TBR Writing

Writing
Sample
Introduction to

MCAT Essay Composition

Essay Topic Statements
For Writing Practice Essays
Sample Essays
With Commentary

BERKELEY
.L/r-e*v«i»e-w®
Specializing in MCAT Preparation


ERKELEY
E

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• V

E

• W

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MCAT-TBR



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Writing Sample



Contents
Introduction to MCAT Essay Composition
The MCAT Writing Sample

7
9

How to Use This Manual

9

What You May Not Know about the MCAT Writing Sample
Origins

9
9

What the Writing Sample is Designed to Assess

9

Topics for Writing Sample Essays

10

How the Writing Sample is Structured: A Brief Overview

10

Grading of MCAT Writing Samples

11

Scoring

12

Description of Point Scale

13

What Does All of This Mean?

13

What You Already Know: Essays

14

The Writing Assignment

16

"It is Always Wrong to Lie."

16

Task One: Explain what you think the statement means.

17

Task Two: Describe a specific situation in which it might not be wrong to lie.

19

TaskThree: Discuss what you thinkdetermines whether it is ever wrong to lie.

20

Preparation for the Writing Sample

21

Practice

22

HI


Contents

Essay Topic Statements for Writing Practice Essays

Instructions

/.

25
27

"That action is best which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest number."

29

//.

The role of a scientist is to explain the natural world, not to impart values.

33

///.

The only argument for capital punishment is that "justice equals revenge."

37

IV.

Journalists should always be strictly objective.

41

Freedom of expression should be absolute.

45

Limited terms of office would make elected officials more accountable to those

49

V.
VI.

who elect them.

VII.

Governing with the consent of the governed is more effective than governing

53

by decree.

VIII.

Health care is a right, not a privilege.

57

The responsibility of public education is to teach skills, rather than values.

61

The mass media have a duty to cover all sides of a news story.

65

XI

"A liar should have a good memory."

69

XII.

The person who buys pornography harms no one by doing so.

73

XIII.

One has an obligation to report the irregular behavior of a coworker to a supervisor.

77

XIV.

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil."

81

Killing is never justified.

85

XVI.

A good citizen votes in every election.

89

XVII.

The price of something will not always reflect its value.

93

IX.
X.

XV.

XVIII. Violence in films is unnecessary for making an artistic statement.

97

XIX.

Freedom is the greatest desire of every individual.

101

"The secret to being a bore is to tell everything."

105

XX.

IV


Contents

Sample Essays with Commentary
Sample Essays
I.

"A good citizen votes in every election."
Commentary

//.

"The only argument for capital punishment is that 'justice equalsrevenge'."
Commentary

///.

"The true test of courage is not to die, but to live."
Commentary

IV.

"The goal of our legal system should be to administer due process under the law, not justice."

Commentary

V.

"Art, like science, is more process than product."
Commentary

VI.

"The price of something will not always reflect its value."
Commentary

VII.

"That action is best which procures the greatest happiness for the greatest number."
Commentary

109
\ \[
113
114

116
117
120
121

122
123

125
126
128
129

131
132



Introduction to
MCAT

Essay Composition

BERKELEY
AJr-e-v-i^e-w®
Specializing in MCAT Preparation



The MCAT Writing Sample
How to use this manual

This manual is designed to focus on the particular requirements of the MCAT
Writing Sample and not on general writing technique. We have designed this
manual with the assumption that your writing ability is already good. If you
feel your writing skills are a problem, we recommend that you take a writing
class or get a textbook to teach yourself, preferably a textbook that is used in
introductory writing courses at the college level. Study that book in conjunction

with this manual. If you feel that your problem lies more in the realm of
building sound, logical arguments, we suggest that you find a rhetoric textbook to
help you develop your skills of argumentation. The best way to choose a
textbook like this is to find out which ones are used by college rhetoric
departments. Whatever books you decide you need in addition to this manual,
they will not replace the information here, which is designed specifically with
the demands of the MCAT Writing Sample in mind.

What you may not know about the MCAT Writing Sample
Origins

The MCAT Writing Sample evolved out of a recommendation in 1973 that a test
of written communication skills be required for medical school applicants, as i t
grew increasingly evident to medical school admission committees across the
country that analytical and writing skills were becoming deficient among
students and that committee members should therefore emphasize the
importance of these skills in the competitive admissions process. The Writing

History of the MCAT
Writing Sample.

Sample was introduced into the MCAT in 1991 after six years of research and
development. Its purpose was-and still is-to provide admission committees
with evidence of an applicant's thinking and written communication skills under
timed conditions, beyond his or her powers of recognition and recall, which are
adequately tested in the science portions of the Medical College Admission Test
(MCAT). This section of the MCAT thus offers information about an applicant
that other sections of the test cannot offer. Beginning in 2007, the Writing
Sample format was converted from two handwritten essays to two essays typed
on a computer keyboard.

