Saturday, April 30, 2011

SAT: Spring Break Writing Assignments

CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENTS:
DUE: The day we return from break.
GRADING: This will count as a test grade.

1. CHANGE THE WORLD

This is an SAT type writing.I'll provide the prompt, you supply a two to three paragraph response.
Prompt 1
"Change in this world has come about solely through the efforts of the few. Indeed, it is the only means through which the world has changed."
Agree or disagree. Discuss your opinion using examples from history. politics, religion, the arts, etc... Use three examples

2. DIARY OF A (fill in the blank)
a. Write 10 diary entries for any person, place or thing you choose

b. Each entry must be at least 50 words long.

c. You may write a "Chain Diary" in which you assume the identity of other people, places or things that appear in previous entries. This will bolster your understanding of Point of View.

3. AN AWKWARD DIALOGUE
You accidentally dialed the wrong number, but the person who answers sounds familiar. Immediately, he or she recognizes you but, because you made the call, you are too embarrassed to ask who it is. Using only dialogue, figure out who the person is.
a. Write at least twenty lines of dialogue
b. Identify each speaker ME: and OP (other person):
c. Write neatly

4. SAT WRITING
Prompt 2
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

The discovery that someone we admire has done something wrong is always disappointing and disillusioning. Yet even when people we consider heroes have been tarnished by their faults, they are no less valuable than people who appear perfect. When we learn that an admired person, even one who is seemingly perfect, has behaved in less than admirable ways, we discover a complex truth: great ideas and great deeds come from imperfect people like ourselves.

Assignment:
Do we benefit from learning about the flaws of people we admire and respect? 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.

5. SAT WRITING
Prompt 3
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

Some people say you should be content with what you have and accept who you are. But it is possible that too much self-acceptance can turn into self-satisfied lack of ambition. People should always strive to improve themselves and to have more in their lives—friends, things, opportunities. After all, where would we be if great people, both in history and in our own time, did not try to have more and to improve themselves?

Assignment:
Is it best for people to accept who they are and what they have, or should people always strive to better 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.

6. SAT WRITING
Prompt 4
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

So-called common sense determines what people should wear, whom they should respect, which rules they should follow, and what kind of life they should lead. Common sense is considered obvious and natural, too sensible to question. But people's common sense decisions may turn out to be wrong, even if they are thought to be correct according to the judgment of vast majorities of people.

Adapted from Alain de Botton, The Consolations of Philosophy

Assignment:
Can common sense be trusted and accepted, or should it be questioned? 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.

7. SAT WRITING
Prompt 5
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

Winning does not require people to be against someone else; people can reach their goals through cooperation just as well as they can through competition. Winning is not always the result of selfish individualism. People achieve happiness by cooperating with others to increase the happiness of all, rather than by winning at others' expense. Ours is not a world in which the price of one person's happiness is someone else's unhappiness.

Adapted from Gilbert Brim, Ambition

Assignment:
When some people win, must others lose, or are there situations in which everyone wins? 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.

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