Up Your Score (55 page)

Sentence Correction

11. The most exciting thing about mushrooms is
their texture, a mushroom
is mushy and chewy.

(A) their texture, a mushroom

(B) their texture and mushrooms

(C) their texture; a mushroom

(D) their texture and that a mushroom

(E) its texture; a mushroom

12. Betty enjoys putting itching powder in Chip’s
jockstrap, and Chip does not
enjoy it.

(A) jockstrap, and Chip does not

(B) jockstrap, but Chip does not

(C) jockstrap, being not as likely that Chip will

(D) jockstrap, being as Chip will not

(E) jockstrap, and Chip does not to

13. The fish on your
couch, although not as smelly
as might be expected, are making this date unpleasant.

(A) couch, although not as smelly

(B) couch, but not as smelly

(C) couch, but quite that smelly

(D) couch, and smells

(E) footballed! It be greenly and whom that

14. The rock star
enjoyed singing obscene lyrics, breaking guitars, and to make videos
.

(A) enjoyed singing obscene lyrics, breaking guitars, and to make videos

(B) enjoyed singing obscene lyrics, breaking guitars, and to try to make videos

(C) enjoys singing obscene lyrics, breaking guitars, and to make videos

(D) enjoyed singing obscene lyrics, breaking guitars, and making videos

(E) enjoyed singing obscene lyrics, breaking guitars, and arrested for starting a riot

15. Scaling the fortress
wall, the boiling oil scalded me
.

(A) wall, the boiling oil scalded me

(B) wall, I was scalded by the boiling oil

(C) wall, the scalding oil boiled me

(D) wall, oil boiled and I was scalded

(E) wall, the boiling oil sure was hot

Following are the correct answers to questions 1–15 and the rules they test:

1. D, rule 5

2. D, rule 4

3. D, rule 1

4. E (sentence is correct)

5. C, rule 2

6. D, rule 3

7. B, rule 6

8. D, rule 9

9. D, rule 13

10. B, rule 12

11. C, rule 8

12. B, rule 11

13. A (sentence is correct)

14. D, rule 7

15. B, rule 10

The essay is your only opportunity in the entire SAT system to be creative—within limits. You see, the ETS graders are looking for certain qualities in each essay; if you deviate too much from those limits, the ETS will be frightened by your creativity and give you a low score. In this section, we will tell you how to write the kind of essay the ETS wants to see.

As in another important aspect of life, length doesn’t matter, skill does. Don’t worry about how much you write, as long as it’s good. The essay graders look at thousands and thousands of essays. They spend a few minutes at the most on each one. If your essay is short but solid, they will be grateful.

Only you know how much time you have to set aside for planning the essay, writing it, and proofreading. But the time limit for the entire essay process is 25 minutes on the SAT.

Here are some examples of recent essay topics:

“Describe a previously undiscovered cause of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.”

“Interpret Shakespeare’s
The Tempest
from a Freudian standpoint.”

“If sulfur were to mix with lithium in a heated, pressurized container, what would be the result?”

“What is the meaning of life? Show work.”

Just kidding. No essay question will ever ask you for specific knowledge on a subject. The question will always ask you to write about a vague concept or to debate the validity of a statement. Here are some essay topics of the sort you might actually see:

1. “Progress always comes at a price.” Use an example from literature, current affairs, history, or personal observation in which a difficult price had to be paid in order for progress to be made. Was the progress worth the price or was the price too high?

2. “The more difficult path can be the better path to take.” Write an essay in which you explain why you agree or disagree with this statement. Support your argument with specific examples from history, current events, literature, or personal observation.

3. In a well-organized essay, describe a situation in which an individual or group at first resisted some form of change, then was convinced that change was necessary. Include in your essay

a. what the change was and why it was resisted at first

b. how the person or group was convinced to change

c. a discussion of the results of the change once it was made

Be sure to include examples in your discussion. The examples may come from personal observation, or from your reading in history, literature, science, or current affairs.

You’ll notice that the subjects you can write about are extremely broad—“examples from history, contemporary affairs, literature, or personal observation”—basically anything except video games or your dog’s habit of licking himself. So the first trick is to learn a lot about two or three subjects that interest you. Almost any will do. Read a few articles and books about these subjects and form some strong, well-thought-out opinions about them. Since the essay topics are so broad, you should be able to turn whatever you know into an essay that fits the topic.

Suppose you decide to become an expert on the civil rights movement in the United States. You could answer question 1 by talking about the great personal sacrifices made by people like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. Then you could talk about whether the progress in civil rights was
worth the high price they paid. You might give examples of the rights these people won for our generation (desegregated schools, affirmative action). For question 2, you could basically write the same thing—about how activists chose the difficult path of standing up for their civil rights.

