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SAT Writing , SAT Essay
On every SAT Essay, you'll have to read an argument meant to persuade a broad audience and discuss how well the author argues his or her point. The passage you'll have to read will change from test to test, but you'll always need to analyze the author's argument and write a coherent and organized essay explaining this analysis.
In this article, we've compiled a list of the 14 real SAT essay prompts that the College Board has released (either in The Official SAT Study Guide or separately online) for the new SAT. This is the most comprehensive set of new SAT essay prompts online today.
At the end of this article, we'll also guide you through how to get the most out of these prompts and link to our expert resources on acing the SAT essay. I'll discuss how the SAT essay prompts are valuable not just because they give you a chance to write a practice essay, but because of what they reveal about the essay task itself.
UPDATE: SAT Essay No Longer Offered
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In January 2021, the College Board announced that after June 2021, it would no longer offer the Essay portion of the SAT (except at schools who opt in during School Day Testing). It is now no longer possible to take the SAT Essay, unless your school is one of the small number who choose to offer it during SAT School Day Testing.
While most colleges had already made SAT Essay scores optional, this move by the College Board means no colleges now require the SAT Essay. It will also likely lead to additional college application changes such not looking at essay scores at all for the SAT or ACT, as well as potentially requiring additional writing samples for placement.
What does the end of the SAT Essay mean for your college applications? Check out our article on the College Board's SAT Essay decision for everything you need to know.
SAT essay prompts always keep to the same basic format. Not only is the prompt format consistent from test to test, but what you're actually asked to do (discuss how an author builds an argument) also remains the same across different test administrations.
The College Board's predictability with SAT essay helps students focus on preparing for the actual analytical task, rather than having to think up stuff on their feet. Every time, before the passage, you'll see the following:
- evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims.
- reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and evidence.
- stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.
And after the passage, you'll see this:
"Write an essay in which you explain how [the author] builds an argument to persuade [her/his] audience that [whatever the author is trying to argue for]. In your essay, analyze how [the author] uses one or more of the features listed in the box above (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of his argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage.
Your essay should not explain whether you agree with [the author]'s claims, but rather explain how [the author] builds an argument to persuade [her/his/their] audience."
Now that you know the format, let's look at the SAT essay prompts list.
14 Official SAT Essay Prompts
The College Board has released a limited number of prompts to help students prep for the essay. We've gathered them for you here, all in one place. We'll be sure to update this article as more prompts are released for practice and/or as more tests are released.
SPOILER ALERT : Since these are the only essay prompts that have been released so far, you may want to be cautious about spoiling them for yourself, particularly if you are planning on taking practice tests under real conditions . This is why I've organized the prompts by the 10 that are in the practice tests (so you can avoid them if need be), the ones that are available online as sample prompts, and the ones that are in the text of the Official SAT Study Guide (Redesigned SAT), all online for free.
Practice Test Prompts
These 10 prompts are taken from the practice tests that the College Board has released.
Practice Test 1 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Jimmy Carter builds an argument to persuade his audience that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should not be developed for industry."
Practice Test 2 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Martin Luther King Jr. builds an argument to persuade his audience that American involvement in the Vietnam War is unjust."
Practice Test 3 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Eliana Dockterman builds an argument to persuade her audience that there are benefits to early exposure to technology."
Practice Test 4 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved."
Practice Test 5 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Eric Klinenberg builds an argument to persuade his audience that Americans need to greatly reduce their reliance on air-conditioning."
Practice Test 6 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Christopher Hitchens builds an argument to persuade his audience that the original Parthenon sculptures should be returned to Greece."
Practice Test 7 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Zadie Smith builds an argument to persuade her audience that public libraries are important and should remain open"
Practice Test 8 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Bobby Braun builds an argument to persuade his audience that the US government must continue to invest in NASA."
Practice Test 9 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Todd Davidson builds an argument to persuade his audience that the US government must continue to fund national parks."
Practice Test 10 :
"Write an essay in which you explain how Richard Schiffman builds an argument to persuade his audience that Americans need to work fewer hours."
