The SAT Essay Demystified
The SAT essay is a 50 minute essay with three key features. It has a common prompt, an emphasis on analysis, and clear evaluation criteria. The scoring of criteria is on a 1-4 scale. Generally, the SAT essay will ask a prompt based on a reading passage. The passage will likely be persuasive to some extent, with the author supporting some kind of argument. The prompt will require the test taker to identify the author's thesis and analyze how the author seeks to make and support their claim. The essay may seem daunting because of the time constraint, passage, and prompt requirements, but when broken down, the SAT has a simple, even formulaic process to achieving a strong essay response.
The Gaussian School's recommended process to tackling the SAT essay is easy to remember and effective given the scoring criteria. The three scoring criteria are Reading, Writing, and Analysis. The Gaussian School's method to writing a strong SAT essay likewise has three steps: it is called the Three Pass Approach. After writing an introduction paragraph that states the author's purpose and lists a few tools the authors uses to support that purpose, the test taker should use the Three Pass Approach to address the author's claims in order.
The first step is to Summarize the author's claim. Identify the claim and paraphrase it. This shows graders that you have good comprehension skills and checks off the Reading criteria. The second step is to Analyze the author's support for the claim. Identify tools the author uses (think rhetorical devices such as pathos, anaphora, or analogy, etc.) and explain how the author uses these tools to support the claim. The third step is to Critique the author's argument or support. Here, you should point out whether the author's support is weak, eloquent, convincing, etc, and be sure to explain why that is: has the author forgotten statistics? Does the author cite a relevant authority figure? Steps two and three cover the Analysis section of the rubric.
Finally, for the writing section of the rubric, the test taker should save time at the end of the essay to proofread for grammar or spelling errors. It is also important to use strong verbs and avoid repetition. Clear organization through the three pass approach will help boost this writing score. Ultimately, the SAT essay can be broken down into clear steps that make any potential passage manageable. With practice, the essay will feel comfortable and far less daunting!