What the Writing Sample is designed to assess
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which
administers the MCAT, the thirty-minute essay compositions of the MCAT are

designed to assess the applicant's abilities to "develop a central thesis,
synthesize concepts and ideas, present ideas cohesively and logically, and write
clearly following accepted practices of grammar, syntax, and punctuation
consistent with timed, first-draft composition."
The central thesis expressed in an essay topic statement (or "prompt")
establishes the main idea to be developed in the three assigned tasks of the
essay. The goal of the MCAT Writing Sample essay is to work toward an
understanding of what the topic statement means, where its limits are, and how
it can be applied to real situations: When should one's freedom of expression be
absolute, and when should it be restrained? To what extent is technology a
benefit or a curse? Is good journalism always strictly objective-and if not, under
what conditions might it be subjective? This is not the same as arguing whether
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the thesis expressed in the topic statement is true-which is to say, MCAT
Writing Sample essays are not examples of advocacy writing (arguing to support
or challenge a central thesis).
Your ability to synthesize concepts and ideas refers to how well you put
thoughts together, which is a measure of the reasonableness and creativity of
your thinking. Related to this ability to synthesize concepts and ideas is the
ability to present ideas cohesively (meaning that they hold together in a

harmonious way) and logically (meaning that they flow smoothly, without
gaps and in an ordered sequence, leading necessarily to a conclusion that is
consistent with and derived from your original premises).

Finally, the MCAT Writing Sample assesses your ability to write English
clearly. Clarity is the hallmark of all good writing and the bedrock of
unambiguous communication. Clear writing not only exhibits your facility with

language and a personal style; it also helps get your thoughts across effectively.
The rules of good writing-including good grammar and punctuation (and good
spelling, meaning at the minimum no spelling errors that obscure your intended
meaning)-are designed to help the communication process. If you do not use
them properly, your writing becomes difficult for others to understand. For
medical students, those "others" may one day include medical colleagues,
patients, the general public via the mass media, and those who review grant
proposals to fund medical research.

Topics for Writing Sample essays
The AAMC selects Writing Sample topics from a broad range of subjects:
business, politics, history, art, education, and ethics, among many others. Essay
topics do not address the factual content of scienceor anything about the medical
school application process. You will not be asked to give your reasons for wanting
to go to medical school or for becoming a doctor. You will not be asked to write
about subjects that are not generally accessible to the average college student, or
that involve religion or other emotionally charged issues. This does not mean
that you may not talk about religious or emotional issues in your treatment of the
topic, but it is never required. No detailed prior knowledge about a topic is
necessary to complete the Writing Sample, although a breadth of knowledge
and experience about it provides the writer with a greater appreciation for the
subtleties of the topic statement and its applicability to real situations.

Breadth also gives you more to write about in more interesting ways, and more
examples. Therefore, we recommend that you read from a wide variety of sources
and subjects when preparing for the test.

How the Writing Sample is structured: The Three Tasks
MCAT Writing Sample test items consist of topic statements, each of which
express what can be considered as a normative rule: an opinion about an abstract

The three tasks of every
MCAT Writing Sample
essay.

concept (e.g., art, human rights, justice), a policy (e.g., censorship, capital
punishment), or an institution (e.g., democratic government), or a recommended
way of thinking about people and their behavior (e.g., lying, violent
revolution). You are asked to satisfy three tasks pertaining to this topic
statement. Make sure that you read the exact zvording of each task in the
instructions listed after the prompt. Do not assume that you know specifically
what you are being asked to write just because you understand the three tasks in
a general sense.

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First, you are asked to explain what you think the topic statement means. A

solid approach to Task #1 combines a paraphrase of the statement, a definition
of the key term or phrase you will need to develop the central thesis, and a proexample to illustrate how you interpret the prompt. You are not required to do
all of these things, and we strongly discourage you from trying to define every
word in the prompt. Also, you are not required by the instructions to write an
introductory thesis paragraph at the beginning (or a summarizing paragraph a t
the end) of your MCAT Writing Sample essay, though some students choose to do
this as a holdover from the way they were taught to write essays in highschool writing classes.
Second, you are asked to describe a specific situation in which the topic
statement might not be true (i.e., an exceptional instance or instances in which
the rule that is expressed in universal terms in the prompt might be ignored by
reasonable people). You must describe a specific counter-example-taken from
the pages of history, fictional works, news reports, or personal experience—that
contradicts the rule in the topic statement. In Task #2, you can provide thoughts
that further explore the meaning of the topic statement, especially in terms of
its limitations, and build upon the concepts you started with in Task #1.

Third, you are asked to define the criterion (a guideline or standard of judgment)
that may help establish the conditions under which the rule in the topic
statement applies or does not apply. How can the conflict between the original
statement as you interpreted it in Task #1 and your counter-example in Task #2
be resolved? How can these two viewpoints be reconciled reasonably and
comprehensively, without advocating one at the expense of the other? In Task
#3, the MCAT graders expect you to apply what you have developed in the first
two tasks to a more general conception of the issue presented by the topic
statement. When you have completed this final task, a reader of your essay
should be able to apply the guideline you have derived to any similar
hypothetical situation that he or she might imagine about the topic.

Grading of MCAT Writing Samples
The most important thing to know about how the MCAT readers grade the

essays is that the writing is evaluated holistically. Each essay is looked at as a
whole, not as an assemblage of pieces. You do not get a standard number of points
for fulfilling each of the three tasks, and then so many more for grammar,
spelling, development, organization, or content. The designers of the Writing
Sample believe that an essay is an entirety that should not be separated into its
constituent parts for the purposes of grading. The assumption underlying this
view is that the different aspects of writing are so interrelated that essays must
be judged on the quality of writing as a whole. What this means for you as a
test-taker is that you should think of the essay as a unit. Make sure that you do
not have any weaknesses that might bring your whole score down. But also know
that your strengths can balance your weaknesses. What ultimately matters is
how clear, logical, and reasonable your argument is. You can evaluate your own
writing by judging how effective it is in those three dimensions and whether you
answered all three tasks. If your essay is effective and compelling, then it is
going to get a good score, because all of the aspects of good writing are present.

