SAMPLE ESSAYS SATs

Time has a doomsday book, on whose pages he is continually recording illustrious names.
But as often as a new name is written there, an old one disappears. Only a few stand in
illuminated characters never to be effaced.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
ASSIGNMENT:
Are there some heroes who will be remembered forever? Or are all heroes doomed to be
forgotten one day? Plan your response, and then write an essay to explain your views on
this issue. Be sure to support your position with specific points and examples. (You may
use personal examples or examples from your reading, observations, or, knowledge of
subjects such as history, literature, science.)

Every age, and every culture has its heroes. In some times and places the heroes have been
gods or god-like creatures from mythology, or mortals apparently much above the mass of
humanity. But today, sports stars, film stars, and political leaders with clay feet have replaced
Ram, Achilles, Cleopatra, and Alexander. In fact there are almost no heroes of any age that
can withstand our tendency to debunk. There are figures who will always be in the history
books, but they wont always be regarded as heroes.
Lets consider Julius Caesar a hero in his own time but regarded, thanks mainly to
Shakespeares play, as a man with mortal failings: vain, superstitious and arrogant. He can no
longer be thought of as a hero just a man who came to prominence for his actions at a
certain point in history. He has his place in the history of the Western world and his face on
ancient coins, but scarcely fits our need for a hero for all times whom we can revere.
Even Shakespeare himself, the writer of immortal plays and poetry cannot fit our need for a
heroic figure. He created heroes but cannot qualify as one himself: we know too little about
him. History will always try to heap accolades on the man who wrote such sublime words, but
that doesnt stop critics from trying to take away his glory. There are those who claim that he
didnt even write the plays.
Of course the history books are full of great men and women who are long gone, and no doubt
we can all find our personal heroes from their pages. But the dead cannot defend their
reputations and so every biography and every film chips away at their greatness. Alexander
the Great will never seem so great once we have seen the film.
Finally, we must agree that very few heroes will be revered for all time. The man who saves
a child from a tsunami will find himself lauded in the newspapers for a few days, the sports
superstars will last a little longer. But no modern human, except for a very few such as Mother
Theresa, will be guaranteed a page in the book of all-time heroes.
2. Prompt:
Even scientists know that absolute objectivity has yet to be attained. It's the same for
absolute truth. But, as many newspaper reporters have observed, the idea of objectivity as a
guiding principle is too valuable to be abandoned. Without it, the pursuit of knowledge is
hopelessly lost.
Adapted from "Focusing Our Values," Nieman Reports
Assignment: Are people better at making observations, discoveries, and decisions if they
remain neutral and impartial? Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from
your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
Score of 6

Objectivity by researchers has not, and probably never will be attained. People will always
have biases; some will be created by cultural values and others by personal views. The search
for objectivity lies in the realm of philosophy along with the search for reality. Even though
objectivity can never be reached, people are better at making observations, discoveries, and
decisions if they attempt to set aside their biases.
As I have learned in my Theory of Knowledge class, perception and thought are intimately
connected. While the same rays of light may enter two different peoples eyes, what they see
may be very different. The brain takes the input from the eyes and processes it to form an
image. That image is not the only thing the brain produces; it also provides extra information
based on generalizations and bias. This unconscious addition of information changes the
observation of an object. By attempting to reduce the addition of extraneous information
being added to the observation, by being objective, a true observation of an object can be
more closely approximated.
Discoveries, especially in the scientific realm can be doubly affected by a lack of objectivity.
Since scientific discoveries are based on observation, all of the problems associated with
observation apply as well to discoveries. Additional problems occur in the analysis of data
collected by a scientific experiment. In a recent experiment in physics class, almost all of the
students in my class analyzed the data incorrectly. However, armed with the knowledge that
zero percent error is never possible, we were satisfied with the results. Our personal belief in
the validity of the method of analyzation we chose, and lack of objectivity, led to our incorrect
discovery in the field of energy. A lack of objectivity can clearly be seen to be a problem in my
last student council election as well. The most popular person was chosen for president, not
the objectively best candidate. Since then, the president has done nothing for our school. If
the people involved had attempted to set aside their biases and pursue the goal of objectivity,
it is less likely that errors would have been made.
Bias will always be a part of human life. It can, however, be limited in how much we let it
affect us. The less we allow bias to influence, the more objective we are, the less likely we are
to come to false opinions, discoveries, and bad decisions.
3. Prompt:
Theres no success like failure.

Assignment:
What is your view on the idea that success can begin with failure? In an essay, support
your position using an example (or examples) from literature, the arts, history, current
events, politics, science and technology, or from your personal experience or
observation.

