Read the essay directions carefully. Underline key words and important phrases as you read.
Verify the directions by attempting to put them in your own words. For example, "I need to explain how this poem uses metaphors to talk about death" or "I need to explain how the graph suggests population growth will be a problem in the next hundred years."
Read the relevant passage(s). Many free response questions (including the majority of Advanced Placement, or AP, free response questions) are built around a passage of text, an image (such as a political cartoon), a case study or data set (such as a chart or graph). Carefully examine any passages by underlining key words and making notes in the margin. Focus on words, phrases, and ideas that connect back to the essay question.
Briefly outline your essay on a piece of scratch paper. Your outline should include both your thesis (argument) and the ideas you will use to support your thesis.
Develop your thesis. A strong thesis will answer the essay question and serve as the backbone of your argument.
You can often make a thesis by transforming the essay question into a statement. For example, consider the essay prompt "In Sherman Alexie's 'Every Little Hurricane,' what is the hurricane a metaphor for?" You could turn this into a thesis by restating the question and answering it: "In Sherman Alexie's 'Every Little Hurricane,' the hurricane is a metaphor for the turmoil of life on the reservation."
Outline the ideas you will use to support your thesis. If the free response essay question includes supplemental resources, you will need to support your argument by primarily using information from these sources.
If, however, the essay question provides no supplemental resources, you will need to support your argument with your own prior knowledge. In the AP English Literature and Composition Exam, for example, one of the three questions asks students to answer the prompt by using a novel or play selected from a list of nearly 50 titles or by using "another novel or play of similar literary merit."
Adjust your outline accordingly. Once you have your ideas jotted down, make sure they flow in a logical order. You may benefit from organizing your ideas around a consistent relationship, such as chronological order, cause-and-effect relationships or movement from the specific to the general.
Use your outline to keep you focused during the writing process.
Your essay will feature three main components: the introduction (which features your attention grabber, thesis and preview), supporting paragraphs (which provide information that supports your argument) and your conclusion (which wraps up your ideas and restates your thesis and preview).
Develop the attention grabber and thesis in your introductory paragraph.
Use a relevant attention grabber to get your reader interested in your ideas. This may be a quote from the passage, a bold statement about life, or intriguing information from the essay's supplemental resources.
Transition into your thesis. Your thesis needs to answer the essay prompt and be clear and direct.
Provide a preview of the ideas you will use to support your argument.
For example, while constructing an argument about why wildland fires have become increasingly catastrophic in the past 50 years, you may support your argument by discussing how humans have suppressed naturally occurring fires; how humans have increasingly developed infrastructure in fire-prone areas; and how prolonged drought in the West has increased the likelihood of large-scale fires.
Create your supporting paragraphs (typically a minimum of three supporting paragraphs). Each supporting paragraph needs to begin with a clear topic sentence that connects back to your thesis and explores an idea put forth in your preview.
When answering a prompt with supplemental resources, cite relevant information from these sources.
Develop your conclusion.
A strong concluding paragraph restates your thesis and preview while tying together any loose ends. Lastly, a conclusion should leave your reader with a compelling insight that connects back to the essay prompt. If an essay prompt asks about how a poem develops the theme of death, a strong conclusion may end with a statement about how no one can escape death.