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SAT School Day with Essay
If you are taking a state-provided SAT, you may be required, or have the option, to answer an essay question as part of your test. The SAT Essay is a lot like a typical college writing assignment that asks you to analyze a text. It shows colleges that you're able to read, analyze, and write at the college level.
The SAT Essay asks you to use your reading, analysis, and writing skills. You'll be asked to:
- Read a passage.
- Explain how the author builds an argument to persuade an audience.
- Support your explanation with evidence from the passage.
SAT Essay Overview
- Total questions: 1 prompt, with points to consider and directions
- 1 passage
- Time allotted: 50 minutes to read and analyze the passage and to develop a written response
What the SAT Essay Measures
The SAT Essay shows how well you understand the passage and use it as the basis for a well-written, well-thought-out response. Your essay will be scored on three dimensions, each on a 2–8 scale:
- Reading: A successful essay shows that you understood the passage, including the interplay of central ideas and important details. It also shows effective use of textual evidence.
- Analysis: A successful essay shows your understanding of how the author builds an argument by:
- Examining the author's use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive techniques (or other elements of your choosing)
- Supporting your claims and points effectively
- Focusing on those features of the passage that are most relevant for completing the task
- Writing: A successful essay is cohesive, organized, and precise, uses an appropriate style and tone, has varied sentences, and observes the conventions of standard written English.
The Essay Prompt
The prompt shown below is nearly identical to the one that will appear on the SAT.
As you read the passage below, consider how [the author] uses:
- Evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims.
- Reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.
- Stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.
Write an essay in which you explain how [the author] builds an argument to persuade [their] audience that [author's claim]. In your essay, analyze how [the author] uses one or more of the features listed above (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of [their] argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage. Your essay should not explain whether you agree with [the author's] claims, but rather explain how [the author] builds an argument to persuade [their] audience.
The Essay Passage
All passages have these things in common:
- Written for a broad audience
- Argue a point
- Express subtle views on complex subjects
- Use logical reasoning and evidence to support claims
- Examine ideas, debates, or trends in the arts and sciences or in civic, cultural, or political life
- Always taken from published works
All the information you need to write your essay will be included in the passage or in notes about it.
SAT Essay Scoring Guide
| Score | Reading | Analysis | Writing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |
Advanced: The response demonstrates thorough comprehension of the source text. The response shows an understanding of the text's central idea(s) and of most important details and how they interrelate, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the text. The response is free of errors of fact or interpretation with regard to the text. The response makes skillful use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating a complete understanding of the source text. |
Advanced: The response offers an insightful analysis of the source text and demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the analytical task.
The response offers a thorough, well-considered evaluation of the author's use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the student's own choosing. The response contains relevant, sufficient, and strategically chosen support for claim(s) or point(s) made. The response focuses consistently on those features of the text that are most relevant to addressing the task. |
Advanced: The response is cohesive and demonstrates a highly effective use and command of language.
The response includes a precise central claim. The response includes a skillful introduction and conclusion. The response demonstrates a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout the essay. The response has a wide variety in sentence structures. The response demonstrates a consistent use of precise word choice. The response maintains a formal style and objective tone. The response shows a strong command of the conventions of standard written English and is free or virtually free of errors. |
| 3 |
Proficient: The response demonstrates effective comprehension of the source text.
The response shows an understanding of the text's central idea(s) and important details. The response is free of substantive errors of fact and interpretation with regard to the text. The response makes appropriate use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating an understanding of the source text. |
Proficient: The response offers an effective analysis of the source text and demonstrates an understanding of the analytical task. The response competently evaluates the author's use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the student's own choosing. The response contains relevant and sufficient support for claim(s) or point(s) made. The response focuses primarily on those features of the text that are most relevant to addressing the task. |
Proficient: The response is mostly cohesive and demonstrates effective use and control of language.
The response includes a central claim or implicit controlling idea. The response includes an effective introduction and conclusion. The response demonstrates a clear progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout the essay. The response has variety in sentence structures. The response demonstrates some precise word choice. The response maintains a formal style and objective tone. The response shows a good control of the conventions of standard written English and is free of significant errors that detract from the quality of writing. |
| 2 |
Partial: The response demonstrates some comprehension of the source text.
The response shows an understanding of the text's central idea(s) but not of important details. The response may contain errors of fact and/or interpretation with regard to the text. The response makes limited and/or haphazard use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating some understanding of the source text. |
Partial: The response offers limited analysis of the source text and demonstrates only partial understanding of the analytical task.
The response identifies and attempts to describe the author's use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the student's own choosing, but merely asserts rather than explains their importance; Or one or more aspects of the response's analysis are unwarranted based on the text. The response contains little or no support for claim(s) or point(s) made. The response may lack a clear focus on those features of the text that are most relevant to addressing the task. |
Partial: The response demonstrates little or no cohesion and limited skill in the use and control of language.
The response may lack a clear central claim or controlling idea or may deviate from the claim or idea over the course of the response. The response may include an ineffective introduction and/or conclusion. The response may demonstrate some progression of ideas within paragraphs but not throughout the response. The response has limited variety in sentence structures; sentence structures may be repetitive. The response demonstrates general or vague word choice; word choice may be repetitive. The response may deviate noticeably from a formal style and objective tone. The response shows a limited control of the conventions of standard written English and contains errors that detract from the quality of writing and may impede understanding. |
| 1 |
Inadequate: The response demonstrates little or no comprehension of the source text.
The response fails to show an understanding of the text's central idea(s), and may include only details without reference to central idea(s). The response may contain numerous errors of fact and/or interpretation with regard to the text. The response makes little or no use of textual evidence (quotations, paraphrases, or both), demonstrating little or no understanding of the source text. |
Inadequate: The response offers little or no analysis or ineffective analysis of the source text and demonstrates little or no understanding of the analytical task.
The response identifies without explanation some aspects of the author's use of evidence, reasoning, and/or stylistic and persuasive elements, and/or feature(s) of the student's choosing; Or numerous aspects of the response's analysis are unwarranted based on the text. The response contains little or no support for claim(s) or point(s) made, or support is largely irrelevant. The response may not focus on features of the text that are relevant to addressing the task; Or the response offers no discernible analysis (e.g., is largely or exclusively summary). |
Inadequate: The response demonstrates little or no cohesion and inadequate skill in the use and control of language.
The response may lack a clear central claim or controlling idea. The response lacks a recognizable introduction and conclusion. The response does not have a discernible progression of ideas. The response lacks variety in sentence structures; sentence structures may be repetitive. The response demonstrates general and vague word choice; word choice may be poor or inaccurate. The response may lack a formal style and objective tone. The response shows a weak control of the conventions of standard written English and may contain numerous errors that undermine the quality of writing. |
SAT Essay Practice
To practice for the SAT Essay:
- Download Bluebook™.
- Go to Practice and Prepare on the Bluebook homepage, and select SAT Essay Practice. (You can access the essay practice with the same sign-in credentials provided by your school.)
- After you've finished the practice test in Bluebook, go to My Practice and sign in with the same credentials provided by your school to view your essay response, prompt, self-scoring rubric, and additional student sample essays.