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The SAT Essay Template

After all, an essay is more than just analysis; there needs to be an underlying structure that organizes it. That is where this template will come in handy. The topics you will write about will be different, but the overall structure and the way you write will be identical every time.

The following is the structure of the essay one needs to follow:

Paragraph One: Introduction

Author’s Thesis: Start with a statement about what the author of the passage is arguing.
Be clear about the author’s main idea.
Write a clear statement about what evidence, persuasion, and reasoning elements you’ll be examining in the essay.

Paragraph Two: Evidence Elements

Transition to specific examples that illustrates elements of evidence.
Quote, Interpret, Significance Pattern
Explanation for why these elements strengthen the passage author’s argument

Paragraph Three: Stylistic and Persuasive Elements

Transition statement introducing Persuasive elements
Quote, Interpret, Significance Pattern
Explanation for why these elements strengthen the passage author’s argument

Paragraph Four: Reasoning Elements

Transition statement introducing Reasoning elements
Quote, Interpret, Significance Pattern
Explanation for why these elements strengthen the passage author’s argument

Paragraph Five: Conclusion

Restate author’s thesis (in different words)
Discuss the effectiveness of literary elements mentioned in your essay.

This is just the skeleton and it’s important you get the structure right to get a perfect SAT essay score. Now it’s time for the details.

Let’s refer back to the passages from the previous chapters to use our template and write our responses.

For reference, the following are the markers:

Underlined Text - Evidence used by the author
Strike through Text - Stylistic and Persuasive Elements used by the author
Highlighted Text - Reasoning the author employs to prove his thesis.

ESSAY PASSAGE 1

Adapted from Paul Bogard, “Let There Be Dark.” 2012 by Los Angeles Times. Originally published December 21, 2012.

At my family’s cabin on a Minnesota lake, I knew woods so dark that my hands disappeared before my eyes. I knew night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars. But now, when 8 of 10 children born in the United States will never know a sky dark enough for the Milky Way, I worry we are rapidly losing night’s natural darkness before realizing its worth. This winter solstice, as we cheer the days’ gradual movement back toward light, let us also remember the irreplaceable value of darkness.
All life evolved to the steady rhythm of bright days and dark nights. Today, though, when we feel the closeness of nightfall, we reach quickly for a light switch. And too little darkness, meaning too much artificial light at night, spells trouble for all.
Already the World Health Organization classifies working the night shift as a probable human carcinogen, and the American Medical Association has voiced its unanimous support for “light pollution reduction efforts and glare reduction efforts at both the national and state levels.” Our bodies need darkness to produce the hormone melatonin, which keeps certain cancers from developing, and our bodies need darkness for sleep. Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression, and recent research suggests one main cause of “short sleep” is “long light.” Whether we work at night or simply take our tablets, notebooks and smartphones to bed, there isn’t a place for this much artificial light in our lives.
The rest of the world depends on darkness as well, including nocturnal and crepuscular species of birds, insects, mammals, fish and reptiles. Some examples are well known - the 400 species of birds that migrate at night in North America, the sea turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs - and some are not, such as the bats that save American farmers billions in pest control and the moths that pollinate 80% of the world’s flora. Ecological light pollution is like the bulldozer of the night, wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years in the making. Simply put, without darkness, Earth’s ecology would collapse....
In today’s crowded, louder, more fast-paced world, night’s darkness can provide solitude, quiet and stillness, qualities increasingly in short supply. Every religious tradition has considered darkness invaluable for a soulful life, and the chance to witness the universe has inspired artists, philosophers and everyday stargazers since time began. In a world awash with electric light...how would Van Gogh have given the world his “Starry Night”? Who knows what this vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?
Yet all over the world, our nights are growing brighter. In the United States and Western Europe, the amount of light in the sky increases an average of about 6% every year. Computer images of the United States at night, based on NASA photographs, show that what was a very dark country as recently as the 1950s is now nearly covered with a blanket of light. Much of this light is wasted energy, which means wasted dollars. Those of us over 35 are perhaps among the last generation to have known truly dark nights. Even the northern lake where I was lucky to spend my summers has seen its darkness diminish.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Light pollution is readily within our ability to solve, using new lighting technologies and shielding existing lights. Already, many cities and towns across North America and Europe are changing to LED streetlights, which offer dramatic possibilities for controlling wasted light. Other communities are finding success with simply turning off portions of their public lighting after midnight. Even Paris, the famed “city of light,” which already turns off its monument lighting after 1 a.m., will this summer start to require its shops, offices and public buildings to turn off lights after 2 a.m. Though primarily designed to save energy,
such reductions in light will also go far in addressing light pollution. But we will never truly address the problem of light pollution until we become aware of the irreplaceable value and beauty of the darkness we are losing.