Holistic scoring.

Historically, Writing Sample essays have been graded by a group of trained
readers who may be experienced writers, editors, or writing teachers. This
method of grading may change under the new computer-based testing format; but

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AAMC has not yet (2007) signaled its intention of altering the number of essays
in the MCAT Writing Sample or the number of readers who will grade it.

Expressing personal
opinions in your
essays.

Two readers evaluate each essay. And since the Writing Sample consists of two
essays, a total of four readers is involved. Each pair of readers is responsible for
grading the essay written about only one topic. The readers are instructed to
score each essay on the basis of the writing skills displayed and not to judge the
writer's personality, attitudes, or beliefs. This means that you may express any
personal opinions or thoughts that you would like, and as long as you support
those opinions with strong, valid written arguments, you will be scored on the
strength of your writing and not on the slant of your ideas. We recommend,
however, that you be selective about what you write in your essay. The MCAT is
no place to take unnecessary chances, and you don't want to alienate anybody.
Besides, if you receive no credit for sharing your opinions, why use up valuable
time to write them out? On the other hand, if you feel strongly about an issue,
you often have more interesting thoughts about it and can express them more
powerfully. Writing in the first person and using personal experiences as
examples are both permitted in Writing Sample essays.

Remember that the three tasks that you are graded on ask you to explain a point
of view and then to compare it impartially with the opposing point of view,
without advocating either one. Thus, spending a lot of time to defend one side or

the other, justbecause it coincides with your opinions about the matter, is using
time in a way that could lower your score.

Since the essay is a timed exercise, it is assumed that you will make some minor
mistakes. The readers are instructed to be lenient with errors that they judge
have been made because of time constraints. This does not mean that they will
ignore mistakes, especially if you consistently make the same ones. It means only
that in a timed exercise, a few mistakes are unavoidable and therefore should

not have a major impacton your grade. Readers do not score on any kind of curve
or use a standard distribution. Each essay is graded on its own merits.
Scoring

Essays are graded in terms of their overall effectiveness. Scores are determined

by the complexity of thought exhibited in your writing, how well your argument
holds together, the clarity with which your thoughts are expressed, and how
far you develop yourideas. Length is not a primary concern, as long as the ideas
in your essay are effectively developed. Good writers, however, tend to write
more than less skilled writers.

An essay mustbe written in the best typed English you can manage. This is not
the place for dropped letters, noncapitalized proper nouns, and hunt-and-peck
finger workat the keyboard! Also, youressay must be a writtencomposition that
conforms to conventional ideas of a written argument. The MCAT graders will
not accept alternative (non-essay) forms of exposition, such as drawings, poems,
or other bizarre experiments. If any essay you submit is deemed "Not Ratable,"
your letter grade for the Writing Sample will be X. Both essays must be
appropriate for the assignment. Both essays are factored into your grade.
Each reader scoresthe essay using a six-point scale, with 6 as the highest score
and 1 as the lowest. If the two readers for a single essay assign scores that are
more than one point apart (i.e., a 2 and a 4), then the essay is given to a third
reader who determines the final score.

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Each Writing Sample is scored by at least four readers. Two score the first essay
and two the second. The scores of all readers are summed and can range from 4 to
24. This numerical score is converted to an alphabetical grade on an 11-letter
scale ranging from a low of J to a high of T. Different combinations of numerical
scores contributed by the readers can produce the same alphabetical grade.

J

K

M

N

Below Average

O

R

Above Average

Average

Description of the point scale

6

A six shows clarity, depth, and complexity of thought. The assignment is
treated coherently and major ideas are substantially developed. Language
facility is evident.

5

A five shows clarity of thought with some depth and complexity, but less
than in a six. The assignment is generally coherently treated and focused,
and major ideas are well developed. Strong control of language is apparent.

4

A four shows clarity of thought and may have some depth or complexity.
The treatment of the assignment is coherent, with some focus. Major ideas
are adequately developed, with an adequate control of language.

3

A three may have some problems with clarity, complexity, and depth of
thought. The treatment of the writing assignment could have problems with
integration or coherence and with insufficient development of major ideas.
Errors in mechanics, usage, or sentence structure are evident.

2

A two has the same problems as a three, only worse. Poor focus, little clarity
or complexity, and more errors. Major ideas may receive scant attention.

1

A one indicates by its serious deficiencies in organization and development
of major ideas that the writer probably did not understand the writing
assignment. There may be such excessive numbers of errors in mechanics,
usage, or sentence structure that the writer's ideas are hard to follow.

What does all of this mean?