Special note: The prompt for Practice Test 4 also appears on the College Board's site with real sample essays written in response. If you've written a practice essay for practice test 4 and want to see what essays of different score levels look like for that particular prompt, you can go there and look at eight real student essays.
Free Online Practice
This prompt comes from the College Board website .
"Write an essay in which you explain how Dana Gioia builds an argument to persuade his audience that the decline of reading in America will have a negative effect on society."
This prompt comes from Khan Academy , where it is listed as an alternate essay prompt to go along with Practice Test 2:
"Write an essay in which you explain how Leo W. Gerard builds an argument to persuade his audience that American colleges and universities should be affordable for all students."
The Official SAT Study Guide 2020
The Official SAT Study Guide (editions published in 2015 and later available online for free) contains all 10 of the previously mentioned practice tests at the end of the book. In the section about the new SAT essay , however, there are two additional sample essay prompts (accompanied by articles to analyze).
Sample Prompt 1:
"Write an essay in which you explain how Peter S. Goodman builds an argument to persuade his audience that news organizations should increase the amount of professional foreign news coverage provided to people in the United States."
Sample Prompt 2:
"Write an essay in which you explain how Adam B. Summers builds an argument to persuade his audience that plastic shopping bags should not be banned."
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How Do You Get the Most Out of These Prompts?
Now that you have all the prompts released by the College Board, it's important to know the best way to use them. Make sure you have a good balance between quality and quantity, and don't burn through all 14 of the real prompts in a row— take the time to learn from your experiences writing the practice essays.
Step By Step Guide on How to Practice Using the Article
#1: Understand how the SAT essay is graded .
#2: Follow along as we write a high-scoring SAT essay, step by step .
#3: Plan a set of features you'll look for in the SAT essay readings and practice writing about them fluidly. This doesn't just mean identifying a technique, like asking a rhetorical question, but explaining why it is persuasive and what effect it has on the reader in the context of a particular topic. We have more information on this step in our article about 6 SAT persuasive devices you can use .
#4: Choose a prompt at random from above, or choose a topic that you think is going to be hard for you to detach from (because you'll want to write about the topic, rather than the argument) set timer to 50 minutes and write the essay. No extra time allowed!
#5: Grade the essay, using the official essay rubric to give yourself a score out of 8 in the reading, analysis, and writing sections.
#6: Repeat steps 4 and 5. Choose the prompts you think will be the hardest for you so that you can so that you're prepared for the worst when the test day comes
#7: If you run out of official prompts to practice with, use the official prompts as models to find examples of other articles you could write about . Start by looking for op-ed articles in online news publications like The New York Times, The Atlantic, LA Times , and so on. For instance, the passage about the plastic bag ban in California (Official SAT Study Guide sample essay prompt 2, above) has a counterpoint here —you could try analyzing and writing about that article as well.
Any additional articles you use for practice on the SAT essay must match the following criteria:
- ideally 650-750 words , although it'll be difficult to find an op-ed piece that's naturally that short. Try to aim for nothing longer than 2000 words, though, or the scope of the article is likely to be wider than anything you'll encounter on the SAT.
- always argumentative/persuasive . The author (or authors) is trying to get readers to agree with a claim or idea being put forward.
- always intended for a wide audience . All the information you need to deconstruct the persuasiveness of the argument is in the passage. This means that articles with a lot of technical jargon that's not explained in the article are not realistic passage to practice with.
What's Next?
We've written a ton of helpful resources on the SAT essay. I f you're just getting started, we recommend beginning with our top SAT essay tips for a quick overview of the essay task and what you need to know.
A little more familiar with the SAT essay but still not quite sure how to write one? Follow along with our step-by-step guide to writing the SAT essay .
Looking to earn a high score? Learn what it takes to get the highest score possible on the SAT essay here .
Plus, if you want a reference linking you to all of our great articles on the SAT essay, be sure to check out our ultimate SAT essay guide .
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Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.
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SAT Essay Topics
Our essay topics have been closely modeled on those in the SAT. You can also do the essays given in the first section of each of the tests in the Official Study Guide .
