<p>11 isn't a 12 is it? i think essays need that extra 'push' to make it jump that one little last point</p>
<p>I'll post mine as soon as I can access it online.</p>
<p>I wrote about a book that is not extremely well known and then my personal experience. I also didn't finish the essay. I got a 12.</p>
<p>wow...I was wondering why I got an 8 (considered good writer all through school), and as somebody else said, I totally underestimated my peers! Ah! that essay is so excellent! Thank you for posting it</p>
<p>if you guys want, i can upload my 11 essay</p>
<p>This is my 12 essay. Cheers</p>
<p>is identity created? or is it innate</p>
<p>Identity in the present society is a fragile concept. The immediate reaction to an attack on identity usually consists of a bickering between the realists and the patriots. Yet doesn't identity intrinsically suggest something definite, which must be unique to be avowed as valid? Why can the establishment of self be even considered a process of social construct or congenital inheritance? It only goes to suggest that identity, the word and the notion it evokes, does not exist.
People in a constructed society can be divided into two groups: the conformists, or collectivists, and the eclectic. Let's first examine the conformists. Most of us fall into this order, and we do it consciously at no mind to its many quite transparent repercussions. We gather the pieces to form our very selves from the people whom we live around. We are taught to go to school, and thus we go. We are commanded to eat, and thus we eat. Our notion of self goes no further than our skins because any and every aspect of this precious "identity" comes from another. Even our very characteristics, which can be so aptly subjugated by adjectives, fail to escape the inevitable categorizations. For one to be sentimental, many must have been sentimental, For one to be funny, many must have been funny. For one to be unique, many must have, inevitably, been unique. Otherwise, the word for which the character is made would not have been applicable enough to be constructed. Thus, as the very concept of unique fails to be UNIQUE, we are but gray adages to an all too common system of classification.
Next, we recognize the eclectics: those who somehow transcend normal description. These are the Thoreaus, the Dal</p>
<p>Guys, just a tip, but please do not do what TheF did with his essay. The question is "Is identity created by society or are we born with it?" TheF's answer was "identity does not exist; it is inherently paradoxical". I don't think he really answered the question. His writing is complex but sometimes becomes somewhat convoluted and nonsensical, and he uses actually uses 'advanced' vocab incorrectly in quite a few cases. For instance:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Thus, as the very concept of unique fails to be UNIQUE, we are but gray adages to an all too common system of classification.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I would suggest AGAINST trying to sound fancy and intelligent just for the sake of sounding fancy and intelligent. Plenty of people answer the essay prompts <em>directly</em> and <em>straightforwardly</em> and manage a 12. You don't need to establish groundbreaking philosophical insights to get a 12. </p>
<p>Those are pitfalls lots of 12-hopefuls fall into. I honestly think you are lucky to have scored a 12. With a different set of readers, one might have argued that you did not answer the question at all. You may have narrowly missed scoring much lower than a 12.</p>
<p>8parks used an atypical essay structure with his huge single body p, but anyone can tell that writing comes easily to him, so that 12 is no surprise. Great job on your essay!</p>
<p>lol yep i did use vocab words wrongly but i don't think they're "vocab words" just words...</p>
<p>adages is supposed to be adjuncts btw and i think there is another mistake in there
i have a very flowery (aka snobby) style to my writing... so yea don't copy that junk</p>
<p>um.. i have written traditional essays and gotten good scores as well so the above criticism is appropriate.
BUT, in contrast to what he said, the answer does not have to be straightforward. there was another one in a past SAT (3 in total) where i've again veered off the two given choices and gotten a 12 - i can post it if you'd like
It's just what comes natural you know?
