WRITING SECTION TO INCLUDE MULTIPLE-CHOICE AND AN ESSAY

The multiple-choice section will test grammar and usage. The questions will include three types: identifying sentence errors; improving sentences; and improving paragraphs. It will take 35 minutes and comprise about 70 percent of the writing score. Some educators liken this part of the writing section to an editing test that demonstrates an individual's ability to rewrite poorly written English.

Then the essay:

The essay, which will comprise about 30 percent of the writing score, will put far less emphasis on grammar and mechanics, and more on the student's ability to develop a point of view on an issue with appropriate reasons and examples. It will be similar to the kind of on-demand writing that is typically done in college classes and is read as a first draft. The student will be given 25 minutes to respond to an essay topic, also known as a prompt. The topic will be general enough to respond to without requiring advanced knowledge on any specific subject, but specific enough to make "canned"

preparation impossible.

Sample Writing Prompt

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

Some people believe that there is only one foolproof plan, perfect solution, or correct interpretation. But nothing is ever that simple. For better or worse, for every so-called final answer there is another way of seeing things. There is always a "however."

Assignment: Is there always another explanation or another point of view? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

The best advice to students I have ever heard on the subject of the new SAT essay comes from Illinois high school English teacher Bernard Phelan, who was also a College Board Trustee, and is an SAT test developer and essay reader: "You determine the actual content of the essay. Skip any and all advice about the formulaic. Readers of your essay are not working with a checklist of traits, or a rubric. They are grading the essays holistically, that is, taking into account all aspects of the composition process together, rather than singling out traits in a checklist."

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