SAT写作分析与样题

By first referencing “Starry Night”, a painting generally considered to be undoubtedly beautiful, Bogard establishes that the natural magnificence of stars in a dark sky is definite. A world absent of excess artificial light could potentially hold the key to a grand, glorious night sky like Van Gogh’saccording to the writer. This urges the readers to weigh the disadvantages of our world consumed by unnatural, vapid lighting.

Furthermore, Bogard’s alludesto Paris as “the famed ‘city of light’”. He then goes on to state how Paris has taken steps to exercise more sustainable lighting practices. By doing this, Bogard creates a dichotomy between Paris’ traditionally alluded-to name and the reality of what Paris is becoming - no longer “the city of light”, but more so “the city of light?before 2 AM”.

This furthers his line of argumentation because it shows how steps can be an dare being taken to preserve natural darkness. It shows that even a city that is literally famous for being constantly lit can practically address light pollution in a manner that preserves the beauty of both the city itself and the universe as a whole.

Finally, Bogardmakes subtle yet efficient use of rhetorical questioning to persuade his audience that natural darkness preservation is essential. He asks the readers to consider “what the vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?”

in a way that brutally plays to each of our emotions. By asking this question,Bogard draws out heart felt ponderance from his readers about the affecting power of an untainted night sky. This rhetorical question tugs at the readers’heart strings; while the reader may have seen an unobscured night skyline before, the possibility that their child or grandchild will never get the chance sways them to see as Bogard sees.

This strategy is definitively an appeal to pathos, forcing the audience to directly face an emotionally-chargedinquiry that will surely spur some kind of response. By doing this, Bogard develops his argument, adding gutthral power to the idea that the issue of maintaining natural darkness is relevant and multifaceted.

Writing as a reaction to his disappointment that artificial light has largely permeated the presence of natural darkness, Paul Bogard argues that we must preserve true, unaffected darkness. He builds this claim by making use of a personal anecdote,allusions, and rhetorical questioning.

简评：

1、上文为643词，相比其它评分较低的文章，这篇作文明显较长，这说明官方对于高分作文的字数是有一定期待的，写得较慢、较少的同学可能会处于劣势（现行SAT作文也需要注意此项）；

2、这篇文章仍然是采取了经典的总分总形式，从划线部分可以看出，英文作文中普遍运用的“一个中心，三个支撑点”的行文思想在这里也是适用的；

3、上文用词、用句水平较高，笔者听备考新SAT的一对一学生反馈说此满分范文比新SAT引用的文章本身还要稍微难懂一点，主要是词句更难理解一些，可以据此推测，写作的词句基本功在新SAT Essay里仍然是考察重点。

结语：新SAT样题的发布牵动了许多家长、学生、老师的神经，对其的研究是有备考指导作用的。在Essay方面的备考启示有：

第一，考生可以多关注和阅读近年在新闻媒体（包括网络报道、书籍等）里出现的高质量英语论述文章；

第二，在阅读上述文章时，有意识地思考作者为了达到写作意图而运用的写作方法；

第三，积累优美词句，在新SAT Essay练习中反复使用。