English 8
SOL Boot Camp
Name: ________________________
Period: _____________
I. Reading Prompts
The first step is to look at the actual prompt. A prompt means ___________
_________________________________________________. Reading these
carefully will help you when you start to write your essay. You will have a good
idea of what to write about, while making it engaging and interesting.
The first step to “reading a prompt” is to take out the cushion, or fluff. Every
prompt has a sentence or two that is unnecessary, and that may have the potential
to confuse you. For instance, read the following prompt:
“Think about how daily life, from reading to playing games to communicating
with others, has changed over the past hundred years because of technology.
Using specific details and examples, explain how these advancements in
technology have changed daily life.”
Out of these sentences, which one does not tell you what to write about?
_____________________________________________________________
The first sentence introduces the topic, but does not give you the assignment.
Read the following prompt, then cross out everything except what you are
supposed to write about:
“People often credit their successes to having good attitudes. Explain the benefits
of having a good attitude, even during a difficult time. Provide examples from
your own experience or from having witnessed this in others.”
The trick is to keep reading the prompt! Don’t stop after the first sentence, and
don’t skip to the last sentence. Read the whole thing carefully in order to decipher
your material. The next step to reading the prompt is to look for the key word.
The key word will point you in the right direction as far as what you are supposed
to write about. Look at the sentence below:
“Explain how you feel about public speaking.”
What is the topic of the essay? _________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
What do you think was the key word in the sentence? ____________________
Other examples of a key word are “write” or “show.” Can you think of other
words that might mean the same thing?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Once you find the key word in the prompt, you can start looking for what you
need to write about.
Read the following prompt. Cross out the fluff, then circle the key word. Finally,
write the topic of your essay in the space below.
“Competition is a constant presence in today’s schools, where students not only
compete with one another in the classroom but also in sports and in various
extracurricular activities. Explain how competition can improve life or make it
more difficult for students. Use specific details and examples in your response.”
II. Types of Essays
The next thing we are going to learn about is the different ways in which you can
respond to a prompt. Let’s start by brainstorming different types of writing:
___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Now, cross out those that you think would not be appropriate for an SOL-style
essay.
For an SOL-style prompt, your response boils down to one of two choices:
1) ______________________________________
2) ______________________________________
It depends on the type of prompt as to what type of response you’ll be crafting.
Prompts will often point you in certain directions. For instance, what type of
essay might you use for the following prompt?
“Sometimes people recognize similarities between themselves and a character
from a book or a movie. Write about a character from a book or a movie who you
think is similar to you. What do you have in common with this character? Use
specific details and examples in your response.”
_______________________________________________
“The school board plans to add one and a half hours to school each day. Do you agree
or disagree with extending the school day? Use specific details and examples to
convince the school board to accept your position.”________________________
“Is it better to take risks and perhaps make some mistakes or remain cautious
and risk nothing? Explain using specific details and examples in your
response.” ____________________________________________________
III. Pre-write
Now that we’ve identified what type of response prompts want, we need to
know how to pre-write specifically for this type of prompt.
What are our options for prewriting? _____________________________
___________________________________________________________
For a 5 paragraph essay, one of the best ways to pre-write is with a specific map
called a cluster (see next page). The cluster allows you to concentrate on the 3
main points you want to make.
It is true that this SOL will be on-line; however, you will still be given scratch
paper, on which you can pre-write.
For the cluster, you skip thinking about your introduction, and you skip thinking
about your conclusion, and you just focus on your 3 main points. Take the
following prompt for example:
“The school board plans to add one and a half hours to school each day. Do you agree
or disagree with extending the school day? Use specific details and examples to
convince the school board to accept your position.”
First, what type of essay is it? ______________________________ Second, do you
agree or disagree? __________________________ Third, what are your 3 main
points?
1) ________________________________________________________
2) _________________________________________________________
3) _________________________________________________________
Here’s another prompt example: “The Roman philosopher Cicero wrote, "Nobody can
give you wiser advice than yourself." However, parents, friends, and teachers often
offer advice. Should people listen to their own advice or to the advice of others? Use
specific details and examples to support your response.
First, what type of essay is it? ______________________________ Second, do
you agree or disagree? __________________________ Third, what are your 3
main points?
1)
________________________________________________________
2) _________________________________________________________
3) _________________________________________________________
Now, let’s work on using the cluster to fill in the rest of our information!
IV. Prompt Openings
What is the purpose of an opening?
1) ___________________________________________________________
2) ___________________________________________________________
What should an opening consist of?
1) ___________________________________________________________
2) ___________________________________________________________
What should you NOT do for an effective opening?
1) __________________________________________________________
2) ___________________________________________________________
Strategies (including those we already learned) for creating an effective
opening:
1) ____________________________________________________________
2) ____________________________________________________________
3) ____________________________________________________________
4) ____________________________________________________________
Let’s look at an example! Read the four openers on the other side. What is
each one doing?

The best birthday gift I ever received was my new red bike.
_____________________________________________________________________

I can think of many birthday gifts I have been given, but my favorite was my new
red bike. _________________________________________________________

It was a bright morning and I can remember the way the sun sparkled off the new
paint of my red bike. I walked toward it in a daze, hardly believing that this was a
gift for me. ______________________________________________________

Do you remember the best birthday gift you have ever received? ___________
_______________________________________________________________________
Which one catches your attention the most, yet still tells you what it is
about?
Let’s try this out! In the space below, write an effective opening for the following
prompt: What makes someone a success? Explain how you define success, using
specific details and examples in your response.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Openings can get tricky. For example, one of the prompts on the SOL writing test
dealt with a quote from Cicero. Although I say that one strategy to openings is to
start with a quote, that shouldn’t be done with Cicero’s quote in this essay. Why?
______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Here is a prompt that starts with a quote. What are some openings that you could write
for it? “Scientist Albert Einstein said, ‘Imagination is more important than
knowledge.’ Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Include specific details and
examples to convince others to support your position.”
______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________