Each score level on the point scale addresses the same criteria of clarity, depth,
and complexity of thought. Your Writing Sample essay is judged by how well
you can express good thinking about the essay topic. Depth of analysis,
complexity of ideas, and clarity of expression all add together to constitute
what might be called the cognitive or intellectual aspect of the essay. Clarity is
the most valued attribute in good essay writing style. Clarity refers to clearness
of expression-the ability to choose the right words for the right task. Your
words should reveal the complex structures between ideas, and they should help
to remove ambiguity wherever it clouds a clear understanding of those ideas. 11
is said that the fundamental rule of good manners for a host is to make your
guests feel at ease; the first rule of clearly expressing your ideas as a writer is to
make yourself understood to the reader.
Coherence refers to the way things cohere or stick together like grains of rice;
focus refers to the common direction of argumentative intent. Do you stay on the
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Clarity, depth, and
complexity of thought.

Coherence

and

focus.

The Berkeley Review
Specializing in MCAT Preparation


topic or wander off onto tangents? How well does everything you write relate to
the main point of the argument? Everything you write should add to that
development. Everything you put on the page should serve a purpose; otherwise,
you are only adding confusion and detracting from the clarity of your argument.

Strong development of ideas makes them easier to apply to your argument, thus
strengthening it as a whole. When you make a point, ask yourself if your idea is
somehow deficient. Can it be developed further in some important way? Can a
reader ask himself or herself: "Why is this here? What does it mean? What
about this other aspect?" If so, you have more work to do.
Facility with language is also important. The greater your mastery of the
written idiom, the better you will be at expressing your ideas. Finding the right
word and applying proper rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation allow you
to be more precise at getting your point across.

What you already know: Essays
Generally, we think of an essay (at least, the kind of essay required of you for
the Writing Sample) as a written argument, a statement of opinion or position
regarding a certain issue. Interestingly, the Latin root of the word "argument" is
arguere, which means "to prove, assert, or make clear." Good argument is the
process of asserting thoughts clearly. You must be able to think clearly-and on
the MCAT you need to be able to do this within a time constraint. You must be

able to communicate that thinking effectively in good written English. If this
sounds intimidating, it shouldn't. All of us, regardless of our education or social
background, already know how to construct sophisticated and convincing
arguments. Some of us just don't realize that we have these skills.
The everyday
character of making
arguments.

Hardly a day passes without the need to generate an argument You might be
explaining to a car dealer why he should lower his price, or complaining to your
parents about how they interfere in your personal life, or convincing your
roommate to watch your TV show instead of his. Explaining, complaining,
convincing-these are all forms used in essays, which depend upon your ability
to think clearly and quickly and to communicate that thinking effectively
through language, logic, and reason. You practice the art of argumentation
everyday, and the better you are at it, the more often you get your own way.

Your ability to get your thoughts across to others determines not only how
successful you are in getting what you want and influencing others, but also
allows you to form social relationships based on mutual understanding and
communication. The style of arguing found in essays is a foundation of human

interaction. It defines an important method we all use to relate to one another.
When we write an essay or make an argument, we are participating in a social
discussion. In argument, there is always an audience or reader. With respect to
the MCAT, you might fear the reader, whom you may imagine to be a
hypercritical, fault-finding sourpuss, waiting to punish you with a big red pen.
Get rid of that image; it can only distract you from doing your best!

The essay as an
imaginary
conversation that
written out.

is

Think of your reader as a regular person-a reasonable person like yourself--and
think of your essay as you would any presentation of your thoughts. Don't try to
impress the reader with fancy language. Write in your normal tone of voice, and
imagine the reader responding conversationally to your arguments. Try to
anticipate where a reader might have trouble with your arguments. Do you
justify your claims by giving reasons or evidence that support them? Are your

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points clear and easy to understand? In practice, you should read your essay out
loud and listen to your writing. This is always a valuable experience. Your ear is
often the best writing teacher, because you know what sounds right.

Read practice
essays aloud.

In writing essays, you must be concerned with developing clear thoughts and
presenting them to your reader. To be persuasive, good writing must be both
logical (meaning that it is consistent and progresses by rules toward a necessary
conclusion) and reasonable (meaning that it does not violate common sense,
intuition, or experience). Logic and reasonableness provide structure to thought
as it develops in your mind. Another important source of structure is the standard
three-task format required by the designers of the Writing Sample.
Boiled down to its bare bones, an MCAT Writing Sample essay consists of a topic
statement with a central thesis, your supporting evidence for that thesis and for
a counter-argument to it, and an explanatory resolution. The thesis states the
reason for the essay; it is the subject of the composition, the main point that is to
be argued. Next is the presentation of evidence and arguments in support of the
thesis and against it. This is a critical stage in the construction of an essay,
because the stronger your evidence, the stronger the argument. When choosing
evidence, be sure that it supports your claims for either side and helps to
illustrate your contentions as effectively as possible. The closer your evidence is
to your point, the harder it is for a reader to disagree with you.

Of equal importance is the framework within which the evidence is presented.
You must ensure that the bearing of your evidence on your arguments is apparent.
You must also make sure that the reader understands why you think that the

evidence is so compelling. It is not enough merely to present a bit of evidence and

then leave it up to the reader to decide how it applies to the thesis. You must
explicitly demonstrate to the reader your reasons for using the evidence you
have presented.

