<p>Month/Year: March 2011
Score: 12
Prompt: Photo
Length: Almost 2 pages
Clarity/Quality: Clear, concise, direct
Vocab: High level words in their appropriate context, made use of many symbols e.g. semi colons
Structure: Intro, body, body, Conclusion
Additional Comments: Wrote about how Fur Elise and Guernica are examples of artwork (neither are photography). Discussed chord progression in music and how it related to lighting and focus in photography. Analyzed temperature and shading in Guernica and related it to photography as well. I’d imagine I got a 12 due to the fact that my essay was in no way cookie cutter, and it showed some thought, which is all you really need.</p>
<p>Month/Year: Mar 2011
Score: 12
Prompt: Reality TV thing
Length: 2 pages
Clarity/Quality: BS’d all of my “sources”, used friends name for realism lol.
Vocab: Threw in some things here and there.
Structure: Intro, 3 examples, conclusion
Additional Comments: Surprised.</p>
<p>OP, you better add “size of handwriting” to that list because 2 pages in mighty writing isn’t 2 pages in small writing. feel what i mean?</p>
<p>Month/Year: March 2011 ( first time)
Score: 10
Prompt: Reality TV
Length: full 2 pages wrote on the last line available
Clarity/Quality: (see additional comments)
Vocab: I threw in some random SAT vocab ; a little more than a decent amount
Structure: 4 paragraphs- 4 sentence conclusion, 2 examples
Additional Comments: well I varied sentence structure a lot; used sat vocab; constantly mentioned my thesis statement as much as I possibly could ( probably stated 5 or 6 times in the entire essay; my prep teacher told me to hit them with thesis)
however… I was gonna cancel my score the day after because I thought I would receive a 0… I wrote about the boy in the striped pajamas - about the holocaust LOL and this movie I never watched before but my friend told me about- Primevil its about a man with Multiple personality disorder
Unusual: both movies are FICTIONAL. I guess it was fine because it depicted what happens in real life?!?! Really surprised at the grade. I mentioned I think how it gave people false info about the holocaust and about MPDisorder. LOL lucky me :]</p>
<p>Month/Year: March 2011
Score: 10
Prompt: Realty TV
Length: Full 2 pages
Clarity/Quality: Clear, but I wouldn’t call it quality at all.
Vocab: Didn’t really put many vocab words at all
Structure: Intro, 3 body, conclusion
Additional Comments: It’s all length, baby. Going to fill my essay with copious amounts of adjectives and make up examples for a 12 next time.</p>
<p>Month/Year: December 2010
Score: 12
Prompt: Does the way that information is communicated today result in people learning less than ever before?
Length: 2 pages, including squeezing words in the tiny spaces between the last line and the bottom of the boxes on both pages
Clarity/Quality: Good
Vocab: Lots of high-level (read: Direct Hits) words (ecletic, didactic, edify, etc.)
Structure: 4 paragraphs (2 examples)
Additional Comments: Length is the most important factor. Next is having a thesis (i.e. answering the question). Next is really showing how your examples support your thesis.</p>
<p>Month/Year: March 2011
Score: 12
Prompt: Reality Entertainment
Length: Filled up every line
Clarity/Quality: Pretty clear. I expanded the question to expand other forms of media and used a lot of historical examples. I also made up a study conducted by a certain prestigious university.
Vocab: Decent - a few SAT words here and there
Structure: 5 paragraphs, started the first paragraph/ended the last paragraph with a “hook” about a boy’s wish to be a free thinker
Additional Comments: The examples I used were Skins, the murder trial of Sacco and Vanzetti (not too sure how this connected to reality entertainment, but it worked), the Manifest Destiny, and Yellow Journalism. I think having the historical examples and not writing about Jersey Shore like everyone else helped my essay out a lot. I wrote in neat cursive. I’m thinking that also helped.</p>
<p>Month/Year: March 2011
Score: 12
Prompt: Photography
Length: 2 pages (to the last line)
Clarity/Quality*: Used varying sentences and quality examples
Vocab: The night before the test, I memorized a few big sat words like “zenith” …etc. using DirectHits and kept them in my head for the essay. Around 5 SAT words were inserted, i think it’s a good method to keep in mind for the SAT test takers</p>
<p>Structure<em>:
Intro: strong intro with 3 evidences “forecasting” method
Example 1: Jon Kraukauer “Into Thin Air”
Example 2: Cosmopolitan Magazine
Example 3: Expert Analysis on Mona Lisa (<– totally made up example on spot)
Conclusion
- I made sure to vary my sentences and be on topic in my paragraphs. Each paragraph had about 6-7 sentences. I always concluded with a variation of my thesis and made it relevant to the essay topic.