ESSAY PASSAGE 2

Adapted from Dana Gioia, “Why Literature Matters,” 2005 by The New York Times Company. Originally published April 10, 2005.

[A] strange thing has happened in the American arts during the past quarter century. While income rose to unforeseen levels, college attendance ballooned, and access to information increased enormously, the interest young Americans showed in the arts - and especially literature - actually diminished.
According to the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, a population study designed and commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts (and executed by the US Bureau of the Census), arts participation by Americans has declined for eight of the nine major forms that are measured....The declines have been most severe among younger adults (ages 18–24). The most worrisome finding in the 2002 study, however, is the declining percentage of Americans, especially young adults, reading literature.
That individuals at a time of crucial intellectual and emotional development bypass the joys and challenges of literature is a troubling trend. If it were true that they substituted histories, biographies, or political works for literature, one might not worry. But book reading of any kind is falling as well.
That such a longstanding and fundamental cultural activity should slip so swiftly, especially among young adults, signifies deep transformations in contemporary life. To call attention to the trend, the Arts Endowment issued the reading portion of the Survey as a separate report, “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America.”
The decline in reading has consequences that go beyond literature. The significance of reading has become a persistent theme in the business world. The February issue of Wired magazine, for example, sketches a new set of mental skills and habits proper to the 21st century, aptitudes decidedly literary in character: not “linear, logical, analytical talents,” author Daniel Pink states, but “the ability to create artistic and emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative.” When asked what kind of talents they like to see in management positions, business leaders consistently set imagination, creativity, and higher-order thinking at the top.
Ironically, the value of reading and the intellectual faculties that it inculcates appear most clearly as active and engaged literacy declines. There is now a growing awareness of the consequences of non-reading to the workplace. In 2001 the National Association of Manufacturers polled its members on skill deficiencies among employees. Among hourly workers, poor reading skills ranked second, and 38 percent of employers complained that local schools inadequately taught reading comprehension.
The decline of reading is also taking its toll in the civic sphere....A 2003 study of 15- to 26-year-olds’ civic knowledge by the National Conference of State Legislatures concluded, “Young people do not understand the ideals of citizenship… and their appreciation and support of American democracy is limited.”
It is probably no surprise that declining rates of literary reading coincide with declining levels of historical and political awareness among young people. One of the surprising findings of “Reading at Risk” was that literary readers are markedly more civically engaged than nonreaders, scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a museum, or attend a sporting event. One reason for their higher social and cultural interactions may lie in the kind of civic and historical knowledge that comes with literary reading....
The evidence of literature’s importance to civic, personal, and economic health is too strong to ignore. The decline of literary reading foreshadows serious long-term social and economic problems, and it is time to bring literature and the other arts into discussions of public policy. Libraries, schools, and public agencies do noble work, but addressing the reading issue will require the leadership of politicians and the business community as well....
Reading is not a timeless, universal capability. Advanced literacy is a specific intellectual skill and social habit that depends on a great many educational, cultural, and economic factors. As more Americans lose this capability, our nation becomes less informed, active, and independent-minded. These are not the qualities that a free, innovative, or productive society can afford to lose.

Paragraph 1: The Introduction

I once heard that people make a first impression about you 15 seconds after they first meet you. I believe this is also true for the Essay. After about 15 seconds of reading

your Essay, graders will form an initial impression of what score they will give your Essay. They will then spend the next couple of minutes reading through the rest of your essay confirming their initial opinion. Typically, their grades don’t change by more than 1 point on each sub-score from their initial impression.

So for the introduction, don’t just jump right into discussing the techniques the author uses to prove his thesis - instead use the following walkthrough of the introduction paragraph:

Through the essay, the author is trying to prove his thesis
To prove his thesis, the author employs specific, fact-based evidence, such as X
In addition, the author makes extensive use of persuasion and language, such as Y, to further his point
The above two points help the author to reason his point
Thus he proves his point

Introduction Paragraph: Essay Passage 1

No matter what the passage is or who the author is, you are going to write the same five sentences to start every single SAT essay.

