<p>1) Don’t use wikipedia.
2) I haven’t read a lot of books, but here is what I think is good. Somehow, I manage to fit in The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho for most plots. To Kill A Mockingbird is also a good one.
3) The New York Times. Read an article or two everyday. You can easily find it online.
4) Just know the basics of the Civil Rights Movement, the Holocaust, and Thomas Edison
5) The essay topics on CollegeBoard will not be so obscure so that you wouldn’t be able to think of anything. If you are still worried, visit the [SAT</a> Essay Prompt Archetypes](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/764514-sat-essay-prompt-archetypes.html]SAT”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/764514-sat-essay-prompt-archetypes.html) thread and make sure you can think of examples for every prompt.</p>
<p>Also, use what you already know. What good, classic books have you read? They don’t even have to be phenomenal; I’ve seen people devise excellent examples with Harry Potter. What did you learn in history or social studies class? American Revolution? Civil War? My eighth grade was focused almost entirely on the American Civil War: things that lead up to it, the war itself, and what happened afterwards. Therefore, I love to use the Civil War as an example.</p>