SAT Mc Graw Hill 2011

442 McGRAW-HILL’S SAT

Take 6 to 8

Good writers always brainstorm creatively before
writing, even when they have strict time limits. If you
brainstorm and organize well, the rest of the essay will
flow smoothly and easily. If you don’t take the time to
brainstorm and organize, your essay will flounder.

Lesson 3:

Brainstorm Your Alternatives Creatively

• Always set aside 6 to 8 minutes to analyze the
  question, brainstorm possible examples,
  write a thesis, and write a quick outline.
  Don’t worry—you won’t waste time. Doing
  these right will saveyou lots of time in writ-
  ing the essay. The writing will flow easily
  once you’ve laid the groundwork.


• When brainstorming, turn off your internal
  “critic.” Don’t dismiss ideas right away.
  Think about them for a bit, and you may find
  that the ideas you were going to throw away
  are the best ones after all!


• Brainstorm on paper, not just in your head.
  The SAT will give you room to scribble notes.
  Use it. Write down thoughts, connect them,
  cross them out, underline them—do what-
  ever your creative brain tells you to do.

Be Unique

Don’t take the first thesis that pops into your

head. Chances are that the first thesis you

think of will be the same thing that pops into

thousands of other heads. Instead, focus on

finding a unique perspective. You can hone

your perspective by first thinking of the most

interesting examples.

Think of Examples Before You Make
Your Thesis

Don’t write your thesis until you’ve brainstormed sev-
eral interesting examples. Since your thesis rests on
your discussion of your examples, think about inter-
esting examples first.

After you have analyzed the assignment and

defined your terms, ask, “What is the most

interesting example I can think of that helps

to answer this question?” Show off what you

know and how creative a thinker you are.

Think of examples from your reading, your

studies, and your life. Think of examples that

other students won’t think of, but make sure

that they are on the mark and that you can

discuss them with authority.

Avoid a run-of-the-mill point of view. If you’re

asked, “Can a loss ever be more valuable than a

victory?” try to avoid clichés such as “losing the

championship game” or “getting a D on a test”

unlessyou can analyze them with unique in-

sights. Instead, go off the beaten path, and try to

think of more interestingexamples of loss, such

as the Green Party’s loss in the 2000 presidential

election, or America’s loss in the race to put a

human being into space, or Captain Ahab’s fail-

ure to capture Moby Dick. Make the readers no-

tice your unique and well-informed mind.

Go Off the Beaten Path

Going off the beaten path will keep you on your

toes and force you to write a better essay. If you take

an “easy” position, you will fall into lazy writing

habits such as cliché, redundancy, and vagueness.