1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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5. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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The following is what I have come up with:

In response to our world’s growing reliance on artificial light, writer Paul Bogard argues that natural darkness should be preserved in his article “Let There be dark”.
Bogard cites several authoritative sources and statistics to bolster his credibility.
Additionally, he builds his argument by using a personal anecdote, allusions to art and history, and rhetorical questions.
Bogard regularly connects humans’ and other species’ need for darkness to recent challenges and issues faced by them to strengthen his case throughout the passage.
He makes a strong case for preserving the natural darkness, and provides ample evidence to sway the reader.

Because of the template and marking all the elements before writing, I did not even have to think before writing the introduction. I had all the information on a platter and all I had to do was re-write the template and fill in the relevant information. Let’s do it with the second passage now:

Introduction Paragraph: Essay Passage 2

Please state your five-sentence introduction here:

1. _________________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. _________________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. _________________________________________________________________________________________________

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5. _________________________________________________________________________________________________

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The following is what I have come up with:

In the article, “Why Literature Matters” by Dana Gioia, Gioia makes an argument claiming that the levels of interest young Americans have shown in art in recent years have declined and that this trend is a severe problem with broad consequences.
Strategies Gioia employs to support his argument include citation of compelling polls, reports made by prominent organizations that have issued studies, and a quotation from a prominent author.
Additionally, he makes heavy use of appeals to emotion, attributing declining levels of historical and political awareness among young people to declining literary reading within young adults of America.
Giola regularly connects contemporary social, civil and political issues faced by America today to the trend of declining reading within America to strengthen her case throughout the passage.
His overall purpose in writing this article appears to be to draw attention towards shortcomings in American participation in the arts, and provides ample evidence to sway the reader.

Done. Once you write a few essays, you will know the introduction like the back of your hand. Let us now figure how to ace writing the body paragraphs.

Paragraph 2: The Evidence

The evidence the author employs to prove his thesis. Like the introduction, this paragraph has a simple template.

So, here is the template:

The author uses a number of fact based evidences throughout his essay to prove his thesis
Quote, Interpret, Significance
Summarize the paragraph

All you are doing here is setting up the paragraph with what I call a “topic sentence” and then listing the actual evidences used by the author and their purpose. The last line is just a summary line and then a connector to the next paragraph. Let’s try this with the two essays

in question. We’ll start with the “Let there be dark” passage:

Evidence Paragraph: Essay Passage 1

Please state your three point evidence based paragraph here:

1. _______________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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Here’s my version:

Throughout the article, Bogard highlights several influential sources in order to persuade readers to give credence to his claim that natural darkness should be preserved.
By including statistical evidence, the essay is not only boosted in its legitimacy, but also in its appeal to the audience. Shocking facts, that many people probably aren’t informed about, serve as a wake-up call to the audience. “Already the World Health Organization classifies working the night shift as a probable human carcinogen…” This fact shows that there is a negative result of working in the night and also shows the legitimacy of the evidence by stating it came from the World Health Organization. This serves to show that the evidence is irrefutable, and the threat is serious. For the people who still don’t see the risk of having too little darkness, Bogard is happy to throw in another heart-pounding statistic. “Sleep disorders have been linked to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and
depression, and recent research suggests one main cause of ‘short sleep’ is long light…” Beautiful scenery from natural darkness, such as “night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars” are not the only thing night owls lose; they are paying with their health too.
Thus, Bogard finds extensive, fact-based reasons to support his belief that light pollution should be reduced and natural darkness should be preserved.

Even though it’s a lot to write, it’s pretty straightforward and you end up writing like a robot. Often it seems like a mechanical task - underlining all the evidences and re-writing them down. The only thing that requires some creativity is to connect the evidences used to the author’s thesis. Now let’s try writing the same paragraph with the Literature passage:

Evidence Paragraph: Essay Passage 2

1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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2 .._______________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

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And here I go:

Dana Giolo fills his essay with numerous examples to prove his point, from quoting a 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts to stating the surprising findings of “Reading at Risk”, which states that literary readers are more civically engaged than non-readers.
In paragraph 6, Gioia introduces a negative example of the consequences of loss of the arts with a focus on literacy. Gioia cites a 2001 poll on the National Association of American Manufactures stating stating that poor reading skills ranked second among
Gioia is careful to provide factual evidence throughout his passage, which further enhances the power of the persuasive elements he then uses to strengthen his argument.

