<p>so i've been doing some sat and act practice tests lately. personally, i like the act essay prompts more than the sat prompts, but both are a b itch to start. i don't know if anyone else is like this, but starting an essay is hard enough for me without a time limit, let alone with 25 or 30 minutes to write an entire essay. so, what could i do to get my thoughts a'flowing and my pencil a'writing? i can bs my way through the real life examples and everything else in the essay, but starting one is one of my definite challenges. so basically, its not so much gathering the ideas, but instead it is the first sentence part. do the readers really care if the essay is boring or not? if they dont, then i could start my essay in a bland fashion and continue.</p>
<p>oh, and i'm taking the act is this saturday, so responses need to be quick :P</p>
<p>why don't you just leave room for an intro and then jump right into examples? go back and write some kind of summary of your ideas as an intro later.</p>
<p>normally, for any kind of timed essay, i just write a simple thesis statement for my intro paragraph and jump right into evidence and analysis. I rarely have time to write conclusions.</p>
<p>i dunno how effective this is though...i got 5's on my ap lang and ap world tests last year, and in apush this year i normally get 9's on all my essays.</p>
<p>but on my sat essay in march, i got a 10/12 =(</p>
<p>of course i think my analysis of evidence was flawed. and my conclusion kind of contradicted my whole essay b/c i ran out of time and couldn't finish it, lol.</p>
<p>anyways, hope your act goes well.</p>
<p>so, basically you just write a thesis (ie, I do not necessarily agree that....)? hypothetically, that seems like a fine idea, considering that (from my research) the readers just score essays based on mechanics, thesis, support, etc. rather than appeal/style.</p>
<p>You could start off by writing your thesis (don't write 'I do not necessarily agree...'; be more decisive) and then state what examples you will use. Then start writing your body paragraphs.</p>
<p>By decisive, I mean this. Let's say the question is, "Do you agree that incentives should be used in classrooms to stimulate learning?" You would not say as your thesis that "I do not necessarily agree that incentives should be used in classrooms." You would be more decisive, like "Incentives are a good method of stimulating productivity in the classroom," or "Incentives should not be used in classrooms," or "Incentives should be used in elementary school classrooms and should be employed less and less as the grade level increases." Those are good theses, because you're saying something debatable that you will back up in your essay. Something like, "I do not necessarily agree that..." isn't debatable.</p>
<p>right on. thanks for the help guys. for some reason, i've always felt the need to start with some flowery quote or adage; this cleared that up.</p>
<p>In AP English Language & Composition we learned that writing a single sentence for the opening paragraph, your thesis, was a perfectly acceptable way to write an essay. I don't think the people on the SAT or the ACT would mind if you do that ^.^</p>
<p>Also with the SAT's there are certain examples that work for a lot of prompts (Lord of the Flies, World War II, American Revolution, The Scarlet Letter to name a few)</p>
<p>I have the same problems, I always take a lot of time to start an essay. The comments of the posters above are surely helpful.</p>