Daily Essay Practice

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
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<p>This thread was inspired from Vadox6466. Credit to him/her for starting some topic like this awhile back</p>

<p>Okay, since I've realized that I'm going to need a lot more practice when it comes to the SAT Essay, I've decided to start timing myself on 1-2 essays everyday. I'll post my daily prompts/essay responses here so (hopefully) I could get some feedback and the estimated score I'd get if this was written on a real SAT.</p>

<p>I'd really appreciate the help! Thank you in advance!!</p>

<hr>

<p>First Prompt:</p>

<p>"I do not feel terrible about my mistakes, though I grieve the pain they have sometimes caused others. Our lives are 'experiments with truth', and in an experiment, negative results are at least as important as successes. I have no idea how I would have learned the truth about myself and my calling without the mistakes I have made"</p>

<p>Adapted from Parker Palmer, Let your Life Speak</p>

<p>Prompt: Is it necessary to make mistakes, even when doing so has negative consequences for other people?</p>

<p>Essay:</p>

<p>We as individuals are found to make many mistakes throughout our lives - but it is those mistakes that we learn from. Although faults and flukes may cause others pain, they open a path for us to follow, a path that helps us to understand right from wrong. What is a life without flaws and errors - surely one isn't able to live a perfect life without learning from "experiences" with the truth, and this particular aspect is evidentally shown in both literature and the real world.</p>

<p>One such example that helps to support this issue is found in "The Great Gatsby", a classic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this tale, the narrator Nick Carraway makes an unforgettable mistake by hanging out with those of the higher class - or, in other words, his rich cousin and her husband, along with a "classy" woman by the name of Jordan Baker. As the story goes on, however, Nick realizes that the people he's been with for so long care for nothing but shallow desires and materialistic things of the world. This mistake helps Nick realize the faults he's made and ultimately learns the truth about the world and himself.</p>

<p>With regards to more serious matters, however the Grat Depression was another fault that led many people to learn from their individual mistakes. Started in 1939, The Great Depression was a terrible devistation that struck the people of America - a stock market crash that threw pov</p>

<hr>

<p>That's my first essay for today. I know it's a bit rusty - I really just started studying for the SAT (efficiently, I mean), so I'd really appreciate the feedback/score prediction. Thank you so much!</p>

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<p>bumpity bump..</p>

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<p>Did you not finish? I'd say 8 if that were the case.</p>

4

<p>it's an 8...you didn't write enough for anything higher</p>

<p>they do base your score on length, no matter which way you look at it</p>

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<p>ya, 8 at most. great point of view though, in my opinion. word choice was also great and the organization is fine. u didnt conclude and it was way too short; therefore, u would get an 8 at most</p>

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<p>i did start the thread like this before, but it soon died. can i write essay here??</p>

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<p>Essay from non-native speaker from Mongolia.</p>

<p>Mistake is not wanted by anyone, but it occurs reluctantly for everyone, causing both good and bad results for both the person himself and others. No one wouldn't want to make a mistake, which is harmful to the others, just to learn new things from it. But it also happens reluctantly in our life, because we don't always perform perfectly. Many do encourage people to not be afraid of making mistakes. But I'm sure they mean it as a mistake which isn't physically and mentally damaging, otherwise they wouldn't suggest that. It's not essential to make a careless mistake that hurts other people. And this peculiar aspect is shown clearly in the reality (i borrowed, cuz it seemed to be better way to connect introdu with body than mine).</p>

<p>War can be considered as one of those careless mistakes. I preferably say that the terms war and mistake are interchangeable. The Iraq war, for example, is totally unneeded for anyone but for the government. On an individual basis, I think Bush government deliberately started this unnecessary war just for its own favor, not for the citizens'welfare, risking many people's lives from many countries, including Mongolia. They award the soldiers for killing terrorists who are the ones protecting their own country and this caused all the terrorism thing in the Western world, which is scaring the whole world.</p>

<p>Another example that supports my point of view is clearly shown in the Smokers' World. Although they all know that smoking is so bad for their health that it could even cancer, a path to a death. Those who throw big smokes in the air, are commiting a long-term suicide, not so painful way of dying. As you all know, non-smokers, when exposed to cigarette smoke, get all those harm that smokers do, though they didn't use it (cant find good words here. need help here). What my older sister experience can best describe this issue. She was heavy a smoker, luckily not a drinker. She made go out to the store for tobacco several times a day. But then she fell in love with her Mr.Right and got pregnant. From that time, she and her husband tried to make everything perfect for their starting life, that includes giving up smoking. A baby, whose mom is a smoker, can be badly effected, so my sister avoided making a careless mistake that was too harmful for my niece.</p>

<p>There are many instances that prove the issue that making mistake, which has negative consequences for other people, is NOT necessary at all. But one can get an adequate idea of the issue from my examples.</p>

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<p>I'm not waiting for high scores. I just know I need lots of practices to build writing skill like native ones have.</p>

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<p>Wow; at least you can write a lot in such a short amount of time! I applaud you for that. I guess you could post your essays here; I will post mine as well in hopes of getting postive feedback/advice</p>

<p>Yeah, I pretty much felt like it was going to be an 8. I'm trying to push it up to a 10 at least.</p>

<p>Bumping up this thread. I'll try to post another practice essay here today. </p>

<p>Thanks for the help.</p>

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<p>Here is a prompt form one of Collegeboard's online practice Test. (it was graded electronically by some program, but want to see its accuracy)</p>

