SAT Essay – Eight Methods To Write A Nice Introduction

You possibly can’t afford to have author’s block because you solely have 25 minutes to put in writing your SAT Essay. So to assist my college students put pen to paper quicker I created these Eight strategies for making a compelling introduction rapidly. Strive them and so they’ll provide help to too.

1. Perceive the immediate first

The primary factor you will need to do to put in writing an excellent introduction is to be sure to know what you’re writing about first. The largest mistake I’ve seen in scoring SAT Essays is that many college students misinterpret the immediate. To keep away from this I’ve my college students underline or circle vital phrases and phrases to verify they’ve really digested the immediate. I recommend you do the identical.

2. Use an analogy or metaphor

Analogies require creativity. A trait that SAT Essay graders like to reward. For an essay wherein the immediate was “Is it true that to make progress individuals should make sacrifices?” A scholar created the next analogy,

“To climb a mountain an individual should wrestle and pressure. And that is the case with any worthwhile aim…”

3. Inform a quick anecdote

You possibly can create an attractive introduction by telling a quick (1-2 sentence anecdote) corresponding to the next.

After I educated for my first marathon it was tough and infrequently painful. However I needed to have the accomplishment of working 26.2 miles so I did it anyway. To make progress in life requires sacrifice.

4. Use a quote that was not used within the immediate

It’s helpful to memorize quotes that you simply love. You by no means know after they can turn out to be useful on the check. For instance for the essay subject “Do errors result in development?” one in every of my college students wrote

Somebody as soon as requested Edison, “how will you be ok with your work, having failed nine-hundred and ninety-nine occasions to make a light-weight bulb?” To this Edison replied, “I’ve not failed so many occasions, I’ve merely realized nine-hundred and ninety-nine methods to not make a light-weight bulb. Why did Edison react this fashion? As a result of he knew that errors are at all times experiences that result in studying and development.”

This was an excellent quote to start his essay with and would positively impress SAT Essay graders.

5. Point out a subject within the information

SAT Essay Specialists will usually say to steer clear of information within the physique of your essay. And they’re proper. Nevertheless, within the introduction it may be very helpful IF you have got the details straight AND it is even higher if it’s a information story that is not effectively coated. For those who use this concept be certain it clearly matches the subject.

6. Make up an anecdote utilizing very particular particulars

I do not advocate this as you do not want a inventive introduction badly sufficient to take the difficulty to make one up. I had a scholar insist on making an attempt this and his have been so dangerous at first anybody may guess they have been fictional. Lastly, nevertheless he began to place particulars that have been so particular that I could not inform if it was actual or not. So you possibly can idiot graders if you wish to however I do not advocate it.

7. Use a cliche in an ingenious manner

Most books and articles on writing say to steer clear of cliches nevertheless, it is a secret {of professional} writers that in case you change a cliche it captures individuals’s consideration.

One scholar used the next cliche to make an excellent introduction for the subject “Which is a greater indicator of an individual’s true character, their actions or their phrases?”

“An image tells a thousand phrases” is a saying that applies to the newspaper trade however which additionally applies to individuals. The image created by an individual’s actions tells us a thousand phrases about her or him and goes a lot farther than phrases do in telling us about an individual’s true ideas and emotions. A number of examples from literature and historical past show this level.

Utilizing the cliche “An image tells a thousand phrases” to make the purpose that actions converse louder than phrases could be very distinctive and really highly effective.

8. When all else fails simply do a fast abstract of what you’ll cowl in your essay

Be sure to clearly state your thesis and state which classes of knowledge your examples are from

For instance, “Examples from historical past, literature and science will show that individuals care far an excessive amount of about what others consider them.”

Most of all keep in mind, you don’t want to put in writing a powerful introduction so badly that you simply sacrifice the remainder of your essay. In truth I taught my college students to put in writing nice physique paragraphs first as these are simply as vital. Then after they may write them rapidly I taught them find out how to write nice introductions and highly effective conclusions.

by Rodney Daut