I got the prompt from the blue book (first practice test).
If people of the past submitted to those in positions of power, the world wouldn't be where it is today. Oftentimes, the catalysts who stood up to authority are the ones remembered today. It is necessary that common people question the people of authority.
In the 18th century, colonial America was being mistreated by King George III. Luckily, brave men like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington went against him. One of their first steps was the Declaration of Independence. This document states that when denied natural rights, it is an obligation of the people to revolt against the people of authority. That is exactly what they did.
Additionally, people stick up to smaller authority figures daily. In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass was a slave. He was about to be punished by his owner, but instead, he fought back. He continued to fight back, and, for the rest of his time as a slave, his slaveowners never whipped him. This is another example of how standing up to authority can yield great results.
Lastly, in the civil rights movement, people joined together to fight back against the government to get their rights. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of those people. He showed an alternative way to question authority by using his words. Martin Luther King Jr. is recognized today as a huge civil rights leader. In the end, African Americans got their rights.
People in positions of power may not make the right decisions all of the time. Luckily, the world has people like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, and Martin Luther King Jr. to stand up and make a change. These people proven that positive results come from questioning authority. Life is not a game of follow the leader, so we shouldn't treat it like one.
Okay, that’s all! Along with a score, feel free to leave me advice for my next essay (while typing it out, I’m already noticing some small errors) or links to helpful CC forums.
Thanks!!
Oh I forgot to say the prompt is "Is it important to question the ideas and decisions of people in positions of authority?
Hi, your essay seems decent. You have good examples, but you don’t really explain them much. For example, in the Frederick Douglass paragraph, there is not a lot of concrete, factual information. It seems a bit too general. Try to connect it to the prompt more. How exactly did standing up change his life? Why was it so significant? Instead of stating that he was never whipped after that incident, you could also say that he changed the direction of history by bravely showing that he has a right to be treated equally or that he inspired others too. Do you run out of time while writing the essays? Another suggestion is to write 2 well-developed body paragraphs, rather than 3, since I wrote 2 body paragraphs and got 10s before (even though some may argue that a 10 isn’t that great). What score are you aiming for?
@misschoding Thanks for the advice! I actually had 3 minutes to spare, but my 2 pages were practically full. I’m aiming for a 10-12. The points you made were very accurate, so I’ll work on it next time.
Oh okay, that’s good. Did it take you a while to come up with your examples?
@misschoding The first two came to me immediately, but the MLK one was just thrown in there at the end. I think two paragraphs could be a good way to go, so that I can develop them more. I’ll experiment with both two and three paragraphs until I find out which one works best for me.
That sounds good! Are you a rising junior or senior? Are you going to take the real test in Oct?
A month or so before taking my first test, I had a list of 5 possible, different examples and researched them. I had 3 famous people, 1 historical event, and 1 book that I really loved. (If I go along with your Frederick Douglass example, I would have written down important events that had happened in his life and how he managed to overcome his negative experiences and how he influenced society (and himself too). I would have included details about his life so that the essay wouldn’t seem too general. But this would be for only one example; I would have done the same, as I did for the Douglass one, for the other 4). I then memorized all these facts. I looked through the official SAT blue book’s essay prompts and wrote down 2 out of the 5 examples that seemed to fit for each essay. Make sure to pick 5 various examples (don’t pick 5 that all have to do with loyalty, or with power!). This helped me so much. Some of my friends used like 5 mins during the actual test because they couldn’t think of anything to write about. But by memorizing and having my examples ready, I found it much easier to pick 2 that fit the prompt well.
Good luck!