Additional Comments</em>:
The first time I took the SAT, i got an 8 on the essay. To improve, I made sure to finish the entire 2 pages, insert many SAT vocab words as I could, and use quality examples that I knew nobody else would use. It’s always important to set up your mind to think about the SAT essay the night before and brainstorm examples! If you are brainstuck…like I was when the third paragraph came around, make up a totally European sounding name and make him an “expert scholar” from the New York Times. hehe! Being factual doesn’t matter but backing up your thesis is, so make sure to be creative as well! Remember TIME is of essence in the essay, so don’t waste even one second! Be confident and you can do it! :)</p>
<p>There were some really good posts here! Good value for a lot of students!</p>
<p>Bump for the MAY TEST!</p>
<p>Month/Year - March 2011
Score - 10
Prompt - Reality Entertainment
Length - Took up entire two pages and with very sloppy handwriting
Clarity/Quality - Got my point across pretty well. I had a very organized essay. With strong transitions.
Vocab - Strong, I have the strongest vocab in my school, I have made my english teachers look up words
Structure - 4 paragraphs. Short intro,long body paragraphs with 2 examples each, very short conclusion (1-2 sentences)<br>
Additional Comments: I watch Jersey Shore, so that essay topic was a gift from God. Also, I strongly believe that you are guarnteed at least a 9 if you fill your essay completely. I always complete my SAT essay, and I get B-'s and B’s on school essay’s (despite my high vocab)</p>
<p>Month/Year - March 2011
Score - 11
Prompt - Reality Entertainment
Length - Took up two pages
Clarity/Quality - 3 strong bs examples
Vocab - Strong words here and there
Structure - 5 paragraphs. intro, 3 body for each example, short conclusion
Additional Comments: I only used one reality tv example, and my other two were made up about history and a play that brainwashed its viewers. if you ever get a weird prompt that stumps you like that just make up examples but support them well</p>
<p>Month/Year: March 2011
Score: 12
Promt: Reality TV
Length: 1.5 pages but my handwriting is tiny.
Clarity/Quality: Pretty straightforward, 4 well developed paragraphs.
Vocab: 5 or 6 direct hits words
Structure: 4 decent paragraphs, longer-than-normal intro.
I basically followed the same approach that I use to BS on-demand essays for AP English. I also cited a fictional “Economist” article. I went so far as to use a direct quote - here I was worried that they’d call my bluff, but they obviously didn’t.</p>
<p>Month/Year: January 2011
Score: 12
Prompt: Does the process of doing something matter more than the outcome?
Length: Filled both pages to the last line
Clarity/Quality: very.
Vocab: mid-upper range SAT words sprinkled in here and there
Structure: 4 paragraphs - 3-sentence intro, 5ish sentences for 2 body paragraphs and 2 sentences for conclusion
Additional Comments: My two examples were the life of James Joyce and Nietzsche’s philosophy. I made up a French avant-grade writer with an accent in his name as an example of a person who “in attempting to revolutionize literature, fell back into the mires of self-absorbed and meandering writing.” I seriously think this made my essay look x10 better.
Actually I pretty much made up the 90% of the James Joyce paragraph, except for the fact that he took a long time to write Ulysses.</p>
<p>Month/Year: December 2010
Score: 10
Prompt: Heroes
Length: 2 pages
Clarity/Quality<em>: Between meh to ok
Vocab</em>: A Couple</p>
<p>Month/Year: Jan 2011
Score: 10
Prompt: is an idealistic approach worse than a realistic approach?
Length: 2
Clarity/Quality: decently written with clear examples
Vocab: a couple sat words in each paragraph
Structure: 5 paragraphs: 1 intro, 3 body, 1 conclusion
Additional Comments: i always use 1 example from personal experience and two others</p>
<p>Month/Year: March 2011
Score: 10
Prompt: Reality TV
Length: Filled both pages
Clarity/Quality: No grammar issues; first few paragraphs clear with sophisticated, consistant tone; last two paragraphs sounded like, well, a boring high school essay, because I was running out of time
Vocab: Rushed paragraphs a little lacking, earlier ones full of it
Structure: Intro+3 paragraphs, each with new point+conclusion
Additional Comments: If I knew how to look at the clock like a normal person, I might have managed my time better and pulled an 11-12.</p>
<p>This sounds a bit odd, but how do you effectively create bs as a strong support of your essay?</p>
<p>Month/Year: Jan 2011
Score: 10
Prompt: idk dont remember
Length: used up all the space
Clarity/Quality: i thot it was ok…
Vocab: im good
Structure: intro, 2 body, conc
Additional Comments:</p>
<p>Month/Year: Oct/2010
Score: 10
Prompt: Should people adapt to their new surroundings, or should they refuse to change?
Length: Nearly two pages
Clarity/Quality:okay
Vocab: med-high, some SAT words
Structure: consists of 6 paragraphs, one of which is the intro slightly longer than normal, one the conclusion
the 4 bodies narrates the experience of Douglass
use only one example</p>
<p>Month/Year: March 2011
Score: 11
Prompt: Reality Entertainment good or bad
Length: Almost two full pages, missing final two lines. I have relatively small handwriting
Clarity/Quality: good examples, three different ones
Vocab: high, i used the following words: obfuscate, bevy, obstreperous, vindictive, and a few others
Structure: Three sentence intro, hook-ish opening sentence. Intro also had a made up winston churchill quote. One sentence wrap-up conclusion. Three main paragraphs, one for each example</p>