How many paragraphs in an essay SAT

What is an SAT essay?

SAT essays are for the purpose to access the capability of any author to analyze his argument. In this particular type of essay, a test taker has to go through a piece of convincing writing and then give a statement or analysis of it.

One of the main challenging aspects of writing SAT essay is to determine how many paragraphs it must have to make it a readable article. The organization of all the points is the main feature of any unique essay. We can say that there are too many approaches to determining the number of paragraphs; the fact is it must have.

How many paragraphs in an essay SAT?

The two main approaches are the standard five-paragraph essay and the chronological essay.

The standard five-paragraph essay

Most colleges and schools use five-paragraph essays in response to SAT essays. A typical five-paragraph essay includes an introduction, body paragraphs. Coming further, the writer has to write about specific aspects and the conclusion. The body of SAT essay consists of three sections where the writer has to express the author’s perspective. Hence, they have to include all language, thought processes, and extract style within three paragraphs.

This structure of the essay is accepted by most of the College Board’s websites. They even provide these types of a paragraph as a model for getting full marks in college essays.

But there are certain limitations of using five paragraphs for writing the SAT essay. The text of the SAT essay changes from test to test.

For example, suppose you are writing an SAT essay on a topic that authors use metaphorical language. In that case, you need to give specific examples of that particular language in a whole-body paragraph. This also means that you can only choose three types of features. You can explain in three subparagraphs under the body section.

Sometimes a piece of persuasive writing includes authors many modes of persuasion. Some persuasions have appealed to

  • Emotion
  • Figurative Language
  • Questions
  • Logical Argumentation
  • Suggestive diction.

In that case, you have to choose only three persuasions while choosing a standard five-paragraph essay. This not only will be an incomplete essay but also lose its uniqueness.

Thus, there is another way of approaching this type of SAT essay.

Chronological Essay

A chronological Essay is best when describing a sat essay. You can follow the author’s argumentative style and provide a recorded commentary on various features styles along the way.

This form of writing removes the disadvantage of any standard five-paragraph essay. It is done with the help of organizing a body of paragraphs according to the author’s aspects rather than choosing stylistic features.

You can comment on any type of thought process that the author makes and do more through by addressing the essay more profusely.

One of the drawbacks of using this type of structuring of SAT essays is determining the number of paragraphs it must contain. This openness of essay may be less student friendly as it becomes more rigid and cannot be memorized by the students.

To sum up

An important takeaway from this article is that there is no way of writing a set essay. When you appear for any test, read the extract, and decide which type of approach. You can choose that is the standard five-paragraph essay or chronological essay. It depends upon the type of extracts you are given for examination.

It is always better to have more than one option to write your analytical task correctly and appropriately. Students can select the format and number of paragraphs according to the extract.

Also read: How many paragraphs are in an argumentative essay?

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