Learning the lessons taught by failure is a sure route to success. (THESIS STATEMENT)
The United States of America can be seen as a success that emerged from failure: by
learning from the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the founding fathers
were able to create the Constitution, the document on which America is built. (BEST
SUPPORTING EXAMPLE [1]) Google Inc., the popular Internet search engine, is another
example of a success that arose from learning from failure, though in this case Google
learned from the failures of its competitors. (NEXT BEST SUPPORTING EXAMPLE [2])
Another example that shows how success can arise from failure is the story of Rod
Johnson, who started a recruiting firm that arose from Johnsons personal experience of
being laid off. (NEXT BEST SUPPORTING EXAMPLE [3])

The United States, the first great democracy of the modern world, is also one of the
best examples of a success achieved by studying and learning from earlier failures.
(TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 1) After just five years of living under the Articles of
Confederation, which established the United States of America as a single country for
the first time, the states realized that they needed a new document and a new more
powerful government. In 1786, the Annapolis convention was convened. The result,
three years later, was the Constitution, which created a more powerful central
government while also maintaining the integrity of the states. By learning from the
failure of the Articles, the founding fathers created the founding document of a country
that has become both the most powerful country in the world and a beacon of
democracy. (FOUR DEVELOPMENT SENTENCES TO SUPPORT EXAMPLE 1)

Unlike the United States, which had its fair share of ups and downs over the years, the
Internet search engine company, Google Inc., has suffered few setbacks since it went
into business in the late 1990s. (TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EXAMPLE 2) Google has
succeeded by studying the failures of other companies in order to help it innovate its
technology and business model. Google identified and solved the problem of assessing
the quality of search results by using the number of links pointing to a page as an
indicator of the number of people who find the page valuable. Suddenly, Googles
search results became far more accurate and reliable than those from other
companies, and now Googles dominance in the field of Internet search is almost
absolute. (THREE DEVELOPMENT SENTENCES TO SUPPORT EXAMPLE 2)

The example of Rod Johnsons success as an entrepreneur in the recruiting field also
shows how effective learning from mistakes and failure can be. (TOPIC SENTENCE FOR
EXAMPLE 3) Rather than accept his failure after being laid off, Johnson decided to study
it. After a month of research, Johnson realized that his failure to find a new job resulted
primarily from the ineffi ciency of the local job placement agencies, not from his own
deficiencies. A month later, Johnson created Johnson Staffi ng to correct this weakness
in the job placement sector. Today Johnson Staffi ng is the largest job placement agency
in South Carolina, and is in the process of expanding into a national corporation. (FOUR
DEVELOPMENT SENTENCES TO SUPPORT EXAMPLE 3)

Failure is often seen as embarrassing, something to be denied and hidden. But as the
examples of the U.S. Constitution , Google, and Rod Johnson prove, if an individual,
organization, or even a nation is strong enough to face and study its failure, then that
failure can become a powerful teacher. (THESIS STATEMENT REPHRASED IN BROADER
WAY THAT PUSHES IT FURTHER) The examples of history and business demonstrate that
failure can be the best catalyst of success, but only if people have the courage to face
it head on.

4. Can success be disastrous?

The world is littered with the carcasses of those who strove for success, only to find emptiness
and despair. Relentlessly pursuing success can lead to deathas in the case of Jay Gatsbyor,
more commonly, to disappointment and madness, as in the cases of Alexander the Great and
Britney Spears. Success can have disastrous consequences.

