<p>Hey,</p>
<p>Just wondering in the SAT essay, how much detail do you have to go into in your examples? E.g. say if you're talking about a book that isn't very famous, would you have to explain who the main characters are, the main plot, etc? Also, if you're talking about say the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression, can you assume that the examiner will know some things about them? I've been educated in Britain so when I use history examples, they tend to be about English history. Do I have provide more explanation for them than if I was talking about US history?</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>The best answer is that you just need to provide enough information to make your point. It’s easy to get bogged down in too many details, and I sometimes find myself reading a student essay and wanting to skip full sentences because it’s just irrelevant detail. Just ask yourself if what you’re writing is 100% on topic and relevant. Do you need to know the main character’s name? Maybe. Do you need to know the main character’s dog’s name? Probably not. And if you’re going to have to write a novel to make your point, it’s going to be best to choose another example!</p>
<p>You do make a good point about US history vs. British history. I’d think the test would be whether a US reader is going to know what you’re talking about without further explanation. If they’re going to know, keep the details to a minimum. If not, you may have to provide more information. Again, the idea (and this is true for every essay you write, not just the SAT) is to make sure that your reader, whoever he or she may be, can understand what you’re saying.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for the detailed response swans004 :)</p>
<p>Just another quick question. What if you get a fact wrong? Would you get marked down? E.g. if you said Roosvelt gave the order to drop the atomic bombs on Japan rather than Truman.</p>
<p>No, you don’t get marked down, as long as you illustrate the point. Bogus, but then so is the entire SAT essay process.</p>
<p>Thanks QuasiProfound :)</p>