March 2012 SAT I Writing Thread

<p>@mistah
I was about to put down something other than NE, but I switch to NE. The only thing weird about it was a tense change. “In the novel Salt, author blends blah and blah based off someculture’s mythology, producing a evocative and something book.”</p>

<p>What about this question:
…expanded its mission and now exhibited?
I put its mission: now exhibiting…</p>

<p>I got the essay about whether we trust authority too much and used two examples: 1) Joseph McCarthy and the Red Scare, and 2) Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein exposing Nixon’s Watergate scandal.</p>

<p>@PlayPlay, I’m almost completely sure it was “expanded its mission and now exhibits”</p>

<p>Pretty sure the only writing question I got wrong was the last one of the entire test…</p>

<p>Anyone know what the minimum I can get on my essay to get an 800 is?
1 incorrect, 0 omitted</p>

<p>@Deziky
But wouldn’t that be not parallel?</p>

<p>@Lanayru
You’re right, it is NE</p>

<p>When “except” means the same as “but”, you can use either “except” or “except for”. </p>

<p>Everybody is asleep except for Mary. OR Everybody is asleep except Mary. OR Everybody is asleep but Mary.</p>

<p>BUT</p>

<p>The bus was empty except for me. does NOT mean the same as
The bus was empty but me. </p>

<p>There was nobody on the bus but me. OR There was nobody on the bus except for me. OR There was nobody on the bus except me. </p>

<p>The answer was “everyone except me was a lawyer”</p>

<p>@PlayPlay I also did “expanded mission and now exhibits the arts of…” That question was really strange…</p>

<p>Have we come to a conclusion on the upon arrival/when arriving answer?</p>

<p>I also put “: now exhibiting…”. Are you allowed to change tense in a sentence?</p>

<p>@ SAT200: I think most people said that it was “When one arrives” to follow parallelism and prevent a dangling modifier.</p>

<p>Does anyone remember the exact wording for the chandelier and room question? What did you guys end up putting?</p>

<p>I chose horrible examples for the Authority prompt. I wrote about the old blind judge in Oliver Twist and how he is not qualified to decide the faith of Olvier. I also wrote about how McMurphy in Cuckoo’s Nest presents himself as an authority and his actions led to the death of Billy Bibbit. Running short on time, the third body was a logical example (the prompt directions said “or use reasoning” where I said that all authorities are human and therefore are driven by emotions.</p>

<p>I feel really dumb for not doing something from history like Vietnam and The Pentagon Papers. I realized this halfway through the next section and literally face palmed my self. The McMurphy example was the worst though.</p>

<p>Are historical and literature examples considered better than personal anedoctes?</p>

<p>@SAT200
Yeah, it was "when one arrives"
Disappointing end to what would’ve been a perfect writing test.</p>

<p>@russgenious
No error allll the way</p>

<p>@Imperviouss
In January I made up two, not so intelligent personal anecdotes and scored a 10.
Today, I wrote about 3 strong, well-reasoned examples from history and literature but my vocabulary and writing style wasn’t as ornate. I guess we’ll soon find out which one is preferred.</p>

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<p>Can you elaborate on the room question?</p>

<p>Is there any chance that -8 in reading would be 700? what would -6 or -7 be like? someone plz answer me :)</p>

<p>^8 wrong or 8 blank?</p>

<p>@ Liam: Any idea how it was worded? Someone here posted it as “Its furnishings and chandeliers make the room larger that it is.” That sound right to you? I put NE as well but I’m starting to doubt myself.</p>