<p>Here is my essay (exactly reproduced below). What do you think it received, on a scale from 2-12?</p>
<p>Is acting an essential part of everyday life? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations. </p>
<pre><code>"Acting is a quotidian activity for most. From the forced delight displayed when receiving a horrendous gift to being a sycophant towards teachers, it is clear that acting is an everyday part of life for many. It serves as a means to avoid potentially awkward social situations and as a way to ingratiate oneself with others. However, people are generally much happier expressing their authentic emotions and desires.
Stephen, from James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, constantly acts in his youth and adolescence. He feels no connection to Catholicism or his Irish heritage, yet throughout his boyhood years up until he dabbles in the priesthood, he presents a falsely pious and nationalistic front to his family and teachers. As an adult, Stephen drops the ruse and immediately becomes much happier. He feels a greater and more real connection to others and to the Earth because of his lack of deceit.
In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby seems to be the quintessential success of the American Dream. However, near the end of the novel the reader discovers that his flamboyant personality is a masquerade. The hopping parties and swank restaurants that he constantly attends with a debonair air are only some of the theatres in which he acts the part of a happy man. Later, he dies alone and it is revealed that most of his life was a sham; his put-on role prevented him from pursuing that which he wanted most in life: Daisy.
Although acting may be a useful tool in many everyday situations, it should not be employed regularly. To do so would be to live a life that is not your own, but rather an amalgam of the views, hopes and opinions that others have of you."
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