting. I do not have the wherewithal to find it right now, but a Wikipedia search should do the trick for all interested.)</p>
<p>If speed is a problem...well, I don't really know what to say. Just do whatever it takes to fill out the pages. I've never really had this problem so I can't really relate. Just do your best?</p>
<ol>
<li>Esoteric does not always mean better:</li>
</ol>
<p>You don't always have to give deeply academic examples or show off obscure knowledge to seem intelligent. All you have to do is provide examples that effectively connect to the prompt and that strengthen your overarching argument. Don't get me wrong, academic examples are always strongest: history, literature, and current events should be your bread and butter. But you can use relatively common examples without fear of sounding trite.</p>
<p>One of my friends, who is an excellent writer, used examples having to do with the Dada movement and the classical Greek concepts of dike and time(with and accent ague). While smart sounding, I can only surmise that these topics went over the heads of the readers (or reader) to the point where it actually distracted from the point of his paragraph. He ended up with an 11 (still not low, I know) I, on the other hand, used a disgustingly cliched example of the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln and got a 12. Use ANYTHING to strengthen you point, not just whatever you think will make you sound (pseudo)intellectual.</p>
<ol>
<li>If you've got nothing, fabricate:</li>
</ol>
<p>All right, don't start flaming me too heavily on this. I really think that if you trly are at a loss for an example or a quotation, you can, alhtough not liberally, fabricate information. Now, I am certainly not saying your essay should be one big lie; but, if you are thinking of a point and know of an individual who might have said something along the lines of what you're thinking, just go ahead and put it. Seriously, if you've got any common sense, what you "make up" will probably just be paraphrasing at worst. For example, you're not going to say, "As Dr. King once said, 'We must all strive to follow the example of Hitler; our futures depend on it.'" But I think it would be appropriate to say something like, "As Harry Truman once said,'I sure didn't want to drop those bombs, but a ground invasion would have been a hell of a lot worse." Yeah, if you don't have to, then don't. But if you're at a loss, one piece of made up information can certainly help. If you're worried about getting caught, again, if you use common sense, the chances of a reader checking information are extremely slim. If you have moral reservations, that's understandable. I'm just saying that, as a last resort, "lying" may be one of the only real options you have; you need examples, by any means necessary. It's Machiavellian, I know, bit if you're somewhat intelligent, the worst you'll be doing is paraphrasing an actual quote.</p>
<p>If you think it's bad that I'm saying to "lie if you have to", my AP Lang teacher actually reluctantly sanctions this...haha.</p>
<p>All right, hope that helps someone. I may add more later.</p>