<p>I really have no idea how SAT grading works at all, so it would be helpful to see how this work would compare. Im writing my SAT tomorrow, so it would be a huge help if you can give me some pointers/tips. This was typed out after I wrote everything by hand during the 25 minute writing period. </p>
<p>The question is the first essay question from the official sat prep guide, ed. 2:
"Is it important to question the ideas and decisions of people in positions of authority?" </p>
<pre><code> Authorities exist, for the most part, to provide and maintain social order. The ideas presented by the authorities, which manifiest themselves in laws and speeches, offer a structural guidline to base our lives on. Nevertheless, these ideas and beliefs cannot permeate society to the point of social gullibility. It is important to question these ideas, as will be demonstrated through the examples of Galileo Galilei and Elie Wiesel’s Night.
In the 16th century, the beliefes and ideals of the church were a major part of European society. One such belief was that of geocentrism. This ideology had its roots in one of the psalm’s of the bible, which said that the Earth was fixed in the universe. The belief was widely accepted, and anyone who though otherwise was persecuted on the grounds of hereticism. Galileo Galilei was an astrologer and scientist who had strong evidence to support heliocentrism. Even after being put under house arrest and warned from ever publishing material of that nature, Galileo published another work that contradicted the ideas of the church. He was punished for life, but he posthumously received recognition for his work. Without his questioning of the authority, we would still think the Earth as the center of the universe! Thus, it is important to question the authorities.
Another example of the important of questioning authorities can be found in Elie Wiesel’s Nigh. This is a recount of the hardships Wiesel experienced as a victim of the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel often notest that the actions of the Nazis were inhuman, but even more so was the passivity of the bystanders. Certainly, most Nazi supporters did not actively kill anybody, but their inaction resulted in the deaths of millions. Sure, the Nazis brought a broken and beaten Germany out of a terrible economic depression, but one cannot simply overlook this heinous yet central tenet of their ideology. Questioning the beliefs of the authorities, could have thus stopped the deaths of millions of innocent people.
In conclusion, the beliefs and ideas of those in positions of authority should always be questioned, as was demonstrated by the historical example of Galieo Galilei and the literary example of Elie Wiesel’s Night. Authority is certainly often in place to maintain social stability, but ever person has his or her own responsibility to ensure that those in positions of authority do not get carried away.
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Another example… “nigh”</p>