Now that you understand the basic parts of an argumentative essay, you can look
at the practicalities of applying what you know to the requirements of the
MCAT. The MCAT provides you with a very specific form to follow in your
writing. It is really quite simple, more like a "fill-in-the-blank" exercise than a
true composition, since all you need to do is satisfy the three tasks that the
MCAT assigns to you. And the MCAT does the work of choosing your thesis for
you. Just apply your mental and writing abilities to the exploration of that
thesis. The only difference between an MCAT essay and something you might
write for a writing class is that your job on the Writing Sample is to create an

argument that explores and balances the various implications of the statement
rather than to make an argument one way or the other about the statement's
validity. Do not argue toward a conclusion that is either completely for or
against the opinion expressed in the topic statement. The MCAT Writing
Sampleis designed so that you are forced to think flexibly and creatively about
a topic, exploring meanings and limitations of that topic and looking at both
sides of the issue. It is not designed to provide you with an opportunity merely to

The MCAT Writing
Sample as an

exploration of ideas.

express your personal opinions about the topic sentence.

Sometimes, students feel that they have done poorly in their execution of a

Writing Sample essay, because the final product seems "too wishy-washy."
Most often, this feeling arises from the way that most of us were taught to argue
through the medium of the essay in high-school and college writing classes-namely, advocacy-style writing, where "winning the argument" is everything.
It can be difficult to unlearn this habit of thought, but read the instructions on
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the essay topic statement page carefully. They do not direct you to defend or
attack the rule expressed in the statement, or to "argue to a conclusion." There
are standardized tests where those are the instructions for writing an essay, but
at the present time (2007), the MCAT is not one of them.

Briefly, the Writing Sample asks you to interpret a topic statement by exploring
your thoughts on what the statement means. After you have performed this
exploration of meaning, you must think of a specific example where the
statement does not necessarily apply. In this second part you are, in effect,
presenting evidence that refutes the universal validity of the statement and
thereby limits its applicability by defining a case in which the rule in the
statement is not reasonable. You continue to define limits to the statement in

Task #3. However, instead of coming up with more specific examples where the
statement does not apply, you must determine the criterion that defines the
range within which the statement generally can be applied. This guideline can
be stated negatively, as in the second task, but it is a good idea to present

something positive that demonstrates occasions where the statement is
applicable and why this is so. Identify a determining factor that establishes
when the topic sentence applies as a general rule in understanding situations of a
certain kind, and when it does not apply to other, exceptional situations. The
essay thus takes the original topic statement and then challenges and redefines
it in such a way that the reader knows more precisely what the topic statement
means. Along the way, the reader has also learned about the qualities of your
analytical thought process as a writer.
The important thing to learn from what we have been discussing is that the
MCAT is doing some of your work for you by dictating the structure of your
composition. As you practice writing MCAT essays, you will familiarize
yourself with their three-part structure, so the style will become second nature.

The Writing Assignment
Let's look now to the MCAT Writing Sample itself. Though they deal with
many different topics, MCAT essay items take the following general form:
It is always wrong to lie.

Write a unified essay in which you perform the following tasks: Explain what you
think the statement means. Describe a specific situation in which it might not be
wrong to lie. Discuss what you think determineswhether it is ever wrong to lie.
The simplest approach
to structuring the MCAT
essay for beginners.

The first thing to notice about this assignment is that it asks us for a unified
essay. You are not just writing answers to three separate questions here, but
creating a composition that manages to address the three tasks in a cohesive
way. Each task that you address is structurally and logically linked to the
other two tasks. No part of your essay stands alone. Your argument develops and

evolves as you movefromone task to the next, gaining depth and complexity as
it develops. Butjust as you don't want to write three mini-essays, you also don't
want to write one huge paragraph with no obvious separations between the
three tasks. The simplest approach we can recommend is to write an essay that
consists of three paragraphs. Each paragraph addresses one task, in order, and
is connected through transitional phrases and themes to the other parts of the
essay. Thus, your first paragraph addresses the task of exploring what you
think the statement means. The second describes specific situations when the
statement might not be true. And the third paragraph discusses what

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determines the conditions under which the rule in the essay topic statement
applies. This structure of three paragraphs is not a hard-and-fast rule. In fact,
essays by the most experienced, creative, and ambitious writers usually do
exceed three paragraphs in the Writing Sample. You can write as many
paragraphs as you like, and you are not limited to executing the assigned
writing tasks in 1-2-3 order. But your job is greatly simplified if you do follow
this pattern.

Task One: Explain what you think the statement means.
The first task can be somewhat disconcerting. Faced with a thirty-minute time
limit and the other pressures of the MCAT, many test-takers suffer from "brainfreeze." This is not the same phenomenon that occurs when you eat too much ice

cream! Rather, it is more psychological than physiological and results in a
temporary loss of all thinking and analytical ability. Time seems to fly by at an
accelerated rate, pulses skyrocket, underarms become damp, and an unpleasant
chemical reaction seems to occur in the general vicinity of the lunch you just
finished eating. It is a thoroughly disagreeable experience. Fortunately, there
are ways to prepare for Task #1 that will provide you with strategies to avoid
the dreaded brain-freeze.

Generally, brain-freeze is brought on when the test-taker is told to explain
what he or she thinks the statement means. "It means what it says!...Doesn't
it?" Well, yes and no. The example: "It is always wrong to lie" contains some
ambiguous words, words that have many possible interpretations. Looking at
the topic statement, you could ask yourself what is meant by the word "lie."
How you define this word will have a major effect on the direction your essay
takes. Generally speaking, then, you might start an essay by defining the key
word or words of the statement. You might talk about certain meanings of the
words and why you think they should be understood that way.

