<p>Essay </p>
<p>The essay is the first section in the new sat. It is a 25-minute writing session. There will be one essay topic given along with a prompt to further understand the subject at hand.</p>
<p>Format of the essay:
There is no clear cut format which ensures a 12 on the essay. One can develop ones own style of writing and score well. However the format below is tried and tested and sticking to it helps to a certain extent.
Type 1:
Paragraph one: The introduction to the essay topic.
One should start off with general statements and then lean towards ones stand on the issue. The last statement should explicitly state an opinion ; clearly state if one is for or against the topic.</p>
<p>Paragraph two: Here one has to support ones outlook. Do this by writing the first half of an example.</p>
<p>Paragraph three: Here one states the latter part of the example</p>
<p>Paragraph four: The analysis
Firstly you show a clear connection between ones point of view and the example provided. Then one should state what they feel about the subject at hand and mainly why they feel so.</p>
<p>Type 2:
Follow the same procedure as stated above but if one cannot think of an example that they can comfortably write on for two paragraphs, then one should write two different examples in each paragraph. At the end of each example, in the same paragraph, succinctly analyse them.</p>
<p>What examples to chose:
One can chose from a variety of topics: literature, history, politics, sportsmen, fashion, current affairs, media figures etc.
One can read the biographies of people in some of the fields stated above. This way one can learn about incidents in their lives which can be twisted and turned in numerous ways to suit the principal theme.
One can use incidents form ones personal lives that highlight the truth of the issue.
Please refrain from making up events that did not occur or that sound implausible.</p>
<p>Timing:
Use the first five minutes to decide upon the example leading to ones viewpoint of the matter, [then write the essay obviously] and the last four to reread the essay and check for slip-ups. </p>
<p>A good essay [this is not the one I had written for my June sat test]</p>
<p>Prompt: A mistakenly cynical view of human behavior holds that people are primarily driven by selfish motives: the desire for wealth, for power or for fame. Yet history gives us many examples of individuals who have sacrificed their own welfare for a cause or a principle that they regarded as more important than their own lives. Conscience- the powerful inner voice that tells us what is right and what is wrong- can be a more compelling force than money, power or fame.</p>
<p>Assignment:
Is conscience a more powerful motivator than money, fame or power? 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 observation.</p>
<pre><code> What makes the world go round?money? no. sex?no. love?no. its our inner conscience. It is that tiny little voice at the back of our head which annoys us every time we know we doing something wrong. Nobody likes going round the right way, because the other way seems shorter and so much more appealing. It is the morality of the people that prevents the homeless from turning into criminals, the weak from turning into drug-addicts or world-leaders into power hungry fanatics. The inner conscience never fails to draw a clear line between moral right and wrong. It depends on the individual to listen to it.
One of the many great men who have listened to their inner conscience and snubbed the comforts of life is Nelson Mandela. Years of daily exposure to the inhumanities of apartheid, where being black reduces one to a state of non-person, kindled in him an absurd courage. This courage came from his conscience which made him unaccept those terms of society and bring about a change in them. His connection with his inner soul made him give up the success he could have achieved as a lawyer to serve mankind.
Nelson Mandela thus set on a long walk toward personal and national liberation. Even his fight for the noble cause of democracy was marked with dignity: his strategy was non-violence. He never took the easy way out by opting for an insurgency. He spent three decades in Robbon Island prison for being a member of the ANC [African National Congress]. All his efforts were rewarded when he was chosen as president in the countrys first democratic election.
Mandela is living proof how bravery, sincerity, faith, love, kindness and justice still exist in the world. Many around the world, publicly known or not, have been driven by unselfish motives and have greater regard for public welfare than their own. One cannot attain happiness with guilt on ones shoulders. Knowing that one has done the good, right thing gives one a different kind of high, gives one the ability to look anyone in the eye, with not shame, but self-respect. This makes the world do round.
</code></pre>
<p>Tips:
1] Do not get repetitive i.e. dont use the same phrases or words again and again.
[note line 16: the use of connection to inner soul rather than repeateing conscience]</p>
<p>2] Do not muddle up your pronouns throughout the essay.
Eg. </p>
<p>Incorrect: One tends to overlook the fact that they are mortal your indulgence in such precarious behaviour is stupid.</p>
<p>Correct: One tends to overlook the fact that one is mortal and ones indulgence in such precarious behaviour is stupid.
[note line 28-29]</p>
<p>3] Use a word or phrase repeatedly in the last line of the 1st paragraph and the 1st line of the 2nd paragraph. This way one shows a connection between the paragraphs, showing a good flow of thoughts.
[note line 9-10]
4] State some hard-core facts in the example to make it credible.
[note line 22-23]
5] Avoid using the word etc. which makes one seem to have a superficial understanding of what one writes.</p>
<p>6] To link the 2nd paragraph and the 3rd one, if one is giving two different examples, one can use:
Not only does this occur in XYZs life but also in
A parallel can be drawn between XYZ and PQR </p>
<p>7] Avoid a depressing tone to the essay.</p>
<p>8] Use American terminology as far as possible
g. Use million instead of lakh.
Use color instead of colour</p>
<p>9] make sure the essay neatly fits in the two sheets provided.</p>
<p>10] Using fancy words is not essential, using them in the right place is.
Make sure the essay has as few grammatical errors as possible.</p>
<p>11] Quoting someone or using maxims [not clichés] is advisable. </p>
<p>12] One can use a negative example if one is following the 2nd format.
The first example supports ones viewpoint, how that viewpoint has yielded positive results.
The second example shows how that the opposite viewpoint has adverse effects [this indirectly shows the plus points of ones approach.</p>
<p>13] Stock-pile examples for future use.</p>
<p>14] Prefer the use of the active voice and present tense. Limit the grammatical and punctuation errors.
[note line 10:use of have]
16] Do not appear dogmatic. If there are some flaws in ones theory or approach, state them in brief.</p>
<p>17] Lastly keep it simple and smart.</p>
<p>Remember: If one scores well on the writing and critical reading sections of the test, one can ask the colleges to exempt one from giving the TOEFL.
Like the other sat sections, this one too has to be written with a no.2 pencil, or the Indian 2B ones.</p>