<p>I am curious to find out how differently forum members here would rate my essay compared to my official grade from the SAT.</p>
<p>Prompt:
Assignment: Is success in life earned or do people succeed because they are lucky? 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>Essay:
Some people may hold the idealized vision that success and ones status in life are largely determined by ones work, efforts, and abilities. The same people also believe that through hard work, anyone with the drive to accomplish ones objectives will succeed. Unfortunately, the reality of the world does not operate in that fashion. Success and failure are both products of chance and opportunities, like particles moving randomly, obeying nothing but the elusive laws of chaos dynamics. In this mysterious and chaotic atmosphere some are given opportunities to accomplish great things, while others of equal personal merits are met with no chances and are therefore doomed to wallow in mediocrity.</p>
<pre><code>Charles Dickens epitomizes this unfair aspect of society in his classic novel Great Expectations. Whereas nearly all of the compatriots and companions of the protagonist Pip are not offered any chances to escape the predicaments into which they are born, Pip alone is given a financial windfall that immediately uplifts his positions and opens opportunities hitherto unavailable. However, aside from Pips great ambitions to become a gentleman, he does not have many outstanding characteristics that set him apart from his less fortunate brethren. A few persons surrounding Pip are possessive of great attributes perhaps more shining and exemplary than those of Pip. His former teacher and friend Biddy comes to mind as one such character. Nevertheless these individuals are not given the same opportunity as Pip and consequently they remain in the country to continue their anonymous lives while Pip goes on to become a city gentleman.
In the world of business, opportunities make success more often than quality or merit. Many examples can be found in the early days of the computer industry. As an entire industry was born, those who grasped the windows of opportunity went on to become great successes. However, one product, the Amiga system, represents the antithesis. In many ways, the Amiga platform was years ahead of its peers at its time. However, development for the platform was lacking and soon the Amiga fell into obscurity. At the same time, a new software system developed by the fledgling Microsoft corporation became a great success due to the attention paid to another product, IBMs new personal computers. By chance, consumers, developers, and businesses alike turned to this product, despite its shortcomings compared to the Amiga.
In this way, personal success and business success are determined by opportunities, and accomplishments are made and unmade by chance. In this unpredictable world, merits and talents cannot guarantee achievement, and sometimes a little luck changes everything.
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