Defining key terms.

One way of looking at this first task is to apply it to a real-life situation. For
instance, suppose you are having coffee with a friend, and that friend tells you
about someone who lied to her. You might respond, "I think that it is always
wrong to lie." Imagine your friend giving you a blank stare and asking, "What do
you mean by that?" You are surprised. Isn't it self-evident what you meant? But
on second thought, maybe it isn't so cut-and-dried. There are many kinds of lies,
and many ways to tell them. Are they all equally wrong? Is it really always
wrong to lie? Now you have to explain what you mean to your friend, just as
with Task #1 you must explain to the reader what you think the statement
means. This is an example of how thinking conversationally can help thoughts

flow and not freeze up.

Another approach to Task #1 is the use of pro-examples. Write about examples
where the statement applies. Explain the relationship of the example to the
topic statement and justify your use of the example for this case. It can be a very
helpful way to create a context for the discussion of meaning and for tying

Using

pro-examples.

troublesome words to specific kinds of meaning. Related to this approach is
talking about how your interpretation of the meaning of the topic statement has
been influenced by your personal experiences. This redefines the meaning of the
statement according to a personal context, and it can provide a unique and
interesting avenue into your exploration of the concepts.

Another approach to Task #1 can be to use a paraphrase to reformulate the topic
statement in your own words. A good paraphrase, in conjunction with other
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Using a paraphrase.

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approaches, may put the topic into a form that is more natural for you. At the

same time, it can help remove ambiguity and stimulate the generation of
examples. However, it is critical that the paraphrase is not left to stand on its
own but is presented within a context that explains its derivation and why you
chose to use it.

There are many approaches to this first task. If you find you are still having
difficulty with getting started--or even if you aren't--it can be very helpful to
read some of your classmates' essays. People have different ways of dealing
with the Writing Sample, and you can learn from all of these approaches. In
addition, different topic statements lend themselves to different approaches to
this first task, so the more experience you have with various ways of executing
the task, the more prepared you will be for the MCAT Writing Sample.
In many ways, Task #1 is the most important part of your composition. MCAT
essay-graders reportedly spend an average of ninety seconds reading your essay.
Ninety seconds is not very much time. Thus, it is extremely important that you
give the reader a good first impression. A strong opening paragraph will give
the reader a good opinion of your writing as he or she continues to read, just as a
weak one may set the reader against you.
Even more importantly, Task #1 is where you introduce all of the key ideas that
you will be discussing in the essay. In a sense, it establishes a contract between

you and the reader, where you implicitly state what you will be talking about
and how you will approach it. If you explore your ideas in some depth, and cover
all of the important concepts that you will be talking about (for the statement
above, you would have to talk about both the concept of lying and of why it is
wrong, not just one or the other), then the parts of the essay that follow will be
strongerand morefocused. A strong opening paragraph keeps your essay focused
by preventing you from wandering into digressions, and it makes the second and
third tasks simpler, because no more definitions are needed. The succeeding parts
need only to build upon what has come before.

Preparing an outline

^he ^est wav to ma^e certain that you adequately explore all of the key ideas

before you write.

m tne topic statement is to make some notes in outline form before you start
writing. You must determine for yourself how much of the thirty minutes you
want to spend on an outline (usuallyno more than 3-5minutes),but a good one can
both save you writing time and ensure that you stay on the topic. Once you have
read the prompt and the instructions below it, take a few seconds to start

digesting it. Look at it from different angles. Ask yourself some questions about
it: "What does this mean to me? Why? What are the key terms? What are some
good counter-examples? What are somegood supporting pro-examples? Why are
these examples good? What do they tell me about the meaning and
applicability of the statement?" You may not be able to answer all of these
questions in great depth at first, but if you start off by thinking of them, then you
will avoid unpleasant surprises later in the writing process. It is always better
to face your problemsas early as possible, because then you don't have to try to
write your way out of a compositional dead-end later on.

In summary, although Task #1 can be intimidating, it is very important. Write
an outline of your essay. If it remains troublesome, break it down into pieces that
are easier to deal with. Then, reconstitute the parts into a new interpretation of
the whole. Make sure that your exploration and thought in this task is
developed adequately. Don't make statements without explaining why you say
them, or without telling the reader why they are important. This should be a
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fairly long paragraph. Don't just restate the topic with new words and then
move on. Read other people's essays to get an idea of how they deal with the
first task. Learn from their strengths and their weaknesses. Also, reread your
own practice essays. How could you have dealt with the first part better? Can
you see how a stronger opening paragraph would have fortified the rest of the
essay? Make outlines of all of the essay topics, even if you don't write the entire
essay for each prompt. This teaches you how to think along the lines that the
designers of the Writing Sample want you to explore.