Starting to see a pattern here?

I hope you do. It’s time to move on to the next paragraph now.

Paragraph 3: Stylistic and Persuasive Elements

The intro is completed and you have listed all the evidence that the author employs; now it’s time to get into the style.

Here is the template for the stylistic & persuasive elements paragraph:

The author uses extensive stylistic and persuasive elements throughout his essay to prove his thesis
Quote, Interpret, Significance
Summarize the paragraph and provide a transition to the next paragraph

Does this look exactly look like the evidence template? It does because it is exactly the same. We just replace evidence with stylistic and persuasive elements.

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Let’s try this with the two essays in question.

Stylistic & Persuasive Elements Paragraph: Essay Passage 1

Please state your three point evidence based paragraph here:

1. _______________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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Now compare it with my version:

Paul Bogard makes extensive use of vivid, hyperbolic language, rhetorical statements, and appeals to the reader’s emotion to make a stronger case for his thesis.
Bogard starts his article off by recounting a personal story – a summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was “woods so dark that [his] hands disappeared before [his] eyes.” In telling this brief anecdote, Bogard recalls a time when he could fully amass himself in natural darkness void of artificial light. By drawing in his readers with a personal encounter about night darkness, the author means to establish the potential for beauty, glamour, and awe-inspiring mystery that genuine darkness can possess. Bogard’s argument is also furthered by his use of allusion to art Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. By referencing “Starry Night”, a painting generally considered to be undoubtedly beautiful, Bogard establishes that the natural magnificence of stars in a dark sky is definite. Finally, Bogard makes subtle yet efficient use of rhetorical questioning to persuade his audience that natural darkness preservation is essential. He asks the readers to consider “what the vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?” in a way that brutally plays to each of our emotions. By asking this question, Bogard draws out heartfelt ponderance from his readers about the affecting power of an untainted night sky.
Bogard uses all of the above mentioned elements, along with a long chain of evidence, to further his reasoning for the safeguarding of the darkness and reducing light pollution..

For the most part, I just copied information from the essay itself and pasted it in the template.

All I had to really do was to tie it to the main idea. Now let’s try it with the “Declining in Literary Reading” passage.

Stylistic & Persuasive Elements Paragraph: Essay Passage 2

Please state your three points based paragraph here:

1. _______________________________________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________________________________________

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2. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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Again, compare it with my version:

Gioia frequently appeals to the emotions of the reader and uses powerful and poetic language to prove that decline in reading in America poses a serious problem.
Gioia employs a distinct contrast with several listed positive changes in American life such as increased college attendance and increases in income, with the focus of his article: the fact that the interest young Americans show in art has declined. This tool is utilized to establish an emphasis on his primary point by highlighting it as a negative development relative to other changes in American life. This literary device acts as a vehicle to draw the audience into the principle issue addressed by the writing. In fact, he talks on behalf of the business world and foreshadows consequences of non-reading in the workplace for young adults. Moreover, he appeals to the very “American Spirit” of his readers when he claims that reduced literary reading is causing “a marked decrease in the ideals of American democracy” and decreases understanding the ideals of American democracy. In his words, literary reading is “not the qualities that a free, innovative, or productive society can afford to lose.”
Gioia uses powerful style and an emotional appeal to strengthen his argument, and combines them with evidence for his claims to craft a strong chain of reasoning for his thesis.

I know it may be a lot of text but once you have your template right, it will not take you much time to write.

Paragraph 4: Reasoning

Till now, you have listed all the evidence and style elements the author uses to help explain his thesis. Now it’s time to show how reasoning elements are used to prove the author’s point.

Here is the template for the reasoning elements paragraph:

The author thoughtfully supplements his argument by supplementing facts and persuasive writing with bulletproof reasoning.
Quote, Interpret, Significance
Summarize the paragraph.

