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You’ve likely written many essays in your life, from ones that are just a single paragraph long to those that are dozens of pages in length. Most of your writing has probably been for school—you know the material, you know the grader, and you typically have more than an hour (often days, weeks, months, or even years!) to write. Essays for standardized tests are similar in some respects, but different in many other ways. The writing skills that you have learned in school will be very helpful, but they may not be enough when it comes to some of the particular skills that are needed for standardized test essays. This book will help you conquer these essays and achieve top marks.
What makes for good writing for school assignments? Well, it depends on a lot of factors. Different courses will have different aims, so the grader will focus on different aspects. For instance, a lab report needs to follow a specific structure. The writing needs to be detailed and exhaustive. The lab report shouldn’t be written like a novel—a writing style that would be successful in a creative writing course won’t work here! Grammar should be correct (to make the writing clear), but the grader’s goal isn’t to evaluate how well you understand the mechanics of the language.
In contrast, writing for a foreign language class is all about the mechanics. Grammatical rules must be followed—the grader will be looking for those mistakes. Additionally, idiomatic expressions are essential: is the writing like that of a native speaker, or are there borrowings from English (or whatever other language the author speaks or writes)?
As a result, every class and subject has its own requirements. What’s successful in one class won’t necessarily work in another, especially since the requirements and preferences depend on the grader. Some may want to see writing that gets directly to the point, and others may want to see more of an overview of the thought process. You might have a grader who gives the benefit of the doubt if it seems clear that the student knows the material; then again, you might also have one who channels their disappointment into your grade.
So, what makes writing for standardized tests different? Well, a lot of the above is still true. Different essays will have different requirements, so what is necessary for success on one exam may not be helpful on other exams. Although the grader is some anonymous employee of the test company, there are some things we know about these folks, so we can learn to give them what they’re looking for.
The biggest difference between writing for school and writing for standardized tests is time. Most teachers will give an hour or more for an in-class writing assignment, and, of course, essays written outside of school can take many, many hours to write. By contrast, most of the essays in this book give students about 45 minutes (or less) to read and understand the prompt, plan out their essays, actually write, and proofread. The good news is that although you may not know exactly what your essay prompt will be, there is actually a lot of planning that you can do in advance. The more you do to prepare before test day, the easier the writing process will be, and the better your essay will be. In this book, you’ll learn the skills that are needed for each essay test you are taking, and you’ll develop a solid plan for how to approach any prompt you may be given.
In the first section of this book, you’ll find scoring rubrics and samples for many of the essays found on the APs, ACT, SSAT, ISEE, and TOEFL. This will give you a sense of what the graders are looking for and, consequently, what your essay should look like. These are not intended to be perfect samples—rather, they are meant to demonstrate a range of student writing so that you know what to focus on in your own work. Additionally, because we’re focusing on writing skills instead of academic content, the prompts have been omitted. If you’re looking for sample prompts, you can find them on each test-maker’s website, or check out practice tests in our Prep books, which you can find at www.randomhouse.com/princetonreview .
The second section of this book contains the overall skills and strategies that you’ll need to know when it comes time to write your essay. The opening of each chapter tells you which essays the given technique applies to so that you can focus on those most relevant to the test(s) you’re preparing for.
Although this book focuses on specific essay exams, you may find that the skill-related advice helps on other essays. Most essays you have to write for school or for other standardized tests, such as state graduation exams or International Baccalaureate exams, will use many of the same skills we cover in this book. If you will be taking the School Day SAT with essay, the Rhetorical Analysis chapter will give you some great strategies. The Personal Essays chapter may even help with essays you write for college admissions, private high school admissions, or scholarship applications. Many of the tips and techniques in the Long Essay Approaches chapter will apply to just about any essay you write, even those without a time limit. We’ve kept most of our advice general, in order to apply to multiple tests, so we think you’ll find it extremely helpful for much of the writing you have to do.