Each of the topics consists of a prompt and an assignment.
Prompt: "That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only which gives everything its value." Thomas Paine
Assignment: Do we value only what we struggle for? Plan your response, and then write an essay to explain your views on this issue. Be sure to support your position with specific points and examples. (You may use personal examples or examples from your reading, observations, or, knowledge of subjects such as history, literature, science.)
Prompt: If we are afraid to reveal our lack of knowledge we will not be able to learn. In order to make progress we must admit where we are now. Such an admission of ignorance is not easy. As Thoreau says, �How can we remember our ignorance which our growth requires, when we are using our knowledge all the time?�
Assignment: Does the present system of education encourage us to admit our lack of knowledge, or is there too much pressure to demonstrate the acquisition of knowledge? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Prompt: �A little inaccuracy saves a world of explanation.� C.E.Ayers
Assignment: Is it always essential to tell the truth, or are there circumstances in which it is better to lie? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Prompt: Many societies believe that the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human right. But it is also true that attainment of happiness remains elusive. Perhaps Bertrand Russell had it right when he said, �To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.�
Assignment: What gives us more pleasure and satisfaction: the pursuit of our desires or the attainment of them? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Prompt: �The price of greatness is responsibility.� Winston Churchill
Assignment: Do we expect too much from our public figures? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Prompt: �A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.� Alexander Pope
Assignment: Do we learn more from finding out that we have made mistakes or from our successful actions? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Prompt: �What man calls civilization always results in deserts. Man is never on the square � he uses up the fat and greenery of the earth. Each generation wastes a little more of the future with greed and lust for riches.� Don Marquis
Assignment: With our modern awareness of ecology are we likely to make sufficient progress in conservation, or are we still in danger of damaging the earth beyond repair? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Prompt: A man who waits to believe in action before acting is anything you like, but he is not a man of action. It is as if a tennis player before returning the ball stopped to think about his views of the physical and mental advantages of tennis. You must act as you breathe. Georges Clemenceau
Assignment: Is it true that acting quickly and instinctively is the best response to a crisis? Or are there times when an urgent situation requires a more careful consideration and a slower response? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Prompt: There is usually a kernel of truth in the words Oscar Wilde puts in the mouth of his most outrageous characters � they wouldn�t be funny otherwise. One such gem that is worth pondering is: The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.
Assignment: Is it true that when we most need advice we are least willing to listen to it? Or is good advice always welcome? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Prompt: �Independence? That�s middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.� Bernard Shaw expected to provoke controversy with these words, but I would agree with him that these days there is too much emphasis on independence. While it is certainly true that excessive dependence on others is not a sign of maturity, total independence of others is neither attainable nor desirable: we need to be mature, and unselfish enough to recognize our interdependence .
Assignment: Do we put too much emphasis on self-reliance and independence, and are we afraid of admitting that we need other people in our lives? Plan your response, and then write an essay...
Choose an option below to learn about our essay formats. You will also find an essay evaluation grid, a list of SAT essay topics for you to practice on and two sample essays.
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- Curling and Team
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- Autism Research Paper Finished
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- The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Critical Analysis
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- Maximizing Profits in Market Structures Paper
- Essay on Work Based Learning
- The Lucifer Effect
- A History of the World in Sex Glasses
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SAT Essay Prompts
The new SAT Essay Prompts are longer and more challenging than before. You are now asked to read a persuasive passage and analyze the author’s argument. You must explain how the author builds this argument with evidence, reasoning, and other persuasive elements.
The passage will be from a published article that was written for a broad audience. It will argue a point and it will express subtle views on complex subjects. Logical reasoning will be used in the passage to support the author’s claims.
The best way to prepare for this section of the test is by writing practice essays. Start practicing right now with our free SAT Essay prompts!
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A Complete List of Real SAT Essay Prompts (March 2005 – June 2015)
A complete compilation of real SAT essay prompts administered historically by the College Board for different test periods.
