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SAT Essay Writing Guide

Generic Prompt Format


Write an essay in which you explain how [the author] builds an argument to persuade [his/her]
audience that [authors claim]. In your essay, analyze how [the author] uses one or more of the
features listed in the box above or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and
persuasiveness of [his/her] argument. Be sure that your argument focuses on the most relevant
features of the passage.
Your essay should not explain whether you agree with the claims, but rather explain how [the
author] builds an argument to persuade [his/her] audience.
Technique

Function/Purpose

Examples

Evidence (facts,
examples,
statistics)

support for the central claim that

The presentation of facts and evidence


supports the claim that follows at the end of
the paragraph that without darkness, Earths
ecology would collapse.

Evidence from
authoritative
sources

adds legitimacy or credibility to the


writers claim that...

Reasoning to
develop ideas and
to connect claims
and evidence

to support or make connections or


parallel the position that...

Word Choice
(powerful or
precise words to
make a
statement) =

in order to shape readers


perceptions about

Appeals to
Emotion
(fear/sadness/joy/
anger)

to connect the reader to feel...

The author uses a dramatic example of the


irreplaceable value and beauty of darkness.
That this darkness is being lost serves as a
final appeal to the readers emotions.

Repetition/
Reinforcing Ideas

to reinforce the claim that...

By referring to this report again, this time in


the context of discussing a decline in civil
engagement, the writer further supports the
point he has just made.

Imagery

links ____ to ____

to inform readers that

to characterize that ____ is ____

to emphasize the importance of


to serve as another emotional
appeal about
adds visual intensity to show
dramatizes the idea that...

The writer chooses his words carefully in this


paragraph in order to shape readers
perceptions and bolster his claims. For
example, he argues that we are using too
much light when less is needed by referring to
light being wasted.

The descriptive words used in this sentences


add visual intensity, evoking the wonder of the
night sky.

encourages readers to consider...

The use of rhetorical questions encourages the


reader to consider a world without Van Goghs
beloved painting and what his vision inspires
in us all.

highlights the stark difference


between

The writer makes a stylistic choice here,


contrasting a crowded, louder, and fast-paced
world with darkness that can provide
solitude, quiet and stillness. These words
allow the writer to characterize a well-lit world
as undesirable and to depict darkness as
peaceful and pleasing.

Rhetorical
Questions
Comparing/Contra
sting ideas
/Juxtaposition

Providing evidence from authoritative sources


(World Health Organization and the American
Medical Association) adds legitimacy to the
writers claim that too little darkness spells
trouble for us all.
The author develops the idea that darkness
can be linked to medical disorders. By
supplying this evidence is further supports the
claim that there is too much light in peoples
lives.

builds the argument that


dramatizes the idea that

allows the writer to characterize ____


to ____

Synthesizes
Multiple Sources
of Evidence

Call to Action at
the End

to make a conclusion about their


position...

an emotional or bold statement to


emphasize the point that...

The writer synthesizes multiple sources of


evidence (e.g., the previously mentioned arts
endowment survey, Wired Magazine) as part of
reasoning that concludes that the decrease in
reading has implications outside of literature.
The last lines of the paper serve as an
emotional call to action and raise the stakes of
the argument the writer is making.

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