Will this essay receive a zero?

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Can somebody please let me know if they think my essay will get a 0? Thanks.
I don't think it's necessarily off topic, I just don't think it answers the question well enough, or very well at all for that matter...it's not that I misinterpreted the prompt exactly, it's just that I get so stressed when I have such a short period of time to write the essay (as I'm sure everyone else does), and that I did not have a sufficient number of examples. I actually could not think of anything to write; I hardly watch television and I couldn't think of any personal examples or movies, books, etc.</p>

<p>So, I chose to write about two books, but rather than saying how these two books affect OUR society, I wrote about the societies within these books and how they are affected by the media and those around them.</p>

<p>The two book examples that I used were 1984 by George Orwell, and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. For 1984, I used the evidence that Big Brother and the government used methods (such as the media) to brainwash society, trying to show them what their society should be. I said that the media was displaying 'reality' by informing the society of what was going on around them and what their society should be like. Then, I said that this negatively affected the society because they became brainwashed into thinking that should become this perfect society.</p>

<p>For Persepolis, I said that the people in the country, Marjane especially, wanted their society to be ruled a certain way and wanted to defeat other countries (this example is sort of like the 1984 one, I know). The radio, television, and other forms of media convinced society to want to be a certain way. Marjane, the main character, was influenced by the media and participated in rallies at a very young age, although she was not entirely informed of what was going on. I said that this sort of "reality" being portrayed by the media corrupted Marjane and her society.</p>

<p>I think these examples are a little far off from what the prompt was looking for, but hopefully I supported them well enough to prove my point. I hope it won't get a 0, but I doubt it will get a very high score either..</p>

<p>Can ANYONE tell me if they think this will get a zero? Please. Just let me know what you think this will get, and if you think I should cancel my scores or not.</p>

2

<p>Yes - this will no doubt receive a 0. Completely off topic, has nothing to do with reality television</p>

3

<p>Yeah, sounds like a 0 to me.</p>

4

<p>Depending on the prompt (I didn’t see this one), you could have tied it in as follows:</p>

<p>“Reality entertainment could have dangerous effects in our society. Several pieces of famous literature tell cautionary tales, warning us of the negative effects/externalities which can result from certain types of media. By examining these pieces of literature, we can take the lessons of the past and apply them to today.”</p>

<p>…even this would be pushing it, but I think you wouldn’t get a 0.</p>

5

<p>The prompt wasn’t specifically about reality television though. Some say it wasn’t, and some say it was. I definitely remember reading the question though and it said “Do forms of entertainment portray reality…” or something along the lines of that. So I interpreted that to be like forms of entertainment and media, including the radio and things like that. I did include television as well though. Will it still get a 0?</p>

6

<p>Also, I’ve heard of two others who used 1984 as an example so I’m hoping this was valid. And along with that, even though my essay wasn’t quite what they were looking for, I still had a thesis that mentioned reality in the media and how it was harmful, and then of course my points proved this thesis (whether or not my points were great or not). Isn’t that mostly what they look for, anyway? I’m not sure if I will get a 0 but I know that I’ll get a bad score. Is it worth cancelling my scores, or should I not?</p>

7

<p>not “forms of entertainment that portray reality,” but “reality entertainment.” most people took it to be reality television, since that’s basically the premier form of “reality entertainment.” i don’t think i know enough to tell you whether or not your score will get a 0.</p>

8

<p>@rover112, did you actually take the SAT this past Saturday or not? If you did, do you remember the question word for word? Because I remember reading the box of information right before the question, and it mentioned a bunch of other forms of entertainment…and then I remember the prompt starting with “do forms of entertainment”, but i forget exactly what it was. I thought of reality tv and magazines and things like that as examples, but I just couldn’t think of anything specific and in such a time crunch I just wrote down whatever came to mind - which happened to be these two books. I think I had enough evidence to maybe get a 6, hopefully.</p>

9

<p>The problem is with your essay is that the prompt specifically said “reality entertainment”, not “entertainment that portrays reality.” The example ive been using on here to explain is that Jersey Shore is reality entertainment. Call of Duty black ops is entertainment that portrays some kind of reality, as is 1984 and your other book. The question did not ask about how reality is distorted or explained through entertainment, but how reality entertainment, meaning a sub category of entertainment, affects society. The focus of your essay was completely off</p>

10

<p>@sidthekidc87
I know what you’re trying to say, but I think the graders will be a little lenient on this one (hopefully). I mean, I just hope I don’t get a 0. I know that it wasn’t just asking about entertainment that portrays reality, that’s not what I"m trying to say exactly…hmm…but the examples that most people used, including jersey shore, weight loss shows, 16 and pregnant, etc, all show the way that people SHOULD be or COULD be, if you get what i’m trying to say. my examples did that as well. i said that the government in 1984 used news, television, radio, etc, to show the society what it SHOULD and COULD be, and how this ended up harming them. I don’t know, I’m not trying to argue with you at all lol I just really don’t want to get a 0. Thanks for trying to help, but do you think I should cancel my scores just because of this? Or see what I get and then of course retake it in May anyway?</p>

