False Information in the Essay-Good Strategy?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Let's say for example, that the prompt was "is being optimistic always a good thing"</p>

<p>Could you just make up something like- </p>

<p>"according to a government sponsered poll, people who identify themselves as optimists lead healthier and happier lives than those who don't"</p>

<p>I've never actually seen anything that suggests previous statement is true, but it seems like it would work well on the essay.</p>

<p>So couldn't you make up all kinds of "facts" to support your point? Couldn't you even make up a novel or a historical example (so long as it isn't obviously wrong) that would work perfectly with the prompt? </p>

<p>To me it seems like the perfect way to score high. No need to worry about finding examples because you can always make some up that fit even better. Anyone think this is a good/bad strategy?</p>

2

<p>This is a bad strategy. Making up personal events is fine, but making up studies or literary or historical examples is not a good idea. </p>

<p>Your quote about the study is so subjective that it’s blatantly fabricated, and made-up historical or literary examples could be spotted by a well-learned reader.</p>

3

<p>im still not convinced.</p>

<p>and my quote about the study was just an example. If I wanted to I could throw in some actual numbers. Then who is a collegeboard grader to tell me that I’m wrong, when they probably have no knowledge on the subject as well?</p>

<p>And there’s a lot of books out there. Sure citing a literary classic is always a good idea, but I think if you can’t think of anything, just make up a book and construct the perfect situation to fit your prompt. The essay graders can’t say for sure whether or not your information is false and therefore would have to give you credit for it.</p>

<p>Just think, If you read an essay with false statistics and a made up personal/literary example, just because you think it MIGHT be false (but have no way of confirming this) are you really going to grade the essay low?</p>

<p>If you’re smart about it, I think it could work. Then again, I could be wrong. Which is why I’m asking.</p>

4

<p>Use common sense. If the reader doesn’t know it’s fake, it might turn out fine and improve your score. If the reader recognizes the examples as fabrications, it might turn out badly and worsen your score. There is no way to know which will occur.</p>

5

<p>yeah I suppose that’s the most sensible response.</p>

<p>Im probably going to practice doing it, and use it if necessary on the October test.</p>

6

<p>Honestly. It’ll work.
But it’s a question of ethics in my opinion</p>

<p>I wouldn’t do it personally</p>

7

<p>Do it as a last resort
Fake stuff > nothing</p>

8

<p>The writing test is a very artificial construct. You are being asked to show that you know HOW to write a good essay, not show your knowledge of a certain field of study (like on an AP exam). You write an introductory paragraph, show you know how to use examples and quotes, and maybe even some statistics. You show that you can organize your thoughts and express them clearly and write a good concluding statement. But you are not graded on the accuracy of the statistics, or the correctness of attributions. If you were writing for a research paper, you would look it all up. On the writing test you can’t. You just have to show that you know how to write it well. I don’t think that accuracy is necessary</p>

9

<p>^ On a theoretical level, this argument is sensical. Nonetheless, a reader aware of a falsehood in the paper may be turned off.</p>

10

<p>Why wouldn’t you make up stuff? The SAT grader is specifically told to ignore factual inconsistencies.</p>

11

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<p>lmao…only people on CC would say this</p>

12

<p>Questions with “always” in them seem to have a one-sided answer. In my opinion, these prompts are bad. I don’t understand how one could argue that optimism is “always” a good thing unless they take out the “always” part, but technically, that wouldn’t answer the prompt at all. I’m guessing SAT readers will ignore that though.</p>

13

<p>My answer is an emphatic no – unless perhaps you would like to contribute in a slight decrease in the writing curve.</p>

<p>Why? I always got 12 on my essays, but I had some factual inconsistencies in my SAT essay: for example, I said the Ghettysburg Address freed slaves when the Emancipation Proclamation did. I ended up with a 9, meaning one person gave me a 4. And I’ve read the BB’s 4 essays, and they are garbage. I’m not saying that that one slip up docked me 3 points, but my writing was definitely at least a 10.</p>

14

<p>^ But what if you were to support your argument with some made up book by some made up author? You could easily say that the main character went through X and Y to come to a point Z (which would support your thesis), and then elaborate a bit on it. I highly doubt that the readers will actually check/care if your made up novel exists.</p>

15

<p>What I’m trying to say that if they sense it is made up, it has a negative impression on them. For example, they will grade you on how well ur thesis is supported and how insightful you are. Nevertheless, if you should bs, you should make it as subtle as possible.</p>

16

<p>As long as you don’t actually use the name of a well known book/author, you could essentially right anything you want and they would have no idea if what you wrote was in fact real.</p>

17

<p>Rather than being at the point of having to make up an example, wouldn’t you say it’s better to have a few generic examples memorized, that can be virtually adapted to almost any SAT essay topic? I memorized the following for my test, and got a 12 on the essay. They may not all work for you, but if you make a list of all the examples you can think of, go back to your practice test essay prompts and apply the examples to them, it will help you a lot. I’m not saying memorize like 10 examples; I only kept Gandhi, MLK, Lord of the Flies, and Macbeth in mind.</p>

<p>1984 by George Orwell</p>

<p>• Plot: Totalitarian government, a party member named Winston Smith wants to overthrow it; government controls all thoughts, actions, etc. Winston falls in love with a girl named Julia who works in his department; they try to be indoctrinated into the Brotherhood, a legendary society that wants to overthrow the government. They are captured, Winston finally cracks and tells them to hurt Julia instead of him; at the end he learns to love Big Brother (the supposed leader of the party) and accepts the government system.</p>

<p>• Winston Smith: timid, fatalistic, hates the totalitarianism. Sort of like a revolutionary, but too scared to do anything.</p>

<p>• Themes: Dangers of totalitarianism; government controls everything, even disloyal thoughts are punishable. </p>

<p>• Themes: Opposition to authority figures.</p>

<p>• Themes: Psychological Manipulation; government has telescreens and signs promoting “Big Brother”. Mikes blasting propaganda all the time.</p>

<p>• Themes: TOTAL CONTROL. Government controls history; changes people’s pasts to suit their needs.</p>

<p>• Themes: Standing up to authority.</p>

<p>Iraq War: Wrong decision, led to nowhere; citizens ignorant of the fact that they had no weapons of mass destruction. Ignorance led to innocent lives being lost.</p>

<p>Holocaust: Did not realize fast enough that Hitler was mass exterminating Jews, lack of knowledge led to innocent lives being lost. Burden of knowledge for Hitler’s cronies.</p>

<p>Outsourcing: Many jobs are being outsourced to other countries because they are cheap;
shows materialism.</p>

<p>Martin Luther King: Fought for black rights, courage, sacrifice.</p>

<p>Mahatma Gandhi: Fought for freedom of India, courage, sacrifice, standing up to authority.</p>

<p>Hitler: Wanted to take over the world, killed millions of people; power, corruption. Always trying to protect himself, paranoid.</p>

<p>Spiderman (Movie): With great power comes great responsibility, loss of innocence.</p>

<p>Marketing/Advertising: First impressions make a big difference.</p>

<p>Bill Gates: Opposition to authority, persistence, self-made.</p>

<p>Lord of the Flies</p>

<p>Macbeth</p>

18

<p>If it seems like something someone would say or do, or is logically correct, why not? A study showed that essays with false supporting info got more points then real info essays.</p>

19

<p>^now that fact is something that the CB people would characterize as ********.</p>

20

<p>what irony, btw.</p>