<p>This is my first SAT essay, so I'm sorry if it's a bit rough. (It's from the first Blue Book test.)</p>
<p>Assignment: Is it important to question the ideas and decisions of people in positions of authority?</p>
<pre><code> Though sometimes authorities genuinely desire to help their subjects, they occasionally able their power or misguide their subjects. Therefore, questioning authority is of utmost importance. Questioning commonly accepted doctrines, instead of ignorantly accepting them, caused revolutionary changes for the better in both the American and Scientific Revolutions.
In the aftermath of the French and Indian War, the British government began passing legislation that stripped their American colonists of their rights as English subjects. These acts forced Americans to pay exorbitant fees, provide for drunken British soldiers, and fund Britain's ambitious imperial plans, without being given any voice in Parliament. However, instead of silently complying with such tyrannical acts, Americans such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson valiantly fought for American rights. They questioned the age-old mercantilist notion that colonies solely existed to support the mother country. By questioning and opposing this British dogma, these remarkable colonists brought equality and democracy to their land. Certainly, the Founding Fathers' questioning of their government's tyrannical policies led to positive changes in the world, making their young country a beacon of hope in a world darkened by absolute monarchies and proving the importance of rethinking accepted doctrines.
The Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries also caused positive change in the world by questioning traditional beliefs about the world. Sir Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, and others rethought the old beliefs that Earth was governed by supernatural forces only. Nicolaus Copernicus challenged the Catholic Church's dogma that the sun revolved around the earth and proved the converse true. Though religious and political authorities tried to silence them, as seen in Galileo Galilei's famous trial for heresy, these intrepid scholars continued to question the world and accepted beliefs. This caused them to make considerable strides in scientific knowledge of the time. Without their foundational work in developing the theories of gravity and cell-based life, modern science would not exist today. Their questioning of traditional authority created progress and positive change in the world.
Clearly, the humans involved in the Scientific and American Revolutions questioned the traditionally accepted beliefs in which they were raised. Without them, changes would not have been made and the world as we would know it would be very different. These examples demonstrate the importance of questioning authority around us.
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<p>If you didn't notice, I'm kind of a history geek, haha. Looking at it again, I can see that I used the word "world" way too often, oops. </p>
<p>Please grade and/or give comments. If you'd like me to do the same for you, just post a link to your thread! Thanks so much! :)</p>