Reasoning Paragraph: Essay Passage 1

Please state your three points reasoning paragraph here:

1. . _____________________________________________________________________________________________

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2._______________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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Now, compare it with what I have come up with:

Bogard further thoughtfully supplements his argument by adroitly supplementing facts and persuasive writing with bulletproof reasoning.
Bogard starts the passage by describing the value and beauty of darkness and ending his passage with providing a few solutions to limit light pollution and preserving the dark. He builds his argument for the preservation of natural darkness by reminiscing for his readers a first-hand encounter that proves the “irreplaceable value of darkness.” This anecdote provides a baseline of sorts for readers to find credence with the author’s claims. By paragraph three and four, he lets the reader know that darkness is not just important for the human health, but all for the preservation of our entire ecosystem. The proper functioning of all the species - humans included - depends on darkness. If we continue destroy the darkness and increase light pollution, we’re “wrecking habitat and disrupting ecosystems several billion years in the making.” Bogard’s argument is also furthered by his use of allusion to art - Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” - and modern history - Paris’ reputation as “The City of Light”. By using the latter, Bogard creates a dichotomy between Paris’ traditionally alluded-to name and the reality of what Paris is becoming. This furthers his line of argumentation because it shows how steps can be and are being taken to preserve natural darkness. Lastly, the strategy to use rhetorical questions forces the audience to directly face an emotionally charged inquiry that will surely spur some kind of response.
By the end of the essay, when Bogard returns to the irreplaceable value of darkness, he has crafted a powerful argument for Darkness’s preservation and significant reduction of light pollution.

Reasoning Paragraph: Essay Passage 1

Please state your three points reasoning paragraph here:

1. _____________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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Here is my version:

Gioia further thoughtfully supplements his argument by adroitly supplementing facts and persuasive writing with bulletproof reasoning.
He begins his argument by describing the recent trend in the decline of literary reading for young adults in America and ends by providing serious and far-reaching consequences of this reduce reading habits. Over the course of the first four paragraphs, Dana states that interest in literature, and especially reading, is declining. He points out that reading is a fundamental and important cultural activity and therefore the negative trend is extremely troubling. The problem, he argues, is that the consequences will be beyond literature and are far reaching. He ties in all these points to lead to the core of his moral argument: the only solution arrest this negative trend is to bring literature and the other arts into discussions of public policy. Libraries and Schools will not be able to solve this issue and significant effort will be required from society as a whole to address.
Dana ends his argument by making his position clear and makes a compelling argument for promoting literary reading amount the youth of America.

Nothing new here - I’ve mixed up a few things, but I’m just following the template. We’re almost there! All we need to do is close this essay now. And for that, we write the final paragraph of your essay: the conclusion!

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

We’re almost there! This is, by far, the easiest paragraph to write.

We’re just saying what we have already said. The entire goal here is to sum things up and the only real challenge is to use non-repetitive wording.

Here is the template:

Throughout the passage, the author attempts to prove his thesis
He presents evidence and stylistic elements to prove it.
He connects them with reasoning, and thus his point is well proven

Without further ado, let’s try to write the conclusion paragraphs now.

Conclusion Paragraph: Essay Passage 1

Please state your three point conclusion here:

1. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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_2. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. _____________________________________________________________________________________________

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Compare it to my conclusion:

Writing as a reaction to his disappointment that artificial light has largely permeated the presence of natural darkness, Paul Bogard argues that we must preserve true, unaffected darkness.
The passage effectively weaves statistics, a personal anecdote, allusions, and rhetorical questioning to rebuke the erosion of natural darkness.
Readers of Bogard’s essay - even those initially in opposition to his thesis - would be hard pressed to deny the well supported, strongly reasoned argument put before them.

And we’re finished! Now, time to write the next one.

Conclusion Paragraph: Essay Passage 2

Please state your three point conclusion here:

1. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

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_2. ____________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. _____________________________________________________________________________________________

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Here is my version again:

Dana Gioia uses his essay to convince the reader that literary reading needs to be promoted and is an extremely important quality to inculcate within the young people in America.
He uses strong evidence along with extensive persuasive language and appeals to our emotion to build his argument and prove his point.
Readers of his essay - even those initially in opposition to his thesis - would be hard pressed to deny the well supported, strongly reasoned argument put before them.

Not much new here. I re-state the thesis. I mention that the author uses both evidence and stylistic elements. Finally, I say he did a good job and point out that it’s a solid argument. You now have all the tools you need to write perfect SAT essay. And we’re done with this chapter now.

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