<p>I tried out the LiveGrader service offered by Princeton Review. According to their website, two people grade the SAT essay that you submit and gives a mark out of 12 (combined). I am wondering how accurate this grading is. So here's my essay, and I got an 11. Tell me if it's accurate! Thanks.</p>
<p>Prompt: Existentialist Jean Paul Sartre believed in personal freedom, holding that man is free to write the script for his own life: he can blame no one else if his life is a poor performance. On the other hand, William Blake and others in the Romantic movement felt that the expectations and restraints of society severely limit a person: they believed that schooling, organized religion, and other social institutions imprison a persons mind and spirit.</p>
<p>Assignment: What is your opinion of the claim that there is no such thing as free choice; to some degree, we are always bound by the rules of society? In an essay, support your position by discussing an example (or examples) from literature, the arts, science and technology, history, current events, or your own experience or observation.</p>
<pre><code> Free choice is give to every one of us. Although many, such as William Blake, claims that rules of the society restrains personal freedom due to orthodox expectations, one must recognize that these restraints do not restrict an individuals choices or actions, only make them more difficult to accomplish. This is evident ranging from literature to history.
The journey of a young boy, Santiago, in the book "The Alchemist" epitomizes the evidence of free choice for all. Santiago was raised in an affluent family, and sent to school by his parents, who hoped that he would become a priest one day. Although limitations were set on Santiago, he still had the choice to pursue his true ambition, which is to have a nomadic life, traveling to places around the world. He achieved this goal by becoming a shepherd, which entailed the separation from his parents. He soon becomes accustomed to this lifestyle, learning from the sheep and gathering wonders of nature. However, another change was destined for Santiago. They boy met an old wise king one day, and the king told him to pursue his treasure, his ultimate boon, which is in Egypt. Santiago contemplated over whether to abandon his herd of sheep or continue his current lifestyle; in other words, he tried to make a decision between following society's norm or the adventure of a lifetime. In the end, Santiago chose to become a courageous maverick who travels to Egypt despite the amount of tribulations he would be facing. This book's theme is the freedom of choice. Like Albert Einstein has once said, "many walk by opportunities, thinking that they are work", choices are elusive at times, and not always easy to make, but the opportunities are always there. Santiago, a hero regarded by many, is one who made choices that complied to his inner heart - his true happiness.
In historical events, the womens movement is an apt case to demonstrate that no choice is bound by society and restricted to an individual. Throughout history, there was a prejudice against minorities, especially women. They were regarded as inferiors, who cannot be independent, successful, or intelligent. Were the women given a choice? Yes, and that choice was to fight back, as seen in the famous "Persons Case". In the late 1920s, a group of Canadian women testified against the legislation of Canada, where it stated that "women are not persons, thus does not have the right to vote..." Though the judicial system in Canada at the time turned them down, they went one step higher. These women appealed to the Privy Council of Britain, Canada's highest court of appeal at the time. Despite the trails and difficulties these determined women faced, they were succeeded in the end as the Privy Council stated that women should indeed be recognized as persons, equal to men.
Throughout history and into contemporary literature, there is a traditional thinking by many that there is no free choice, as one must follows the rules of a society. However, from the examples shown above, one can see that this is absolutely untrue; free choice is available for all those looking for it. In fact, the mavericks are the ones who are truly happy and successful in the end.
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<p>THANK YOU.</p>