<p>Nowadays nothing is private: our culture has become too confessional and self-expressive. People think that to hide ones thoughts or feelings is to pretend not to have those thoughts or feelings. They assume that honesty requires one to express every inclination and impulse.</p>
<p>Adapted from J. David Velleman, "The Genesis of Shame"</p>
<p>Should people make more of an effort to keep some things private? 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>How would you develop a thesis with examples? I think this essay prompt is ridiculous.</p>
<p>I would say, “In order to fulfill my new goal of keeping my opinions to myself and keeping my private life private, I refuse to express my feelings on this topic, because that would defeat my purpose.”</p>
<p>^ The point of the SAT essay is to give you a vague prompt albeit not as ambiguous as this one. However, this does broaden your horizons a little bit. I believe I wrote about Big Brother and censorship to keep things private and the benefits/consequences of such a dystopian society.</p>
<p>I would probably talk about sexual harassment and pedophiles (in a serious manner). Too many teenagers nowadays put all of their personal information on websites, such as myspace and facebook, forgetting about the consequences that could occur. Cell phone numbers, addresses, likes and dislikes, and a lot of other personal information is available for public viewing, so I think people should definitely keep their information private.</p>