Task Two: Describe a specific situation in which it might not be
wrong to lie.
The second task asks you to describe a specific situation in which the topic
sentence might not be true. In the example statement above, you would need to
think of an occasion when it would not be wrong to lie. It is generally much easier
to do this as you develop your outline and before you have actually begun
writing the essay, because this gives you greater freedom in selecting your
counter-example. Think of more than one, to avoid the error of stereotyped
thinking (generalizing from a small and/or unrepresentative sample). If you
have defined the key terms too narrowly, you might also have limited your
choices for counter-examples, and this can be a problem. Thinking of counter
examples can even help you address the first task more clearly, because it
provides you with a sense of what the statement means to you.
When presenting your counter-example, you must bespecific! The task explicitly

asks you to describe a specific situation in which the statement might not be
true. For some reason, many test-takers have trouble with this part of the
assignment. They don't seem to understand what the MCAT means by "specific
situation." A specific situation is one where you can specify names, times, places,
and quantities. Compare it to a general situation, which can be described with
less precise language. Let's look at an example of each. First, a general example:
"If a doctor has to perform a dangerous procedure but doesn't want to cause her
patient excessive fear or stress, then it would be acceptable for the doctor to lie
about the risks of the procedure."

General

counter

example.

Compare this to a specific situation:
"My grandmother's physician had to perform a risky procedure. Unfortunately, my
grandmother has hypertension, and the doctor knew that if she became anxious
about the procedure, the risk to her health would have been greatly increased. The
doctor talked to us about her dilemma, and we all decided that it would be better if

Specific counter
example.

she lied about the risks of the procedure, in order to protect my grandmother
against her own anxieties. When it was time for the procedure, my grandmother
was relaxed, and the procedure worked without a hitch."

What do you observe about these two statements? First, you might notice that

the specific counter-example is longer than the general one. This is important,
because the more there is to your example, the more you have to talk about. In
this specific case, you can actually discuss the meanings of key words from the
topic statement as they apply to a specific context. This increases the depth of
your exploration into the topic statement and the development of your ideas.

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Also, the specific case is more interesting; it reads more like a narrative and less
like a lab report. This serves to hold the reader's attention and keeps them
interested in what you have to say. Perhaps most importantly, you can talk
about the repercussions of the specific example and use that to help reinforce
your point. As you read a general example, it is very easy to come up with
alternative hypothetical situations that contradict it. For instance, one might
question the ethics of a doctor performing a procedure without full disclosure to
the patient. With no specifics, there is less to prevent a reader from coming up
with refutations to your example. It is harder to challenge the decision to lie
made in the specific example above than it is to challenge the general case.
Another helpful quality of specific examples is that they give you more to talk
about and provide you with more ammunition for Task #3's discussion of criteria.

Notice all of the extra information we have in the second example: family
participation, Grandmother's health condition and personality, the doctor's
ability to communicate with the family, and the positive results of the lie.

These can all have a bearing on your arguments about lying and when it is wrong,
but it would be more difficult to talk about them in conjunction with the first,
more general example.
As you can see from the second counter-example, it could be acceptable to choose
examples from your own experience. In fact, for many of the topic statements,
especially those dealing with ethical issues, personal experiences can often
provide the best examples, because they individualize your essay-no one else
has had experiences exactly like yours-and often allow you to express your
thoughts more compellingly. But examples can also come from history, current
events, books (fiction and nonfiction), movies, folktales, biographies, religion, or
whatever else you can think of that applies to your arguments. The important
thing is to be as specific as possible, and to make sure that your example
illustrates your argument as effectively as possible.
A note about logical consistency:

You might notice that in some essay prompts, such as the one we have been
discussing ("It is always wrong to lie"), the qualifiers in the prompt might be
absolute, i.e., "always" or "never." These understandably must be changed in
your interpretation of the topic statement to words like "sometimes" or "ever"

when you get to the secondand third tasks of the essay. Otherwise, those tasks
could not be completed.

Task Three: Discuss what you think determines whether it is
ever wrong to lie.
Providing a criterion to
guide the reader
(criterion, pi. criteria: a
standard, rule, or

principle by which a
judgement is formed,
used to evaluate or test

something).

The third and final task of the MCAT Writing Sample is typically the most
demanding one for most essay-writers. It asks you to discuss what you think
determines the conditions under which the rule that is expressed or implied in
the topic statement is applicable. In other words, you need to discuss the
criterion that determines when the statement applies and when it doesn't. This
third task completes the discussion of the meaning of the topic statement and
outlines the limitations for its applicability. Task #3 finishes the development
of your ideas, yet remains focused on the specifics of the topic at hand. It
explains why the rule in the topic statement applies in some cases and not in
others. Whether you choose to discuss one criterion or several criteria will

depend on the topic and on how the particular essay you are writing has
developed. A single criterion is preferable to a long list of determining factors.
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A long list of determining factors is too specific and has not been sufficiently
generalized; at the other end of the spectrum is a criterion so general that i t
could apply to anything: "The thing that determines whether is it ever wrong to

lie is who the individual is and who they are lying to." Or: "It all depends on
your situation." The problem with such generalities is not that they are false,
but that they are not particularly illuminating as they are expressed.
Something more must be added. If your definition of lying in Task #1 involved
the concept of deception, the element of a lie that typically results in a loss of
trust in the liar, and if your counter-examples in Task #2 all involved instances
in which the liar's deception did not produce that result (such as bluffing your
buddies in a poker game, where lying is expected behavior, or throwing a
surprise birthday party for your sister), then your criterion in Task #3 might be:
"The thing that determines whether it is ever wrong to lie is whether the
deception of the lie does or could destroy the trust of one whose trust we value."

