SAT essay!

<p>Assignment-Is knowing facts as important as understanding ideas and concepts?</p>

<p>Understanding ideas and concepts is far more important than merely knowing and being able to state facts. This is because ideas as well as concepts can very often be utilized throughout a person's life, unlike facts which, once memorized, often cannot benefit one in major ways.The idea of studying history reflects this, as does a personal experience of mine with math class.</p>

<p>Although many people believe that history is a tedious, futile subject not worthy of pursuit, one can actually learn a lot from history. Beyond the names and dates of people and places--the "facts"--there is a lot one can learn about mankind and humanity. The concepts of greed, desire, and motivation repeat themselves in various instances throughout history, exemplified through the numerous battles for colonization. Pushing past the facts, one can understand the factors behind great wars, and can then extend that knowledge to prevent such events in the future. By looking back at history and understanding it, one can improve our future, whereas by merely memorizing dates, one cannot do a whole lot of good in the world other than perhaps doing well on a test.</p>

<p>Doing well on tests is a priority of many high school students, and I was one of them in 9th grade. During math class, as the topics grew increasingly advanced my classmates and I found ourselves despairing of ever mastering them all. Many students began to merely memorize various proofs and formulas by heart and then proceeded to ace tests. Likewise, I too tried to memorize, yet found myself learning nothing. Once I began to take the time out to understand each topic, however, my understanding of the concepts greatly increased. Once I had mastered the understanding part, I was able to make good grade sin the class without much other study, as compared to my classmates, who had to work hard to constantly refresh their memories.</p>

<p>So, understanding ideas and concepts can greatly benefit a person, as opposed to just memorizing information and storing it in one's brain. By being able to think logically and conceptually, one can overcome any problems throughout life, whereas all that facts can usually do is momentarily impress a person with the appearance of being knowledgeable. Facts are not equal to knowledge; understanding is.</p>

<p>thank you to anyone who helps :)</p>

<p>I would really appreciate some help! Anyone?</p>

<p>I really like it. It shows thought, and you gave a nice example.</p>

<p>You write well. Good writing mechanics, nice mix of sentence forms, proper level of vocabulary – the essay flows well.</p>

<p>Your second example is especially good. It is very much on topic, with a logical and specific argument. The first example could be better. It’s very general and somewhat superficial. Pick a specific example, and clarify the what it means to learn from history with a contrasting specific example of where the society did in fact learn and applied what it learned to a pressing issue. The catchword here is “specific”.</p>

<p>My guess is that you would get a 9-10. For a 12 your first example would need to be better developed. Or if you leave it as is, then you would need a third example.</p>

<p>This is really good. Nice start, good flow, and nice ending. It shows your ability to interpret a given topic skillfully, and your grip on the language. I’d say probably around 9-11.</p>