How to Write Great Essays

HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
CHAPTER 7
Timed Essay Writing Strategies
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Be able to use each part of the essay to your best advantage, writing a strong
introduction, an organized and substantiated body, and a conclusion that
pulls it all together.
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Practice outlining sample topics using a variety of graphic organizers. Which
one works best?
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Budget your time well, allowing at least a few minutes for planning and
revising.
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Understand the topics or types of topics you will encounter.
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Practice taking a timed exam and evaluate your essay critically.
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Practice, practice, practice!
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n Chapters 1–7, you learned how to approach many kinds of timed and untimed essays.
From prewriting and organization to editing and proofreading, each step in the process
was examined. But what does it look like when all the steps are put together? In this chap-
ter, you will get to see real prompts and real essays. Not all of the essays are top-scoring essays,
but all of them are followed by an evaluation of what made the essay good, or what made
the essay weak. Use these comments to reflect on what someone might write in response to
one of your essays.
U
N T I M E D
E
S S AY
P
R O M P T S
UNTIMED PROMPT 1
Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you
have faced, and its impact on you.
Sunday. As the bus bumps along through the muggy heat of July, I find it
hard to be proud. Although I have just played great soccer in the Eastern
C H A P T E R
Sample Essay Prompts 
and Essays