Grade my Essay from the March SAT Please!!!

Test Preparation
1

<p>Ok so I had the question that basically said:</p>

<p>Do we need creativity more than ever now? (Collegeboard 2005) Support, etc.</p>

<p>I got a nine on this essay, but I got an 11 in January on the SAT II Writing, and thought this essay was better than that one, so I don't know what's going on. Should I have it regraded (I'm thinking about doing so if I really don't think I should have gotten a 9)? Please tell me what I deserve and if a 9 is really what this essay is:</p>

<p>Given the fast paced world of today, it is no wonder that creativity has taken a back seat to pragmatism. Children and adults alike have little exposure to the arts, culture, or any other form of creativity. For this reason, creativity is needed more than ever in the world today. The veracity of this claim is evidenced by the literary examples of Alduous Huxley’s Brave New World, as well as the short story “A Wagner Matinee” by Willa Carther.</p>

<p>In this novel, Brave New World, Huxley pains a dreary picture of the future. Described in the novel is a world with no real emotion, where people are “grown” in laboratories and assigned to do repetitive, mundane tasks for the rest of their lives. Creativity, in the novel, has gone extinct. Indeed, the direness of the situation is only highlighted when a “savage” is brought to this world from a small village that has refused to change as the rest of the world has. So shocked is this “savage” by the lack of culture and mechanical nature of life that he hangs himself in the novel’s conclusion. Huxley makes his point here: if the world does not reinforce the importance of creativity and continues to propel itself in its current direction, we are doomed to the fate depicted in the novel. Thus, creativity is needed more than ever in the world today.</p>

<p>Not only is creativity’s urgent importance visible in a novel, but also in Carther’s short story “A Wagner Matinee.” In the story, a youngman Clark, who as a child was cultured in the arts by his Aunt Georgiana, has an opportunity to repay her for fostering creativity in him. His aunt, however, has lived in the culture-forsaken Nebraska frontier for the past twenty-five years and has almost forgotten how society is. Clark takes Aunt Georgiana to an opera, and by its conclusion, Georgiana is in tears, refusing to leave the operahouse. Clearly deprived of creativity for so long, Aunt Georgiana regrets her move to Nebraska. The author conveys her grim message here: creativity is essential to life, and the urbanization that was occurring during the novel’s setting, the author believes, forces many people to sacrifice all culture, art, and science to practicalism, just as Aunt Georgiana gave up her creativity to farm in Nebraska. It is obvious here as well that creativity is of utmost importance now more than ever.</p>

<p>All in all, it is clear creativity is indeed more necessary now than ever before as the world spirals into a mechanical state, and this is seen through both Brave New World and “A Wagner Matinee.”</p>

2

<p>I actually like your essay a lot... The only major problem I see on first reading is that you equate urbanization to Aunt G's move to the very un-urban Nebraska. It just doesn't make sense. Isn't the urban environment where she would experience the culture and creativity that she lacks?</p>

<p>That's my guess as to why you got a 9 instead of 10-12.</p>

3

<p>To be honest, I think using "A Wagner Matinee" was a bad choice. If you'll notice, the story is written from a first person point of view. The entire narration is done by Clark. The reader really does not know what Aunt Georgiana is feeling, except that she seems to enjoy the concert. All of the comments about the dreariness of the plains were made by Clark. He also makes the assumption that all of the years on the plains stripped her of any appreciation for music. Without any input from Aunt Georgiana, you are basically doing the same thing as Clark with comments such as "His aunt, however, has lived in the culture-forsaken Nebraska frontier for the past twenty-five years and has almost forgotten how society is" and "Clearly deprived of creativity for so long, Aunt Georgiana regrets her move to Nebraska." In my opinion, Cather wrote the story this way to be satirical about the views of easterners that thought the plains deprived humans of all culture and creativity. If you think about it, with Cather being such lover of the prairies and plains, it would not make much sense that she would attack the lifestyle that is so dear to her heart.</p>

<p>Whether this was the reason that your essay did not receive a higher score, I do not know, but it may be a possibility.</p>

4

<p>ahhh by urbanization I meant ruralization.....Anyone with a score?? I do not know if the graders have read "A Wagner Matinee" before so I doubt they would hit me for getting the wrong theme/purpose. Should I have it regraded or is this what I deserve??</p>

5

<p>HEY MAN...your essay's got a lot of "depth and critical thinking" but what it lacks is a "6"-esque organization and flow.</p>

<p>If I were a grader I would have given it a 5 and well i guess the fact that you used wagner matinee may have turned off the other grader who gave you a 4. (total 9)...shouldn't have really affected your grade too much but best thing you should do is take another SAT and rmbr although 2 examples are fine, 3 examples that are concise and to the point and a intro and conclusion that looks about the same gets you that 6. Trust me I got a 12. Need any extra help feel free to PM me...peace.</p>

6

<p>Remember most readers are high school English teachers...I'd bet most have read "A Wagner Matinee"</p>

7

<p>hmm still can't decide whether to get it regraded...How does regrading work?? Are the new readers blind to the old score?</p>

8

<p>I wanna know the answer to that question too.</p>