<p>Is it disadvantageous to use examples in your essay from:</p>
<ol>
<li>fantasy books like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?</li>
<li>fantasy movies like X-Men, Spiderman, etc</li>
<li>the history of countries other than the US, things that the CB ppl might not be aware of? For example, events in a country's history that figure prominently in history books of that country, but don't figure much in world history books? For example, what if I give an example of B R Ambedkar, an Indian from the erstwhile untouchable caste, who fought adversity and social prejudice and ended up drafting the Indian Constitution?</li>
</ol>
<h1>Also, if I'm giving 3 examples, is it okay for me to give 2 from personal experience, and one from literature or history, as long as all of them are relevant?</h1>
<p>Well the thing is, on the SAT essay you can give any examples as long as it makes your argument stronger. In my opinion characters from fiction are not really good at doing so, since you know, they aren’t exactly real. Readers might see it differently but I wouldn’t take the risk. On the other hand giving political and historical examples not relating the US would be perfectly fine as long as you give a bit of a background so that the reader isn’t in the dark. It also might be slightly advantageous to do so since you won’t be giving into the cliche of everyone giving examples of Hitler or President Bush etc.</p>
<p>And most people here discourage giving personal examples but I think that it’s perfectly fine as long as they’re strong examples and strengthen your argument.</p>
<p>Any examples that are relevant are just fine, personal or not! The quality of the content is not scored, beyond it’s relevance to the assignment. The readers are interested in the quality of your argument; the snootiness of your examples just isn’t important. War and Peace is not a better example than your personal experience just because it’s War and Peace. For some students, attempts to use “academic” examples can actually hurt them. It’s NOT in your best interest to use a challenging book you may not fully understand or have trouble explaining, when talking about a movie that’s a great example will do just as well. I’ve given students a 6 on essays with examples like their grandparents, or even their dogs. Just write about what makes sense, and you’ll do fine.</p>
<p>People need to realize the difference between a 10 and a 12 are not your examples. You will get a 10 from using barney/teletubbies just as much as you’ll get a 10 from using some godly historical/literary reference. honestly the difference between 10 and 12 are just good writing skills, albeit transitions, strong thesis and conclusion and a strong laconic use of vocabulary. People think that the quality of the examples will change the score of an essay but i argue that it’s the way you represent and explain the examples and overall writing skills.</p>