<p>Howdy!
I am a new user preparing for the novembor SAT.I am having trouble with my essays. Can someone tell me what factors r most important for essay?What is the standard length?Is it wrong to provide example from popular literature(e.g. Potter)?How important is the conclusion? Where can I find a lot of prompts?</p>
<p>I hope I will post my essays soon.
Plz ...I need help...</p>
<p>There is no "standard length".</p>
<p>Examples from popular literature are fine.</p>
<p>Topic: Is happiness something over which we have no control or we can choose to be happy?</p>
<p>Essay....</p>
<p>Everyone seeks the elusive happiness in life. The desire for happiness galvanizes us for the quest. However, the concept of this feeling differs inside everyone, as it can be interpreted eclectically. So, it is personal choice that determines one's satisfaction, the unique way one strives for happiness.</p>
<p>The legendary explorers are all testaments to this hypothesis. The thrust for adventure, the desire to decrypt the unknown and the dream to etch their names in the golden pages of history drove them to strenous adventures in hostile regions. David Livingston went to Africa to discover a sea route for trading goods to the vast continent. However, his quest was plauged by epidemics, cannibals and beasts that outnumbered his expedition, ultimately resulting his demise. However, was he unhappy with the outcome? He went on his own accord, aware of his fate, but was revulsed by the idea of being another desk clerk on a 9-5 routine. When one peruses his diary, despite all the odds the glowing anticipation is obvious. He shaped his own joy through his choice.</p>
<p>Moving forward hundreds of years, choice again determined the happiness of Mahatma Gandhi. He lived an acsetic life void of luxuries, yet he was deeply satisfied. A devout Hindu, he ate vegetables only, made his own clothes and lived off the manual labours of nimself and his wife, despite being the architect of United India. Huge bank balances or fancy BMW's meant nothing to him, as he knew one must be satisfied with what he has, and materialism is buried on death. Being a scholar, he interpreted the profound truths of life, imprinted on his morals. That was his happiness, to live according to his principles, to live void of ammenities, and to lead his breathen to freedom. All were his own decision.</p>
<p>All in all, everyone's happiness differs from other's. Not everyone can embark the difficult lives of Livingston and Gandhi. Some might feel revulsed by the thought of sleeping with insects or wearing a homemade "Dhoti". Yet both of them were perfectly happy, as they did not wait for fate to bring them their desire.</p>
<pre><code>Plz assess my response, written under 25 minutes, and help me by pointing at my faults and suggesting improvements. This is my average condition.
</code></pre>
<p>Good vocab (except the more traditional usage I believe is 'repulsed' not 'revulsed'). Nice use of examples. I think you need to tie in a direct answer to the question more clearly. Is happiness something over which we have control or not? You come to a clear answer at the end, but it would be helpful to articulate your answer (thesis) in the early part of the essay (so your examples can be seen to support it).</p>
<p>what do think this essay might score?</p>
<p>This should cure your desperation sickness.</p>
<p>If you want to find lots of essay questions, get The Official SAT Study Guide.</p>
<p>If you haven't gotten the message from the above link, here it is:</p>
<p>DON'T ASK PEOPLE TO GRADE ESSAYS UNTIL YOU'VE READ THE ESSAYS AND GRADES AND COMMENTS OF OTHERS!</p>
<p>Yes dchow08, I got your drift. I got the CB , but I have finished it already.</p>
<p>I will definitely read comments and other essays to or how can I get the panacea!</p>
<p>dchow, just because you don't want to grade essays doesn't mean that other people don't...chill, man</p>
<p>anyways, essay is about a 10-11. I really want to give this essay a 12 but you have some awkward vocabulary in there. Try not to use words for the sake of the pretentious appeal; rather, use words because they fit with the meaning you're trying to convey. Also, you have to write longer -- most of the score 6 essays in the SAT books are over 400 words. </p>
<p>Also, your writing is a bit arrogant. Let's look at this sentence you wrote:: "All in all, everyone's happiness differs from other's." "All in all" is a conceited phrase; try something along the lines of "in conclusion". Another point is that your prompt is "Is happiness something over which we have no control or we can choose to be happy?", which is irrelevant to your first sentence of your conclusion "everyone's happiness differs from other's."</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help. Yes, my thesis was not that clear and conclusion beginner was definitely out of place. I will definitely remember your advice next time.</p>
<p>I don't know how much they'll penalize you for this, but your grammar is slightly awkward at times and a lot of vocab usage came off as using big words purely for the sake of using big words. I got that impression after reading the first two sentences. Are you a native speaker of English? </p>
<p>Anyway, the graders usually only spend a couple minutes on essays. I think you can get 10+ if you're careful.</p>
<p>21385-- well, I think that people here are generally less willing to read essays, because in the past I've seen a lot of people be disappointed because their essays were never read and they kept bumping their posts. I graded a lot of essays before but now I've been grading fewer and fewer, because I've found that the comments were generally the same--intro is too short, not enough relevant examples, not enough commentary, conclusion too short, thesis and topic sentences are unclear, grammar issues... So that's why in one of my posts I tried to point out the common errors so that people won't be making the same mistakes over and over.</p>
<p>Also, to answer your questions above...</p>
<p>-I just listed the most important factors (the main one being to impress the readers with clear thought and organization)
-The standard length... well, I don't think you can say that there is a standard length, but the ideal length is to fill up as much space as you can with good, relevant info, and this coincides with the idea that you should try to impress your readers.
-No, it's perfectly fine to use popular literature, because what really counts is your thinking and your explanation of how those examples support your argument.
-The conclusion is not very important. I wouldn't stress much--focus your energy on the introduction and the body paragraphs. But you definitely do not want to have a conclusion that mentions a totally different topic or that raises a controversial point that you never mentioned in the rest of your essay--that is a big no-no.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>