11

<p>the more you have to zoom in on certain aspects of your aspects, the more likely youll get a 0. Im not a grader, so I dont know how they will view it. But after reading thousands of essays, the readers might not make the same connection as you. Im just going by what the prompt asked - you obviously used your creative license…just hope for the best</p>

12

<p>Yeah haha, well I know other people who took the same sort of approach as I did (as I said already) so either we’ll all do badly or they’ll be a little easier on everyone! Hopefully it’s not too bad. Also, I’m sure that after reading a million essays about Jersey Shore, the graders will be a little relieved to see something a little different…I don’t know haha, I’m just really nervous to get my scores. But yeah, hoping for the best here</p>

13

<p>My essay, as well, is possibly off topic, but I just thought about it this way. How can Collegeboard literally penalize people who DONT watch reality TV? It would be bad publicity for them if they gave people who wrote about literature 0’s. The goal of ETS is to make money, and what is worse publicity for a “academic” compnay than to be portayed encouraging kids to watch tv? I can imgaine the headlines now…</p>

14

<p>Yeah, @hannahbanana94, I saw what you wrote in a different thread and I noticed that you wrote about 1984 as well…I’ve seen a bunch of other people write about how works of literature affect OUR society negatively, but it seems as if you and I both wrote about how the society within 1984 was affected…I’m sure we’re not the only ones who chose this approach, and yeah, you’re definitely right. They can’t just give us a zero for not watching tv or not having any personal examples to support what we had to say. Also, now that I’ve thought about it, I don’t think it’s worth it to cancel the score just because we’re afraid of what we might get on our essays…I’m not sure if you were thinking about this, but I was. But, according to a lot of people that I know, the essay really isn’t that important. I know that a 630 is still a possibility EVEN with a zero on the essay. I even know a girl who got a 730 on the writing with an 8 on the essay, which is of course much better than a 0 but still not the best (I would be very happy with an 8, I’m just saying that most people aim for a 10 or higher). So, hopefully even if I do get a zero it should be fine (but I doubt they would give us a zero; even though we chose a different approach than most people, I don’t really think our essays were off topic enough to deserve zeros). How long was your essay, by the way?</p>

15

<p>Full two pages in miniature handwriting.</p>

16

<p>If it is indeed reality entertainment, then there is no problem. </p>

<p>I asked my SAT tutor who previously taught the AP level before she retired. She was notorious for being one of the harshest essay graders that anyone will ever meet. This is why I am NOT canceling my score and why I believe I scored a 12. (this post is assuming that it said reality entertainment) When I told her about the prompt, she responded by saying that, as a former essay grader herself, she would expect teens to perceive reality entertainment as television shows. Then she added that if she were grading these essays, she would NOT consider books, movies, etc. as off-topic as long as it pertains to the thesis and the prompt. If it relates to the realities of life, “you’re golden.”</p>

<p>And to anyone who said that this essay could be approached only by TV shows… if the prompt did say reality entertainment then there’s no guarantee for a 0. Stop jumping into conclusions. In 16 days we will see; until then, OP, we’ll wait and see.</p>

17

<p>@tenors, you are the man and made my day. I think sidthekid is a ■■■■■ who enjoys seeing others suffering from paranoia. If collegeboard actually meant for this essay to be a discussion about TV shows (which i highly doubt), then we can literally sue them for being biased against those without access to television in rural area or foreign nations like Africa, Europe, Asia, etc. Dont forget international take the SAT too. And collegeboard says clearly it doesnt care about the factual content but rather the writing of the essay. So people should stop worrying bout this.</p>

18

<p>actually, I think you could get a 12. The prompt specified reality entertainment not tv, and your examples are super creative. it’ll definitely stand out from the 20000 jersey shore essays</p>

19

<p>yesss, as andrewsun said, @tenors you made my day. same with you @javalava! i know, i’m actually sort of glad i didn’t use examples like jersey shore and such because first of all, those are so cliche and i have heard from everyone including my sat tutor that the essay graders HATE when you wrote about cliche examples. also, i don’t know nearly enough about any reality tv show to say why it was harmful or beneficial. everyone seemed to have the same examples, which is bad because they will be overused, but i was just nervous that maybe my examples would just seem off topic because of this. but, thank you for your reassurance and optimism :slight_smile: i would be so happy if a got a 12, which i doubt will happen because my writing itself was not great, but thanks so much!!</p>

20

<p>I ended up getting a 10 on the essay! I’m so happy.</p>