<p>I learned from my tutor and some other people that I should use personal example as a last resort for the essay if I can't come up with anything literary or historical.
Part of the reason, I think, is that literary/historical examples are more concrete and realistic than the personal ones.. or they just sound better.
I know CB encourages ANY kind of examples to support our point and only look at how well we develop and prove our main point.
but still.. I have this feeling that personal examples are not as strong as literary/historical ones.
It would be so much easier for me to use personal examples since I can just make up anything off the top of my head (I spend too much time trying to come up with suitable literary/historical examples).</p>
<p>Did any of u use only personal examples for your essay and got a decent score (11 or 12)?</p>
<p>I didn't use any personal examples and I got a 12... </p>
<p>I used two book references though. I also had four concrete paragraphs - introduction (in which I rambled about the topic in pretty language), my second paragraph was about the novel 1984 by George Orwell (topic was about how techology was bad, I crossexamined with how the dictatorship-like gov't was too controlling and how they were using science as a way of organizing life), my third paragraph was about Ishamel by Daniel Quinn (novel was basically about the meaning of life, and human nature... I talked about what the world would be like stripped of material possessions, and how humanity was thriving too much on science, techonlogy, etc), and then I had a kinda quick conclusion that I scribbled in the last minute or so. </p>
<p>I was told that a reason not to use personal examples is that it's too easy to ramble and go off topic. Non-personal examples are concrete and objective. But many people use them well. So I would use whatever really fits that pops into your head first, so you can start writing and make the most of your limited time. And if you've got nothing and have to make it up, do it.</p>
<p>I used a personal example and got a 12. Actually, the whole essay was kinda like a memoir. I really think as long as it's expressive, well-written, and completes the task, anything you write can get full credit.</p>
<p>I use history on any form of SAT essay prompt. It's real (personal experiences can be BSed and then you lose yourself in the lie), it makes it more enjoyable to study because you know it can be used for moments like these, and it makes me feel safer that I wrote an on-task essay.</p>