A common problem that people have with the third task is that they sometimes
use Task #3 to make an absolute conclusion with regard to the validity of the
thesis expressed by the topic statement. For the purposes of the MCAT Writing
Sample, you do not want to make any arguments that conclusively support or
attack the validity of the statement. Your job is only to analyze the statement
and construct a well-conceived argument that helps the reader understand the
limitations and applicability of the statement. You do not need to build toward
a conclusion about the statement's validity at all. The structure dictated by the
writing instructions of the MCAT Writing Sample effectively concludes the
essay by itself, if properly applied.

A common mistake
with the third task:

Concluding that the
essay topic statement
is definitely true or
false.

Preparation for the Writing Sample
In many ways, preparation for the Writing Sample is similar to preparation for
the Verbal Reasoning section of the MCAT. This makes sense, since they deal
with complementary verbal skills—writing and reading. Your preparation for
these sections of the test will overlap most when you do outside readings.
Outside readings consist of articles and other texts, which you select from sources
outside of your field of study. You should select your sources from well-respected
journals and publications where the writing is of a high quality. You should try
to read in many different areas of interest, especially areas with which you are
unfamiliar. And you should read these texts slowly and carefully, noticing how
the writers work their craft. Analyze their arguments, the strength of their
evidence, the way ideas flow throughout the essay. Notice which articles are
the most convincing. Ask yourself why they have such an effect on you, and
think about how you might reproduce that effect in your own writings. Also
notice which arguments seem weak. Why do you think they are weak? What
would you do differently that might make the argument stronger?
There are several reasons why it is advisable to do outside reading. First, it
gives you many examples of how arguments can be constructed. You will see how
different topics call for different kinds of reasoning, evidence, and argument. An
essay about history may look very different from one about ethics, and an essay
that asks you to consider the probability of harm resulting from an action could
be unlike the structure of an essay that is all about the definition of some
abstract concept-but each will provide valuable lessons about essay writing.
Second, learning to think about many different subjects will help you when you
have to construct an argument of your own about an unfamiliar subject. In other
words, the outside reading will give you more flexibility in your thinking. It
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Read essays about
new and unfamiliar

subjects:

to appreciate the
variety of essay
styles.

to gain flexibility and
breadth.

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will also broaden your experience, which can help by giving you material and
specific examples to write about in your essay, as well as giving you something
interesting to talk about in your medical school interviews.
to learn new writing
techniques.

Third, outside reading can give you examples of different writing techniques
that you might want to use in your own essays. Noticing how a writer introduces
his or her topic can help you introduce the topic of your Writing Sample essay.
Studying how an author makes transitions between different thoughts can teach
you how to tie the three tasks together into a seamless, cohesive unit. And
observing how an author unifies everything at the end of an essay can show you
what you need to do to complete your explorations and close your arguments and

ideas effectively.
Practice

Training for timed
writing.

When preparing for the MCAT Writing Sample, it is advisable to figure out
how to write a good essay before you start worrying about time. Therefore, when
you practice your initial essays, you should take as much time as you need to
make sure that you have satisfied all three tasks and developed your ideas as
thoroughly as possible. Go back and rewrite the whole essay, if that would be
helpful. When you do so, notice the changes you have made. Ask yourself how
you might have avoided these changes by getting them right the first time
around. Only after you have begun to master the MCAT Writing Sample style
should you start to worry about issues of time. And even then, you must ease into
it. Start by allowing yourself 45 minutes, then gradually, over a period of
several weeks, work your way down to 40, 35, and finally 30 minutes on timed
writing sessions.

Discussing essay
topics in a group.

Reading essays out
loud.

Sharing and comparing
written essays with
others.

Of course, many students run out of things to write about long before their thirty

minutes have expired. One way to learn how to generate ideas is to sit down
with other students and talk about the various practice essay topics. Try to come
up with examples, both pro and con, of the topic in action. Talk about how you
would start the essay. Talk about the factors that determine when the rule in
the topic statement is applicable. By talking with others, you are practicing the
conversational thinking that is so helpful when writing for the MCAT. It will
give you practice in generating many ideas and also will give you more insight
into how other people think about various topics.
When evaluating your own writing, one of the best methods is to read it to
yourself out loud! For some reason, students really resist this advice; but when
you read your own work to yourself, you hear things that somehow remain
hidden on silent readings. You will notice grammatical mistakes, because they
will sound funny to your ear. But, more importantly, you will notice areas that
just don't make a lot of sense, areas that are logically flawed or awkwardly
written. If it sounds strange to your ear, then it might strike others as strange
and might bother a grader when he or she is reading your essay. Eventually, you
will learn to write as if you were talking onto the page. This will not only make
your writing sound more natural and flowing, it will help you write faster.

Another analytical technique for the Writing Sample is to share your work
with others. It is especially useful to share it with other people who are also
taking the MCAT, because they will be familiar with the demands of the
Writing Sample essay and will be able to point out areas where you are offcourse. Also, sharing your work with others (and having them share theirs with
you) will give you ideas for different ways to express your thoughts. You may be

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uncomfortable sharing your work with others at first, but you have to decide
whether it is more important for you to be comfortable or to succeed on the

MCAT. If you are going to grade someone else's paper, don't be too indirect in
yourcriticism. Tell that person where they are weak, where they are strong,
and what you think they should do differently. The point of sharing is to get
valuable feedback that will help develop writing skills, not to create an
illusion of quality that isn't there.

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