<p>I got a 12 on the essay below - just there for you guys to figure out what gets a 12 and whatnot...</p>
<p>PROMPT:
Is it more valuable for people to fit in than to be unique and different? 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>
<p>HERE'S MY ESSAY:
Singularity is a trait that is often admired by society. If all people are just poseurs and not innovative and creative, the Einsteins or the Mahatma Gandhis of the world would have never emerged. In fact, it is this difference between leaders and followers ? the ability to think in novel ways ? that sets individuals apart.<br>
When Mahatma Gandhi was growing up in a rural town in India, he was always told to blend in with crowd and use his more ? academically successful peers as his paragons. He strictly followed this rule until one day an incident, which he later regrets, leads him to commit to a life of veracity. When he later became a hoary man, he led the British-conquered India to freedom on August 25th, 1947. If he had listened to his friends and relatives and succumb to British ascendancy, he would not have become the father of India nor would have become the main guide to Martin Luther King.
Gandhi is a man that has long since died, in present times, another individual that is an epitome of creative thinking is Apple Computer?s co-founder, Steven Jobs. He was a man that dropped out of Bernard College to do activities that he was interested in ? not one that his parents or friends wanted him to take. This split that he had with the society?s norm led him to later establish the acclaimed Apple Computer company, Disney?s Pixar and other media. He also later admits that if he had not deviated from society?s norms and had instead tried to ?fit in? with the crowd, he would probably not have been half as successful as he became.<br>
Steven Jobs? status in the modern world makes it hard for a person to relate to his experiences. On a more personal level, I was forced into Indian Classical Dance (Bharatnatyam), something I certainly did not want to take. I dreaded it for years because my so-called encouraging peers would tantalize me about this activity. Now, though, I am thankful to my parents for coercing me into taking that class because this trait is what sets me apart from the rest of the high-schoolers in my school.
Mahatma Gandhi, Steven Jobs and my personal example helps to explain the idea that ir is more valuable for people to be independent than just follow society?s norms; for without these individuals society would not benefit in the future.</p>
<p>END </p>
<p>It has all the mistakes that I made; the quotes come as questions marks - be warned!</p>