Summary
◦ Writing, the third and final task of the SAT Essay, is about putting all your ideas together in a
coherent, well-written essay.
◦ The essay will not require you to write about a personal experience or give your opinion on a
certain topic. This essay is a technical analysis of an argument, not your opinion about that
argument.
◦ In order to get a good score for the Writing task, you should make a claim and be able to support it
with evidence from the passage. You should also organize your thoughts in a coherent, logical
manner, and show command of standard written English by varying your word choice and sentence
structure.
◦ Be sure that your essay has the three key parts: introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Your
introduction should describe the text and paraphrase the argument being made, as well as introduce
the specific elements of the passage and argument that you will discuss in the essay. Your conclusion
should restate the goal of the passage/argument and sum up the points you made.
◦ Keep analysis in mind as you write your essay. You should not merely describe a text, but explain
how that text is written and structured to accomplish a certain goal. And remember: cite evidence!