Jay Gatsby, the anti-hero of F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, was a man motivated by
his need to succeed. Jay Gatsby said that his goal was to win the love of Daisy, but he was
really motivated by a more common American dream: money. Gatsby only loved Daisy
because her voice sounded like money. His whole life was spent pursuing financial and
social success. Nothing good came from his desire for success; instead, Gatsby died, and
almost nobody attended his funeral.
The case of Alexander the Great had similarly disastrous consequences. Conquering the
known world was Alexander the Greats main goal and he excelled at it. By his early 30s,
Alexander found that he had successfully gained power over everything he had ever wanted.
But this didnt satisfy Alexander. Instead, he was crushed by the disappointment that there
was nothing left to conquer. Alexander was successful in achieving his incredible goal, but his
success proved disastrous to his mental health, and he died soon after.
Britney Spears is another cautionary tale of success. From her early appearances on the
Mickey Mouse club, to her musical superstardom, to her head-shaving public breakdown,
Britney Spears proved how quickly your star can ascend and then crash back down. She
achieved worldwide success shortly after she did puberty. It was obviously too much for her to
handle, both mentally and emotionally. Her life of glamor and fame quickly fell apart. By all
accounts her success was devastating to her personal life and mental health.
The pitfalls of striving forand achievingsuccess are tragically apparent in the examples of
Jay Gatsby, Alexander the Great, and Britney Spears. Those who hope to be famous and
revered should take note. In some situations, success can have unexpected and unfortunate
consequences.
5. Prompt:
Should people try to be as active and busy as they can, or should they try to have more free
time for themselves? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this
issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies,
experience, or observations.
While free time may be enjoyable, more often than not, lazily slothing about leads to mental
or physical stagnation and does not yield progress. Admittedly, the acts of daydreaming and
appreciating nature, the joys of contemplation, can serve to give people breaks from their
otherwise fast-paced lives, but these lapses of daydreaming and meandering are exactly
that--breaks. Excessive resting is hardly beneficial and should be avoided; breaks must be
taken in moderation. Acute analysis of historical as well as literary examples in context show
that in the end, while free time can be rejuvenating, it is hard work which leads to selfcultivation and technological advancements.
In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Hamlet, the protagonist of the play, remunerates far too
frequently, and it is for this reason that his fate ends so tragically in death. Hamlet's father
has just recently been murdered by Claudius in Claudius' conspiracy to overtake the throne,
and the ghost of Hamlet's father, King Hamlet, confirms Hamlet's sinister suspicions and
burdens Hamlet with the task of avenging King Hamlet's death. Hamlet knows, of course, that
he needs to kill Claudius, but instead of actively carry out his duty with efficiency and pointed
alacrity, Hamlet dwells on the issue of the morality, or lack thereof, of taking anothers' life,
and thus wastes valuable time in which King Claudius secretly devises a plot to poison
Hamlet. Too much free time is what leads to Hamlet's eventual debacle--Claudius' plan ends
up successfully, and Hamlet is duped into King Claudius' lethal trap.
Steve Jobs, on the other hand, used his time somewhat more productively, and this zeal for

life and his sanguine nature is what allowed Jobs to earn his success--he personally benefited
from his subsequent material wealth, but he also helped millions of people by donating
altruistically to numerous charities as well as providing many with the electronic tools that
they need to succeed. The Apple company did not rise from the dust from idea alone--it was a
direct result of active determination to acheive a goal. Jobs' motivation built him a company
with billions of dollars in net worth--his hard work and his tedious labor earned him an
enterprise which has helped millions of Americans alive. How many times in a day does one
see people chatting on their Iphones, playing on their iPods or watching movies on their
iPads? This number has become so increasingly large that it cannot even be counted.
Another example which shows that hard work yields desired results comes from my own
personal observation of a friend. At lunch, this kid and classmate sits with seniors and
teachers to interview them for a school newspaper article; during class, he jots down notes
assiduously, even during his free periods he studies for a future test.
Evidently, free time can yield ephemeral boons, but in the long term it is always better to take
action. Only with doing, not thinking and wondering, can innovation and progress be
achieved.
6. Prompt:
Is the way something seems to be not always the same as it actually is?
Very often, the way something seems to be is not the way it actually is. By scratching the
surface, we can find examples of this condition in literature, history, and everyday life. I pass
an anonymous quote the other day that reminded of this truism. It read, "Be kind, for
everyone is fighting their one private battle."
The novel by Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried, exemplifies this type of misleading
impression. The main character is named Tim O'Brien, just like the author, so the reader isn't
sure if the narrator is speaking the truth or is weaving a fictional tale. Regardless, both Tim
O'Brien the author and Tim the main character, went off to the Vietnam war.
On the surface, the protagonist, Tim, appears to be patriotic. He lives in a small town in
Minnesota where the teenaged boys leave for war when they are 18 years old. They are
heralded and celebrated by the community and told that they are heroes for fighting for their
country.
Tim is working in a pig factory when his draft letter arrives. The work is gruesome, bloody, and
redolent with the stench of death. His peers and family assume that he's like all the other
young boys in the town -- that is, anxious to leave this monotonous existence and travel
across the world to fight in the war and defend their country.
But the truth is that Tim is anguished inside. He would rather do anything, including the
wretched pig factory job, than have to go off and potentially kill people for his country.
He agonizes privately, all the while conveying the impression that he is brave and ready to
fight. Silently he contemplates going awol and escaping to Canada. His inner conflict becomes
so extreme that he finally gets in his truck and begins driving north to Canada, never telling a
soul.

A few miles from Canada he stops at a cabin where an old man lives. The man invites him to
stay and feeds him and offers a safe place, far from the family and friends he fears sharing his
true feelings with. The two men spend quiet days together, never addressing the issue of war
and Tim's imminent draft.
One day they are on a bot on a lake, and it's raining, and Tim begins to sob. He tells the man
that it's too embarrassing not to go to war, and says he must go back home and follow
through on his duty. Days later he goes off to war with the other boys, proud, yet deceptive.