i develop my ideas very fast and write with little caution so that's what comes out
philosophical is not bad... it kinda suggests arrogance... which is why it is so overly-criticized. I hate my writing... don't worry about it :)</p>
<p>p.s. 8parks' essay is very good indeed... and readers can be so subjective no?</p>
<p>I wonder whether there is any difference between the average 11 and the average 12 essay. Probably not much of one =/</p>
<p>I think a small but significant portion of 12's have strayed off the path of a formulaic essay based on what posts I have seen of 12s, both here and reprinted in prep books. That's left me kind of confused. I suppose the best advice is to try to improve your <em>own</em> style of writing, not to try to imitate somebody else's style. So if your writing tends to be flowery and poetic, like TheF said, you don't need to adopt a straightfoward approach to get a 12. Everyone does have to be clear about their main argument, though, regardless of writing style.</p>
<p>Lovely essay, theF. I mildly agree with the said criticism but I do think that "deep" philosophical essays are OK in the 12 range, as long as one doesn't go completely off subject and the reader understands what you talk about. </p>
<p>I think that the most important component of a 12 essay is that the thesis/message is "proven" within the body of the essay, whether it is "arrogant-sounding" or not. </p>
<p>Great job! Do you always write like this, theF? Even on your other SAT essays? -admires-</p>
<hr>
<p>ha ha ha... just wondering, do you debate? :)</p>
<p>blub - thx
I'm not a deep thinker... Just a lazy one lol. whatever comes to my mind first I'll write down asap. Like for a previous essay about the importance of creating one's path... i refused to ponder for examples so I wrote about how ppl create individuality without ever trying to... kinda contradictory to this essay shhh.. they'll never know :)</p>
<p>anyways here's my two cents:
amber's correct in stating the necessity to develop and master one's own style. I think i remember reading once in a book that too many tropes could seem overly-dramatic or "trying too hard." But if they work.. they work... I mean trying too hard never hurt anyone rt? haha
Anyways, what's important is what comes natural to YOU... and this is largely from what you read. Personally, I love Ayn Rand and TIME magazine, so i have that combination of sarcasm and philosophy. But i hone in on that style and never stray, and that's what has worked for me (I honestly have heard all my enlish teachers warn me on the fact that i use high diction.. but by the end of the year they stop trying and give me decent grades anyways :p).
Again, there is no formula - plz don't let that confuse you. There isn't a formula!! Good writing often breaks the rules.. the first one in this thread does that pretty well actually. However, don't strive to use pretense because that's what's "expected" of you. Nothing is expected... just preferred... But if you are an expert at using plain diction to sound out a naarrative, many would admire your candidness and maybe even fall in love with the simplicity and cuteness with which you write. So to write well you must read well and believe in what you are writing. Confidence is crucial on the SAT, in college essays, and in life :) haha that was too corny.</p>
<p>out</p>
<p>Ayn Rand! Speaking of her, your essay does kinda remind me of her essays. I've read quite a few before, and your style does seem rather similar. ^^</p>
<p>I didn't try to break any rules on purpose to stand out. I just wrote what I believed in. I honestly didn't like the prompt at all so I had trouble coming up with a better analysis. </p>
<p>But if people really want tips, read a lot! Reading will not only boost your writing and CR scores but it will also help you write better and become a better person. </p>
<p>I already read one book since I copied my essay down to the post.</p>
<p>agreed</p>
<p>The successful ones in life are the readers.</p>
<p>Definitely true. People who read for fun score higher on the SAT <em>and</em> have an easier time doing a lot of other things, too!</p>
<p>how do you all have time to read for fun in the midst of ap classes and college applications? </p>
<p>actually i can see how someone would.. i just don't know anything outside of the world of procrastination</p>
<p>What do you read, by the way? :)</p>
<p>Ah, speaking of Ayn Rand, I'm not a fan, haha. Got 2/3 of the way through Fountainhead and was thoroughly sick of the unrealistic characters and not so subtle philosophizing and moralizing :P so I gave up. I wrote a huge rant about Ayn Rand and objectivism ages ago on CC but don't want to dig it up again.</p>
<p>I liked Anthem a lot.</p>
<p>Anthem was mercifully short. But Ayn Rand is no master of the art of subtlety! Also, this may just have been me, but when I got to the last word in the book and it was "EGO" I burst out laughing. I thought the 'sacred word' was going to be something different. Like 'I' or 'Me' or something. At the time I read the book, I thought "EGO" meant having a big head or being full of airs. So I just thought that was really incongruous with the serious tone of the novel, lol :)</p>
<p>The fountainhead is such a debatable book...
I loved the philosophy behind it but can easily see y someone wouldn't</p>
<p>Personally, I hate reading like pre-1900 classics.. the language is so distracting that i really don't get anything out of it
I read a lot of different genres... the usual popular classic, some columns (read Russell Baker's stuff if you get a chance... his autobios are amazing), magazines (TIME mostly... also a big fan of GQ.. but that's a whole other issue), and a lotta nonfiction (bios, autobios, memoirs, stuff like that).</p>
<p>Try to branch out, and find some interest in what you read. Being able to write well is one thing, but being generally knowledgeable, i feel, is much more important</p>