SSAT Middle Level Essay As practice for the SSAT Middle Level Essay, you need to write a short story in twenty-five minutes. Please time yourself and try to stick within the time frame. Put a mark next to the writing when twenty-five minutes is over, if you need to continue writing in order to finish your story.
Here are some tips…
• Follow the instructions. Make sure the sentence provided by the SSAT is the first sentence of
your story.
• Budget your time! Make sure to save time at the end to edit for spelling, grammar, and
punctuation.
• Decide what point of view you will use and stick to it! Sometimes the point of view is
established by the sentence provided:
• - First person uses “I”: “I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
• - Third person uses “he”, “she”, “it”, “they”: “He couldn’t believe his eyes.”
• Decide what tense you will use for your story and stick to it! Sometimes the tense is
established by the sentence provided:
• - Past tense: I saw, I went, I did.
• - Present tense (rarer and more difficult to maintain): I see, I go, I do.
• In your first paragraph, establish the setting of your story using vivid description involving
sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound.
• In your first paragraph, establish the conflict.
• - Conflict is the problem, difficulty, or challenge facing the main character.
• Every story should have a clear structure: beginning, middle, and end (in other words, rising
action, climax, falling action, conclusion)
Topic 4:
I knew it was dangerous, but...
