<p>Hi guys, thanks for looking at the essay in advance. I have a few questions at the end. If possible, a score would be great!</p>
<p>The prompt is "Are all important discoveries the result of focusing on one subject? Plan and write an essay..."</p>
<p>essay:</p>
<p>Many say that one can only make an acute discovery if he/she thinks outside-the-box and lets a subject sit for awhile as the subconscious works to unravel a problem. It is difficult for one to begin to imagine solutions when no alternative strategies or different approaches are utilized from other subjects. Important discoveries are not the result of focusing on one subject and this notion is exemplified by Catcher in the Rye and the World Championship Fischer vs. Spaasky rematch.</p>
<p>In the Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield seeks to make his way back to New York after being kicked out of his prep school, Pencey. At the beginning of the book, he is an unmotivated, crude teenager. As Holden makes his way back to N.Y. via train, taxi, etc., he encounters many personalities that draw him into different, unusual situations. It should be noted that Holden isn't actively looking for a discovery, but he experiences the "epiphany" while he meets a young woman who, although pretty (Holden's initial goal was to try and interest the woman), is very uneducated and "phony", as Holden later proclaims. While Holden wasn't actively seeking to label most adults as phony, it happens because of his unusual setting and his exposure to the world outside Pencey.</p>
<p>In the famous Fischer vs. Spaasky chess rematch game, Fischer was initially losing the position. Surveying the chess board, Fischer initially began thinking about how to counter the current threat, which would seem to have crushed any hopes the champion had of winning. However, his unique perspective and masterful use of endgame thinking helped him to see past the current "subject" (an immediate loss of pieces) to a more broad view of the current situation. He went on to win the game.</p>
<p>Lastly, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is a naive, but clerver schoolgirl who sees many values and hidden messages that most schoolchildren her age could not comprehend. Initially, Scout came to school with a mindset of learning, in terms of curriculum education, but her incident with teacher showed Scout that there are people in the world who just couldn't care about others (the schoolteacher was apathetic and answered questions halfheartedly). Although Scout came into the school with a mindset to learn, she came out discovering that not everyone cares.</p>
<p>In Catcher in the Rye, Fischer vs. Spaasky and To Kill a Mockingbird, discoveries are made when people approach a situation not necessarily focusing on what was going to be learned. This proves that while patience is a virtue, a multi-angled approach yields greater discoveries.</p>
<p>END</p>
<p>My questions are</p>
<p>1) How exactly do you begin and conclude an SAT essay? Do you need an attention getter, cincher, etc.? </p>
<p>2) Is the chess example in my essay okay, or is the situation too specific to be considered credible (especially since I made up most of those facts, though the names are real and the match did take place...but the essay readers don't know that, most likely). </p>
<p>3) General advice?</p>