<p>I am studying very hard for the March SAT by taking practice tests, studying vocabulary, reading a lot, practicing math, and brushing up on my grammar skills. According to my practice tests, I'm not doing so badly. The only issue is this: the ESSAY. Every time I look at the topic, my mind goes blank. I know what position I want to take, but I can't seem to find any good examples from literature or history (I don't like to use personal examples). </p>
<p>For example, there was a prompt in the 11 Practice Tests book that went like this:
"Is the purpose of education to change the world?" or "Are we free to make our own choices in life, or are our decisions always limited by the rules of society?" or "What must we do to truly understand ourselves?" or "Is censorship sometimes justified?" or "What two options are the most difficult to choose between?" or "Is honesty always the best policy?" or "Do we need knowledge of the past in order to understand the future?" or "Is making a bad decision better than making no decision at all?</p>
<p>There are many more examples of prompts, yes. I have a serious problem when it comes to the essay because I simply cannot come up with any supporting examples. For a few of them above, I'm thinking of some examples (1984, Scarlett Letter, Civil Rights Movement for the choices, 1984, school censorship), but I'm having quite a difficult time coming up with good examples for all of these. I've read AcademicHacker's thread countless times, and I am trying to use his/her strategies, but the problem is that I don't know what to pre-research nor do I know how to mold my pre-research to fit any prompt? I am afraid that if I prepare from something like 1984, Lord of the Flies, or the Civil Rights Movement, and I get a prompt on education, I'll be screwed.</p>
<p>Sorry for the essay above, but I really need help. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, any books that talk about this? What about Rodney Daut's book?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>