Below are examples of SAT essay writing prompts. After you write your essay, evaluate it using the guidelines below.
Prompt 1:
The youth of today is not the youth of twenty years ago. This much any elderly person would say, at any point in history, and think it was both new and true. Youth seem to want to be that which society tells them not to be: in this they conform.
—Adapted from Identity:
Youth and Crisis, by ERIK ERIKSON
(W.W. Norton & Company, 1968)
Assignment 1:
Are youth today less conformist than they once were? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Prompt 2:
The worship of artists as heroes is both commonplace and misguided. Why does the creation of a work of art impose on the artist the obligation to lead an exemplary life? The artists have fulfilled their contracts with us by producing work that gives us pleasure or insight or both. Why hold them to an unwritten morals clause?
—Adapted from "Loves of a Poet,"
by RHONDA KOENIG
Assignment 2:
Is it valuable to view artists and other public figures as heroes? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Prompt 3:
Scholars and researchers have tried to measure the links between intelligence and genius. But intelligence is not enough. Run of the mill physicists have much higher IQs than Nobel Prize–winner Richard Feynman, whom many acknowledge to be the last great American genius. Genius is not about scoring a 2400 on the SATs, mastering ten languages at the age of seven, having an extraordinarily high IQ, or even about being smart. After considerable debate, psychologists reached the conclusion that creativity is not the same as intelligence. An individual can be far more creative than he or she is intelligent, or far more intelligent than creative.
—Adapted from Cracking Creativity,
by MICHAEL MICHALKO (Ten Speed Press, 2001)
Assignment 3:
Is creativity more important than intelligence? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Prompt 4:
Most people acknowledge that they occasionally tell "white lies." They justify their behavior with reasons ranging from protecting others' feelings to saving a life. The common thread in these claims is that telling the truth in certain situations would cause more harm than good. And yet the definition of harm varies greatly.
Assignment 4:
Is it sometimes better to lie? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Prompt 5:
A recent study ranked 178 countries according to levels of happiness reported by their citizens. Respondents chose from a range of determining factors, including education, life expectancy, and income. These three (not in this order) were in fact the most closely correlated with well-being.
Assignment 5:
Is income more important than any other factor in determining happiness? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Prompt 6:
Groups matter. On a practical level, much of the world's work is done by groups. Groups are also the keys to understanding people—why they think, feel, and act the way they do. Human behavior is so often group behavior that people cannot be studied in isolation. All kinds of societies are defined by the small groups that compose them. Societal forces, such as traditions, values, and norms, do not reach directly to individuals, but instead work through the groups to which each individual belongs.
—Adapted from Group Dynamics,
by DONELSON R. FORSYTH (1998, Wadsworth)
Assignment 6:
Are all values group values or do some originate with the individual? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Prompt 7:
In a literal sense, there is "nothing new under the sun." Every development rests on previous ones. Devices we call new are only combinations of two or more old ones. The originality of inventors lies in seeing relationships that occurred to no one else. That ability is the heart of invention and originality.
—Adapted from "How to Produce New Ideas,"
by WEBB GARRISON (Popular Mechanics, Vol. 1. No. 3, 1954)
Assignment 7:
Is anything truly original? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Prompt 8:
Scholars and researchers have tried to measure the links between intelligence and genius. But intelligence is not enough. Run of the mill physicists have much higher IQs than Nobel Prize-winner Richard Feynman, whom many acknowledge to be the last great American genius. After considerable debate, they reached the conclusion that creativity is not the same as intelligence. An individual can be far more creative than he or she is intelligent, or far more intelligent than creative.
—Adapted from Cracking Creativity,
by MICHAEL MICHALKO (Ten Speed Press, 2001)
Assignment 8:
Is creativity more important than intelligence? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Prompt 9:
Most people acknowledge that they occasionally tell "white lies." They justify their behavior with reasons ranging from protecting others' feelings to saving a life. The common thread in these claims is that telling the truth in certain situations would bring more harm than good. And yet the definition of harm varies greatly.
Assignment 9:
Is it sometimes better to lie? Organize and compose an essay that establishes your viewpoint on this issue. Substantiate it with examples and evidence derived from what you have read, studied, experienced, or observed.
Evaluation
For all criteria, note whether your effort was (1) weak, (2) adequate, or (3) good to great. Answer only those that are applicable.
Planning
| Met time restriction (4–6 minutes) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Located heartbeat words |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Chose quality examples |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Responded to assignment |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Thesis Statement
| Used heartbeat words |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Argument based on best examples |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Introductory Paragraph
| Used a hook |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Briefly introduced examples |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Body Paragraphs
| Used one example per paragraph, mentioned in your introduction |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Used heartbeat words |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Used details and evidence to support each example |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Logically and smoothly progressed from one idea to another |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Used at least two types of sentence structures |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Long enough to fill at least one page (more than one total with introduction) |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Conclusion
| Included a reworked thesis statement |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Was at least two sentences long |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Ended with a question, quote, or analogy |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Overall
| Met time restriction |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Showed good grasp of grammar, vocabulary, and mechanics |
1 |
2 |
3 |
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