A Bullet

Whether you’re just getting started or you need a quick last-minute run-down, check out these grab-and-go guides to the most important elements of the SAT essay. Essay structure Beginning Middle End The SAT expects you to discuss the development of ideas through a passage. The easiest way to do this is to break the assigned passage into three pieces and talk about how each leads to the next. Write a five-paragraph essay and focus your three body paragraphs on the passage’s beginning, middle, and end.    Body paragraph structure Transition Strategy Quote Effect Goal Give these points 1-2 sentences each. Let’s break them down: Transition. Bring the goals of the last paragraph and the new one together in one sentence. â€Å"Having emphasized the value of what she will offer, the author goes on to present easy-to-memorize tips.† Strategy. Identify a key strategy used in the section you’re discussing. A strategy isn’t the author’s main idea; it’s a way the author made that idea more persuasive or effective, like supplying statistical evidence or using emotional appeals. â€Å"The author presents her ideas as a series of quick bullet points.† Quote. Include a good, meaty quote that lets the reader see the strategy in action. Effect. Explain precisely how the strategy affects the reader. Zero in on effects specific to the passage you’re analyzing. â€Å"Bullet points make her ideas easier to grasp† is vague; it could be said about a lot of articles. â€Å"Bullet points make key SAT essay structures easy to memorize† is specific to this passage. Goal. Build from the effect to describe the goal it achieves: â€Å"The bullet structure makes it more likely that her audience will remember and apply her advice.†