One of the first things professional writers learn about successful writing is to write what they know. John didn’t think he had an opinion on the definition of true happiness, but if he had thought about what makes him happy, he probably would have thought of his sport -- baseball. If John had spent some time thinking through his answer, he could have written about the satisfaction that comes from competiton or being a member of a team or pushing himself to new levels of excellence. If he had jotted down some examples of sports figures he admires who had done this and a few examples from his own life, he probably would have run out of time to write his essay rather than finishing early. And he would have demonstrated critical thinking as well. Who knows, what he had to say could have been so compelling that the reader might not have noticed some of the grammar errors. In any case, he probably would have received a higher score.
Don’t forget to back up your statements with examples
When the SAT graders are trained, they are specifically told to base their scores partly on how many examples the writer used, so it’s worth a few minutes of planning to make sure you have some. Writers can be in such a hurry to make their points that they forget to back them up. Part of critical thinking is demonstrating how you can support your ideas. Don’t just tell the reader something, show it with examples. Before you begin writing, make sure you have at least two examples to support your main idea. Think about people you know, something you’ve read, current events or something you’ve experienced first-hand. Choose examples you know well and want to talk about.