<p>Essay Prompt
The people we call heroes do not usually start out as unusual. Often they are ordinary people subject to ordinary human weaknesses—fear, doubt, and self-interest. In fact, they live ordinary lives until they distinguish themselves by having to deal with an injustice or a difficult situation. Only then, when they must respond in thought and in action to an extraordinary challenge, do people begin to know their strengths and weaknesses.</p>

<p>Do people learn who they are only when they are forced into action? </p>

<p>Your Response </p>

<p>The true personality of a human arises when he or she is put in dire situations. The crossroads in a person’s life are what determine the idealism the person harbors. Literature and history have repeatedly supported these beliefs. Thus, with proof from the Lord of the Flies and the generation of the Founding Fathers, it is the circumstances that demand the improbable that disclose the true potential of one. </p>

<p>In Golding’s book, The Lord of the Flies, the plot involves high society school boys who become stranded on a remote island due to a plane crash. At first, the boys utilize their acquired reason and construct a form of government with the main protagonist, Ralph, as the leader. However as time passes, the situation turns from bad to worse. The days keep moving on and hope of a rescue start to fade away. The boys slowly lose grip on their logical thinking and start to revert back to the primeval instinct to live. Except for Ralph and his two friends, the rest of the “schoolboys” become savages who believe physical strength determines the king and only the goals are to hunt food. If a British Navy vessel had not rescued the group when it did, the last of the reason, manifested as Ralph, would have been erased from the island. It was the need to survive and live on that surfaced the innate behaviors of these young humans. </p>

<p>The Revolutionary War was a monumental event that coined it as the start of a new democratic reform around the world. However, this 18th century conflict would not have resulted in favor of the colonials had it not been for the brilliant minds that have led it. Now known as the Founding Fathers, some of these men are considered as the greatest minds in history and rightfully so. At its start, this war was seen as a minor rebellion by many European superpowers. However, it turned into the start of the decline of monarchies around the world. Yet the leaders of this endeavor were not of grandiose stature. John Adams was nothing more than an adept lawyer in the confines of Boston. Alexander Hamilton was a shipping merchant in the harbors of New York. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were nothing more than wealthy plantation owners in the fields of Virginia. Yet, the fight for the shared ideal of freedom united them and revealed the true potential of these great men. These men, along with other greats such as Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and Ben Franklin, revealed their adeptness as leaders. </p>

<p>There are billions of people around the world who never realize their proper calling since the correct catalysts have not appeared. The catalysts may be inspirations, resources, social standing, etc. One would never know what is behind a door until it is open but if the key is missing, it would remain a mystery. Humans live their entire life quietly until desperate times demand desperate measures.</p>

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<p>Okay, here's another essay I wrote timed. Please evaluate and tell me what I could improve in! Thank you!</p>

<p>Prompt:</p>

<p>"'You need to be in the right place at the right time.' This statement suggests that luck is essential to success in life. Most successful people, however, would disagree with such an implication. They would argue that hard work was the primary reason they became successful. Luck, they would add, is something that is created through industriousness."</p>

<p>Assignment: What do you think is more important to acheiving success in life: luck or hard work?</p>

<hr>

<p>My Essay:</p>

<pre><code>Anne Frank is to once have stated, "Laziness may be attractive, but work gives satisfaction". Hard work and the willingness to put forth effort in order to achieve something can be the ultimate key to success in life. Although "luck" is bound to pop up once or twice in our lives, just waiting around for "the right place and the right time" won't get anyone anywhere. Too much reliance on luck could also promote laziness and a sense of discouragement - luck could never produce feelings of accomplishment, like hard work can. This particular aspect is evidentially shown in both literature and the real world.
</code></pre>

<p>One such example that helps to support this issue is found in "The Great Gatsby", a classic novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this renowned story, the title protagonist Jay Gatsby grew into prosperity and wealth (when he once lived like a poor man with no money) through continuous hard work. Motivated to win back the girl of his dreams, Gatsby found ways to work toward opulence, wealth, and class - until he got what he desired. Gatsby just didn't sit down and wait for "luck" to pour down on him - he put forth an effort and worked for it. Had he not done this, Gatsby would've remained poor and would've never had a chance to meet the girl of his dreams once more.</p>

<p>History, too, has left many traces of people who invented ground-breaking things through hard work that are continously used around the world by many people today. Individuals such as Thomas Edison, Albert Einstien, Marie Curie, and many others put forth an effort to make many astounding discoveries that have helped the world to this day.</p>

<p>Hard work - not luck - is the key to success in life. Without hard work, it is easy to see that our accomplishments will never become </p>

<hr>

<p>Yeah, before I could write out the last word, the time was up. T-T; Possible score and feedback please! Thank you so much! I might post another one today, but I'm not sure.</p>

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<p>bumppppp...</p>

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<p>i have a question.
How much should you value the quote they give you?
because most of the time i skip reading it because i feel that its gibberish.
Do YOU take the quote into account?</p>

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<p>I totally skipped the quote</p>

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<p>Screw the quote; it's just a distraction.</p>

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<p>I read the quote because it gives me a little background information on what the question is about and it helps to give me wording ideas for my essay. I don't dwell on it though.</p>

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<p>Any advice? D:</p>

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<p>...anyone? ._.;</p>

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<p>Seriously -- people need to stop using The Great Gatsby as an example. Try to be more original, The Great Gatsby isn't the only book out there; because the more people use it, the more you stand out when the readers read your essay!</p>

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<p>Well I think that your essays are looking great. The only thing is obviously the fact that you aren't able to finish them. But, with some more practice, I'm sure that you'll be able to write the full essay in the mere 25 minutes. But your examples and word choice for the essays you've written so far are great. If you finish off your essays just as well as you begin them, you should have no problem getting at least a 10.</p>