How to Write SAT Essay Examples

One secret to writing a great SAT essay and earning a high score from the SAT graders is to write strong, well-structured, and convincing SAT essay examples. Once you've chosen your thesis, you need to support your argument with powerful examples. Here's how.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Brainstorm. Before writing your SAT essay, you should come up with at least ten possible examples to support your thesis. Think of as many examples as possible from history and literature, as the graders tend to be more impressed with these kinds of examples than with those that come from personal experience.

2. Pick the best three examples. These are your strongest arguments, or the ones from the best sources. Try to vary the sources of your SAT essay examples. Perhaps pick one from history, one from literature, and one from personal experience.

3. Write each example in a separate paragraph in the body of your SAT essay. The body paragraphs come after the introductory paragraph and before the concluding paragraph. Each paragraph should be well structured. Begin with a topic sentence, then write two or three supporting sentences, and end with a summary sentence that nails down the point you are trying to make with that example.

Tips & Warnings

• Use three examples, not two.
• Explore your example in detail. Each example paragraph should contain five or more sentences.
• The strongest, most impressive examples tend to come from history and literature.
• Don't rely on personal experience for all of your examples unless the SAT essay prompt closely relates to your personal experience.

Resources

• The Grammar Guy
• The Official SAT Study Guide