<p>Here are some old posts that have all the writing wisdom I can give:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/467746-advise-essay.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/467746-advise-essay.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/467836-tips-writing-superb-thesis.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/467836-tips-writing-superb-thesis.html</a></p>
<p>General advice:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Read some sample 12 essays and try to figure out why they got 12’s. Read the 10’s, 8’s, 6’s, 4’s, and 2’s. Try to find out how the readers grade the essays. That gives you a better of what they’re looking for. Look at the grading rubric and try to grade and correct your own essay before you post it.</p></li>
<li><p>Write naturally. This goes with any writing.</p></li>
<li><p>Write what you actually believe.</p></li>
<li><p>Answer the question.</p></li>
<li><p>Have a clear thesis.</p></li>
<li><p>Have clear topic sentences that directly back up the thesis.</p></li>
<li><p>Give examples and clearly connect the examples to your topic sentence (so what if MLK was non-violent? So what if Gatsby changed as a person?).</p></li>
<li><p>Use transitions.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t get carried away with your thoughts (e.g. “The world is getting better” is fine as thesis for a 25-minute essay, but not “The world is better than it always has” or “Nobody in the world cares about world hunger” or “African nations are being run by a bunch of corrupt ‘leaders’ who care nothing about world hunger, but only care about getting revenge on others.”)</p></li>
<li><p>No absolute statements (EVERY technological advance has negative effects.) THINK BEFORE YOU WRITE! Think about what you’re saying. Don’t say anything you can’t support.</p></li>
<li><p>Plan an OUTLINE before you write, so that you can be sure that what you’re writing follows a suitable outline and connects overall to the thesis. Everything in your essay should somehow support your thesis. </p></li>
<li><p>Conclusions should end with a lingerer. Don’t introduce something new. E.g. the whole essay supports the statement that TV isolates more than unifies. And then say something like, “Many other technological advances, including the Internet support this view.” That is not a lingering statement. That’s a completely new thesis. </p></li>
<li><p>Remember to read good essays!</p></li>
<li><p>Say what you really think; you should have a general base of knowledge from which to base your answers (of course, you have to know some stuff in order to support your views), but you really should be able to come up with support on the spot. The essay tries to test how well you can think and write clearly in a short amount of time; not how well you memorized your essay before you write it.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t use universal examples if they don’t work! (e.g. Jane Eyre to support optimism is fine, but never to support an argument that technology serves to unite more than separate).</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t pay attention to the fact that everyone will start out before you (they don’t know how to write an outline before you start writing). But now you know, and as a result your essay will be much more structured and just better. Focus on your work, what is on your piece of paper.</p></li>
<li><p>Sprinkle a few SAT words that make sense, but the key word is SPRINKLE. Not overload. It gets SO annoying when people use too many words that they don’t use naturally (you honestly can tell when the writer doesn’t write naturally and/or uses words incorrectly).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Those are the major points. If you do all the above, I’m sure you’ll be fine.</p>
<ul>
<li>practice, practice, practice!</li>
</ul>
<p>I will leave you with the wise but often forgotten words of Thomas Edison:</p>
<p>“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”</p>