<p>hey all..
im actually a bit confused bout the essay on the SAT. what i wanna know is that is it advised to try n use very high vocab and flowery language or is it wrong.. i always seem to recieve conflicting answers to this...
thanks...</p>
<p>It should be your own writing. Just as in school papers, you shouldn't try to memorize a bunch of words from the thesaurus or "cool" sounding metaphors. Its far better to write in your own style. If you use "big" words and flowery language in your writing go ahead.</p>
<p>hmm.. thanks... but the thing is I keep readin everywhere that these guys want a "SAT LEVEL VOCABULARY" . also another thing i wud like to know is how do i demonstrate a meanigful and varied sentence structure???</p>
<p>You should use an elevated language, if you can, but you shouldn't make it sound fake. If you really know and understand the words and their meanings it will fit in well and no doubt help you, but don't just put in big words because they sound good, they might not fit in right. </p>
<p>And for sentence structure. Use varying lengths and subjects. Don't start every sentence with I think or the same beginning. You'll want some of your sentences to be short and concise, others longer with commas and semi-colons.</p>
<p>Look at the essays in the CB Official Study Guide (Blue Book). You will find that the perfect scoring essays seem to have very unimpressive vocabulary, but the high scoring essays all seem to have good detailed examples and they are long. Some of the perfect essays also have grammar errors. Good thinking and a natural flow of ideas will get you a high score. The vocabulary is nice if it is part of your natural language, but it is probably not a good idea to sound like a thesaurus and misuse words.</p>
<p>I got a perfect score on my essay. I didn't use overly impressive language, just my normal tone. I used very good and varied examples, political, economical, historical, personal and philosophical ones. I had good sentence structure and a good organization. That's really all it takes to score well.</p>
<p>I also got a perfect score on the essay. I think it helps to state your position really clearly in the opening and stay on the topic. Lots of examples (outside of your own personal experience) also seem to help. I've also read that more advanced vocabulary helps. I didn't go overboard with big words but a few choice words here and there probably give you a boost.</p>
<p>Over use of vocab makes you appear pretentious and pompous. If a good word fits, go ahead and use it. Just don't go out of your way to fit in higher level vocabulary.</p>
<p>hey all..
thanks for the info..
one more thing.. everybodt talkls bout talking a stand n everythin..
but how exactly does one take a stand in the 1st paragraph witout making it sound boring.. like u know simply saying "I believe in ..........." would b way to basin n simple..
also can seomebody temme wt bout our last para/conclusion? do we restate our thesis in a differnt way or what???
thanks..</p>
<p>scarletleavy Quote:</p>
<p>"I used very good and varied examples, political, economical, historical, personal and philosophical ones."</p>
<p>How did you use all of those in one essay? I've been taught to use 3?</p>
<p>Also, are personal examples good to use? Because some SAT prep books say YES while others say NO. </p>
<p>But how do would you use examples other than personal for a prompt like the one on the Nov. SAT:</p>
<pre><code>Is praising others, even if the praise is excessive or undeserved, a necessary part of life? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
</code></pre>
<p>Some of those were combined. My question was something like "does listening too much/worrying about other people's thoughts reduce the validity of your argument" (very badly phrased)</p>
<p>I talked about politicians's views and ideas being diluted becuse they worry too much about what people think of them, getting voted out of office. I wove some history and economics into this one.</p>
<p>I talked about nietzsche and the authentic man and brought in some sartre and freedom. I used a personal example, but can't remember for the life of me what it was. </p>
<p>For that prompt you put, you could always bring in philosophy. That many benevolent philosophical strains, including religion, believe in the good of ppl and encouraging them, even the weak. while others do not. You could bring that in. </p>
<p>You could look at it in business and politics you generally have to praise ppl you dont like to get ahead. And Im sure there are plenty of examples in literature as well.</p>
<p>Is praising others, even if the praise is excessive or undeserved, a necessary part of life?</p>
<p>you can talk bout diplomacy.. things like dat.. n the sorta stuff people do to please policticians...
we can also view praise as a motivational characteristic...</p>
<p>instead of highlevel flowery vocab,
i'd go with high level flowery ideas when ur developing ur examples
which is best accomplished by taking the sat november of ur senior year (like me!) b/c a higher level of prose will come naturally with ur h.s. education</p>
<p>guju, personally, i wouldn't use personal events like having an epitome at ur friends party</p>
<p>but use your personal observations on a certain aspect society... which is something most sat prompts will allow for. it will remove ur immediacy (don't use "I") yet allow for YOUR <em>qualified&phlisophical</em> commemtary on the subject.</p>
<p>hey all..
thanks for the info..
one more thing.. everybodt talkls bout talking a stand n everythin..
but how exactly does one take a stand in the 1st paragraph witout making it sound boring.. like u know simply saying "I believe in ..........." would b way to basin n simple..
also can seomebody temme wt bout our last para/conclusion? do we restate our thesis in a differnt way or what???
thanks..</p>
<p>Just make a thesis statement. Take the words from the question and fill in what you want to say. It doesn't have to be particularly amazing or eloquent- its the SAT essay in 25 mins and just has to get the job done. </p>
<p>In the conclusion restate your points and your thesis. Just wrap up what you are saying.</p>
<p>okay.. thanks a lot...</p>
<p>okay guys... i have a couple of more questions...
1)is it neccesary in the essay to present the other side/ the other view even if just a paragrah..-I hav recieved mixed answer on this.. sum say its good and adds variety to ur essays while others say its better to stick to just one stand
2)i read somewhere that a good essay should b around 325-320 words... is this true?? or v can just write till the last line and go above 350 words even</p>
<p>hello.. cant anybody reply to my last post...?</p>
<p>(1) I think it depends on the question. If you want you could put a small counter-claim in with "however, ..." But I don't think its absolutely necessary. You should spend the time developing your argument. If you have time to put in another view, fine. But its not imperative to receiving a top mark. </p>
<p>(2) I have no idea what the word count would be. My essay was 4 or 5 paragraphs and took up all the lines. But I have no idea how many words it was.</p>