- Prompts: October 2014 – June 2015
- Prompts: October 2013 – June 2014
- Prompts: October 2012 – June 2013
- Prompts: October 2011 – June 2012
- Prompts: October 2010 – June 2011
- Prompts: October 2009 – June 2010
- Prompts: October 2008 – June 2009
- Prompts: October 2007 – June 2008
- Prompts: October 2006 – June 2007
- Prompts:_March 2005 – June 2006
SAT essay prompts contain a first part which is a passage or quote, followed by a second part which is the assignment.
For practice, you could write an entire essay on one of the prompts, or you could identify one historical, one literary, and one current event example that could be useful for each prompt. If you have taken a course at our center, you will remember that you should research and memorize 5 literary, 5 historical, and 5 current event examples on a variety of topics before you walk into the test. This strategy saves you valuable time and ensures your examples are detailed, accurate, and original.
For SAT Tips on the Writing section, please click: 25-Minute Essay Strategies .
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New SAT Essay: Prompts and Samples
The new SAT essay is optional.
In 50 minutes, you'll be required to read a text and write a logical, well-constructed analysis of the author's argument. The thing to remember here is that College Board is not asking you for your opinion on a topic or a text. Your essay will be an objective analysis of a speech or argument.
New SAT Essay Prompts from Past Exams
New sat essay samples.
- May 2019 SAT in Asia Essay Sample: "Let's Expose the Gender Pay Gap"
- May 2019 SAT Essay Sample: "Allow Video Cameras in the Supreme Court"
- April 2019 SAT Essay Sample: "US Public Libraries: We Lose Them at Our Peril"
- March 2019 SAT Test Essay Sample: "How to Prevent an Oil Train Disaster"
- March 2019 SAT Test in Asia Essay Sample: "Let There be (less) Light"
- March 2019 SAT Test in Asia Essay Sample
- December 2018 SAT Essay Sample: "Teachers Shouldn't Teach for Free"
- November 2018 SAT Test in Asia Essay Sample: "The Real Reasons to Support Language"
- November 2018 SAT Essay Sample: "Lesson of Santa Barbara Oil Spill: Leave Petroleum in the Ground"
- October 2018 SAT Test in Asia Essay Sample: "All Girls Deserve Education Beyond Primary"
- October 2018 SAT essay sample: "Protect Our Bats"
New SAT Essay Tips
- New SAT Essay Template
- How to raise your new SAT essay score?
- New SAT Essay Writing Tips
- How to Crack The New SAT Essay?
New SAT Essay Prompts
- New SAT Essay Topic 1
- New SAT Essay Topic 2
- New SAT Essay Topic 3
- New SAT Essay Topic 4
- New SAT Essay Topic 5
- New SAT Practice Essay 1
- New SAT Practice Essay 2
- New SAT Practice Essay 3
- New SAT Practice Essay 4
- New SAT Essay Sample 1
- New SAT Essay Sample 2
Old SAT Essay
Sat essay samples from official sat study guide, sat essay samples from kaplan 12 practice tests for the sat, sat essay samples from barron's writing workbook for the new sat.
7 Most Commonly Tested Writing Topics On The SAT
Table Of Contents
- 1 1. Punctuation
- 2 2. Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA)
- 3 3. Pronouns
- 4 4. Verb Tense
- 5 5. Parallelism
- 6 6. Modifiers
- 7 7. Expression of Ideas
- 8 Still unclear about the SAT Writing Section?
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the volume of content you need to understand for the SAT writing section. However, you will be tested from a fixed list of grammar concepts , so once you master them, a good score won’t be far out of reach. The most crucial thing to remember is that you should never rely on convention or how you would normally say or write something to gauge its grammatical correctness . Why? Oftentimes, our everyday language habits do not adhere as strictly to official grammar rules as we think they do. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the most common grammar concepts that you need to understand to ace the SAT writing section:
- Punctuation
- Subject-Verb Agreement
- Parallelism
- Expression of Ideas
- SAT Writing Trial Class
1. Punctuation
Out of the various types of punctuation tested, students grapple most with commas. Most of us are understandably used to inserting commas into sentences where we would take a breath or pause naturally. However, similar to other types of grammar, there are strict punctuation rules that must be adhered to in the SAT. Besides commas, the SAT syllabus also includes apostrophes, semicolons, colons, and dashes.
2. Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA)
At its core, SVA simply means that a singular subject requires a singular verb, and a plural subject requires a plural verb:
- A girl sings. [singular]
- Two girls sing. [plural]
To confuse you, the SAT might complicate the subject by using compound subjects, collective nouns, uncountable nouns, and portions. In addition, it might difficult to identify the correct subject if it is separated from the verb with prepositional and modifying phrases. If you are a student of ours, our grammar content class will go over all the tricks the SAT generally uses in some detail.
3. Pronouns
Pronoun case, agreement, and ambiguity are tested in the SAT. Pronouns are also where many students falter when they are used to picking answers that “sound right”.
Case refers to the function of a pronoun in a sentence; for the test, you only need to be familiar with subject, object, and possessive pronouns.
Agreement is considered in terms of number, gender, and point of view. For example, a singular, male pronoun (he), should have a singular, male referent (John). Point of view, meanwhile, mainly focuses on pronoun consistency.
Ambiguity becomes an issue when the pronoun has either an unclear referent (subject noun is not mentioned explicitly) or an ambiguous one (multiple possible subject nouns).
4. Verb Tense
While many find this topic challenging, don’t overthink tense as most questions that look like they are testing you on tense are really testing subject-verb agreement or parallelism. The three categories of tenses included in SAT syllabus are simple , progressive , and perfect tenses . You must understand the various contexts in which you can use each tense in order to answer these questions well.
5. Parallelism
This is the basic idea that there are certain things in the English language that need to match in structure. Parallelism manifests in things like lists, coordinating conjunctions, comparisons, and paired phrases.
6. Modifiers
A modifier is a word or phrase that describes something in the sentence . It typically describes the word(s) it is closest to, and its removal from a sentence does not render the sentence incomplete. The SAT focuses on adverb vs. adjective , comparative vs. superlative , misplaced modifiers , and dangling modifiers . If all these words are Greek to you, attend our Writing class which demystifies clearly all these concepts.
7. Expression of Ideas
This type of question can be split into three categories: development, organization, and effective language use.
Development questions require you to enhance the writer’s message by clarifying the main points: work with supporting details, sharpen the focus, and use data from informational graphics such as tables, graphs, and charts to make the passage more accurate, precise, and effective.
Organization questions will have you placing or sequencing material in a passage to make it more logical: decide how openings or closings of a passage/its paragraphs/the transitions tying information and ideas together can be improved.
Expression of idea questions require you to use language to accomplish particular rhetorical goals: improve precision and economy of expression, make sure that the style and tone of a passage are appropriate and consistent, put sentences together to make ideas flow more smoothly.
While the learning curve is undoubtedly steep, as with most things, practice makes perfect. The benefit of the SAT being a standardized test is that the same traps and tricks are used over again, so the more practice you do, the less likely you are to be duped on the actual test . When approaching each question, be sure to first identify the concept(s) being tested so that you can then narrow down the possible answer choices systematically.
If you have close to no grammar knowledge (a lot of this probably wasn’t taught in school), Prep Zone offers comprehensive grammar classes that will walk you through all the concepts the SAT will test – master them and avoid careless mistakes, and it will be possible to achieve a near-perfect SAT score.
Still unclear about the SAT Writing Section?
Register for a SAT Writing trial class with Prep Zone’s experienced SAT trainer!
Please note that all trial class slots are subjected to availability. Our friendly staff will get in touch with you to finalise the trial slot within the next 48 hours.
For any additional inquiries regarding our course or the trial class, contact our hotline at +65 6812 9999 .
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Author Megan Y
Megan joined Prep Zone after completing her undergraduate studies at the National University of Singapore, where she majored in English Language. During her time in university, she tutored high school and primary level students in English. She firmly believes that building good rapport with her students and utilising an engaging and direct approach are key in helping students learn and thrive.
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