For question 3, you could explain that racial intolerance and fear led many people to resist desegregation of schools, then outline how protests, court cases, and brave African American students who had to attend school with armed guards helped change public opinion. Finally, you could talk about some ways in which America has become a more diverse, more tolerant place as a result of desegregation.

As you can see, the questions are broad enough for you to adapt them to whatever you feel like writing about. The most important thing is that you not waste even five seconds asking yourself, “Hmmm . . . what should I write about?” Know in advance the subjects you are prepared to write on; then all you have to do is figure out how to apply your knowledge to the question.

Here is a secret weapon: Impress your essay grader by memorizing and including an obscure date or unique detail. This special knowledge will wow your grader and maybe even help you land a perfect score.

JaJa says: Remember to choose a side. The last thing you want to do is to be wishy-washy. Essay scorers will be evaluating how well you can defend one side.

While the questions do not necessarily demand that you write about one specific subject, we think it is a good idea. If you take the first question and then say in your essay, “Everything has its price . . . when my gerbil died it cost a lot to freeze-dry it . . . and in the same way, Martin Luther King Jr. paid a great price for social change . . . and it should also be noted that the price of a movie ticket has increased markedly,” then you will get a low grade for failing to make any sense at all. You should use multiple examples to prove your points, but they should all relate to a specific thesis statement. Don’t write in general about how “everything has its cost” or your essay will wander. Your thesis statement should be quite specific: “The civil rights movement demonstrated that social change is accomplished at great cost.”

If, as you read the remarks about the civil rights movement, you said to yourself, “Sure, that topic is interesting, but it isn’t nearly as interesting as I am,” then perhaps you should write an essay from “personal observation.” Many of the questions will allow you to use examples from “personal observation.” If you want to do this, then write about some issue in your own life or the life of someone close to you. Be sure to make it dramatic. Tell stories about the characters involved that illustrate the points you are making. Do not just blab your opinions without giving specific examples of why they are true. For example, if you are writing about how you have noticed that students do not show enough respect for the SAT, make sure to tell one story about how disrespectful the students are, and perhaps another story about how much joy and peace you have created by respecting the SAT.

It’s definitely worth taking the time to review your life for good essay material. In the unlikely event that the Serpent’s essay question is a poor fit for your areas of expertise, you can always turn to your own experience. Think back on times that were important to you—when there was a challenge you met, a moral quandary, a turning point in your life, some sort of realization. You know exactly the kinds of things we’re talking about. (Hopefully you’ll think of something that the essay readers haven’t already read about hundreds of times that day.) But you don’t want to find yourself thinking, “Oh, great, I can write about that time I saw Grandma shoplifting/hitchhiking/drinking margaritas,” and then go blank on what to actually say about it, so determine what your central point might be, then take some notes on supporting material. Ask yourself “what happened,” “what did I learn,” “how did it change things?” And here’s the bonus: Not only will this deep, introspective self-knowledge give you material for a strong SAT essay, but it will also be good practice for your college application essay, and a lovely little stroll down memory lane, to boot. Our next point—that it’s okay to make stuff up—is particularly applicable to personal observation essays.

Unless your essay’s thesis statement is
“It’s best to keep your e-mail password a secret,” avoid using examples from your recent dramatic breakup with your girlfriend or boyfriend.

Suppose you are writing your essay and you are a little short of evidence. Our advice is to make stuff up. Because this test is not about how much you know but about how well you can write, don’t worry if you fudge some of your facts. Your essay will not be graded on factual accuracy. Remember, the readers spend about a minute on each essay—they aren’t going to spend that minute running to the encyclopedia to make sure you have your details right. They are just looking at the overall quality of your writing and organization.

This doesn’t mean that you should say something that is obviously false. In the civil rights example, if you write, “The reason Malcolm X is still alive today is that . . . ,” your grader will know you don’t know what you are talking about. But suppose you write, “In 1961, 80 percent of taxpayers in North Carolina opposed desegregation, but by 1971, only 20 percent opposed it.” Your grader will probably be impressed that you argue so convincingly (when actually you made the numbers up). The reason the second example works is that it isn’t completely a fantasy; it is based on an awareness of a shift in public opinion that did occur during the sixties.

If you’re writing about personal observations, feel free to make up characters and events as long as they’re within reason. The SAT essay is not a truthful memoir, just a test of persuasive writing skills.

In your essay, the ETS wants to see if you know the “rules” of good essay writing. The ETS does not care that the art of essay writing has been explored for centuries by great writers, each of whom discovered original ways of organizing and writing great essays. No, all the ETS graders care about is whether you know how to do the basic, no-frills high school essay. So, you should give them what they want and write an essay according to the formula they are expecting.