Past Sat Essay Questions

The new SAT Essay section presents an extended piece of nonfiction prose, often times an article excerpted from the likes of or a Condé Nast publication, ranging between 650-800 words, then asks the student to write a five-paragraph essay that identifies, explains, and evaluates the stylistic, rhetorical, and logical elements of the text that contribute to its meaning – all in the span of 50 minutes.All the prompts stick to the following template: “Write an essay in which you explain how [the author’s name] builds an argument to persuade his/her audience…your essay should not explain whether or not you agree with [the author’s] claims, but rather explain how [the author] builds an argument to persuade his/her audience.”The SAT prompt does not ask for the student’s opinion on the passage, it tests for how well the student understands the passage’s argument and how the author makes the argument.

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The ACT recently changed the format of the optional essay, debuting the new essay on the September 2015 exam.

However, it's clear that in 2019, the curves are tougher than they were before, which means you lose more points on average for each incorrect answer, especially in the math and writing sections. Note: Because of rounding, percentages may not add up to 100.

We do not take into account curves from sections that had faulty questions.

However, the College Board makes the case that its essay assignment is not only more representative of the reading and writing skills that students learn in school, but also more predictive of the sort of reading, analysis, and writing work that students will go on to do at the college level.

The following chart outlines the major differences between the ACT and SAT essay: an argument.

From September on, all essay prompts will require you to not only respond to a specific question, but to also read and address three unique perspectives on the question.

While the new essay format is admittedly more complex than the earlier version, it’s still very predictable and you can do very well on it with the right preparation.

Before preparing for the SAT or ACT essay, make sure you know what to expect on each.

The SAT and ACT Essays each present new and unique challenges, each the product of a recent redesign that has vastly changed both the look of each writing test as well as the rubric with which a student’s essay is graded.