<p>As you know the test is in less than 9 days and I am still having problems with my writing skills . Please tell me your opinion honestly . Thanks a lot
Prompt:
We often hear that we can learn much about someone or something just by casual observation.
We are not required to look beneath the surface or to question how something seems. In fact, we
are urged to trust our impressions, often our first impressions, of how a person or a situation
seems to be. Yet appearances can be misleading. What seems is nt always what is.
Assignment: Is the way something seems to be not always the same as it actually is? 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>Sometimes looks tend to be deceitful ,sending our thoughts and assumptions in wrong directions.Our thoughts can be so fixed that they cause us to regret having them in the first place.Judging a person or a situation should not be based on appearance because sometimes that attitude can cause problems or be unfair to people.</p>
<p>Judging things only by how they seem like can be unjust to people.For instance,in tenth grade my Biology teacher seemed very gloomy and did not have much space for discussions with students.Me and my friends were very exasperated by this because we could not understand well.We tried to approach the teacher and asked her to allow discussion in class to fix the information but unfortunately that was in vain as she always said she was busy.Eventually me and my friends thought she was ignoring us so we decided to head to the principals office to complain about her.We were staggered to hear that the teachers husband was suffering from cancer and that she generously accepted to work temporarily until a substitute teacher was hired.We felt very bad at ourselves for thinking badly of the teacher.
Misjudging can cause serious consequences as in the following example.One time my friend had been accused of stealing a very expensive bag at a lavish event in some hotel.My friend looked so humble that she fell the victim of misunderstanding.People accused her of stealing the bag just because she looked poor while in fact she was not.Eventually the real thief turned out to be somebody who was far away from doubt because he did not seem in need of stealing . Unfortunately the thief fled before the police could catch him.Thus,judging a person based on his/her appearance is not practical .</p>
<p>In brief,things do not always turn out to be the way they really seem.Appearance and presumed impressions can cause serious problems.Thus ,it is better to take into consideration all possible assumptions and take deep look at things.</p>
<p>Tip: Don’t worry about the essay, no college actually looks at the writing section. The 12’s I got on my essays don’t really mean anything to me.
But anyhow, here’s some criticism:
-> The first sentence is answering the question. It’s really better to LABEL the problem and only then get to your opinion about it.
-> You’ve slightly deviated from the topic and made it into judgements. Be careful, that can lower your grades from a 6 to a 3.
-> Intro should be MUCH longer.
-> Use CONCRETE examples. The SAT’s say that you can use personal examples, but don’t. Use either books you’ve read or people.
-> Transitions aren’t that good. You need to link the paragraphs.
-> Conclusion isn’t, well, concluding.
If this is your first time taking the SAT’s, don’t worry about it! Just “wing” the essay this time and then learn the actual “format” for next time. Again, I got 12’s on my essays and it was because I followed the “format.” That includes using books (or people, but nothing cheesy) as examples, transition sentences, etc.
Also make it long. Mine were 4 paragraphs too, but each paragraph took half a page. And yeah, the intro’s length really bothers me - it should really be longer. The examples bother me too but it’s better than other essays I’ve read.
I don’t want to give you a grade because I’m a harsh grader, but don’t worry about the essay. Hope for the best, for next time you can put learn about its mechanics.</p>
<p>You do not think that I might have enough time to prepare for October tests? I mean I have been practicing for a while believe it or not. The problem with examples is that I rarely have anything that fits the topic other than personal experience . Also,I bought College Board official guide and it had en essay that scored a six and talked about ONLY one personal example.Do you know any examples that fit a wide range of topics ?</p>
<p>Seeing how the October test is less than a week away, nope. And I get what you’re saying, I had the same problem. However, you need to choose a couple of books you’ve read recently (or not very recently) and know them WELL. You’ll be able to use ANY book example for ANY prompt, but with practice. For example, for this prompt, I’ll take the two books that you’ve probably read in school - Fahrenheit 451 (by Ray Bradbury) and Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes):
-> Fahrenheit 451 -> The community seems to be ideal and perfect, but Guy Montag realizes that their practice of segregating people from knowledge and burning books is wrong.
-> Flowers for Algernon -> Being smart seems promising to Gordon (?), but there are bigger downsides then upsides. At the end, he realizes that his knowledge was only harmful to him.
And I can go on and explain each example. I can think of a lot more, all you have to do is babble about the books BUT make sure that you are still answering the question! I know the official SAT guide uses personal examples, but it’s REALLY not a good idea. You can find a novel to write about for basically everything.</p>