SAT Persuasive Essay

In 1983, Raymond Carver introduced his short story “Cathedral” to the public. The first-person narrative takes place within the narrator’s home, where his wife is waiting upon the arrival of her blind friend Robert. The narrator, however, becomes more concerned about how Robert’s visit will affect him rather than enjoy the situation. Once Robert arrives, the narrator tries to understand the blind man, but he is unaware of what tasks Robert is capable of performing due to the narrator’s inability to “see”. In time, Robert shows the narrator the difference between looking and seeing through illustrations of a cathedral, drawn by the narrator with his eyes closed. “Cathedral’s” narrator exposes readers to anti-heroic views

Telling myself that I was too good for anything lower than an A, and being the only accepted 10th-grader, I was certain that I would hold one of the top seats in academics by the end of the year. I was wrong. I ended the semester with 4 C’s. Waking at 5AM then carpooling with a family who lived 45 minutes away and arriving home at 8PM with 5 hours of studying, I would mull over how Bowman Favan was better than me in English, and if I worked longer during my usual 4AM nights. I told myself that I could only beat Bowman if I was 100% self-reliant like he was.

Being an athletes is one of the best-paid jobs on Earth. Being that they are paid so much the cost for the consumer is very high. The prices of tickets and sports memorabilia have been steadily rising over the years. The average ticket prices for the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL all rose 5% to 10% this year, according to Jon Greenberg, executive editor of Team Marketing Report. (Mihoces).

If you are considering enrolling for college in the United States, then chances are that you will have to take the SAT exam. This is a standardized exam, administered to all people considering joining college in a given year. Their respective scores in the exam are deemed to be indicative of their respective capabilities to cope with college work, and to benefit from college education. But many times, SAT scores have relevance beyond college entry: as an interview question, for instance, some employers have been known to ask prospective employees about their SAT scores. But even assuming that the relevance of SAT scores ends at college entry, we all know how much of a difference, in terms of life opportunities, the college one attends makes.

Over 7,500 animals are killed in zoos because they are deemed surplus, as stated by Liz Tyson an animals rights activist. This giraffe in particular sparked a huge controversy. HIs name was Marius, he was homed at the Copenhagen Zoo and was 2 years old when the staff killed him with a bolt gun. Marius was then dissected and fed to lions in front of ongoing zoo goers. What got people fuming is that he was a healthy, young giraffe. Therefore I believe the killing of Marius should not be justified.

The cost of college tuition is continually on the rise and has placed many burdens on high school students as well as their families. Some of the burdens that are placed are a result of parents putting pressure on their children to earn scholarships. Some of the burden is a result of students putting pressure on themselves to earn scholarships. Then, there is the burden of high college debt once the student graduates. Is this pressure really helping our students or is it hurting them? The bottom line is college tuition is skyrocketing out of control and something must be done before it destroys our families and our children.

During my second semester at Southwest Mississippi Community College, I had finally gotten comfortable at the school: I had made friends, and I was doing well in all of my classes. Well, all except for college algebra. I have never been good at algebra; this class was no exception. I tried my very best to understand the material, but my mind just could not comprehend much of the material that we covered in class. Because of my own inability to understand the material, I never finished any of my homework, and I did not do well on any of the tests that I had taken. I had later come to realize that my inability to understand the material was not the fault of anyone but myself.

This is meshes with the whole real life situation-scenario. The new SAT is not trying to trick you it is trying to test ones knowledge. Atkinson and Geiser add, “the exam will be a more straightforward test of material that students encounter in the classroom(Atkinson and Geiser). The college Boards focus is more curriculum-based more than it ever was in the past. This is more fair for students to test on than tricky puzzle-like questions. Not only is the test more fair but it shows students true potential through their work displayed on the test.

When you think SAT’s, you probably don’t think “Fun”. Well, neither do many adults and officials. In fact, many want to change how these tests work. Nevertheless, there are still some people that think these tests are perfectly fine. So, which is right? Should we make our tests better or keep them the exactly how they are to this day? I wholeheartedly believe that our testing policies should be altered, and maybe I can convince you of this too. I will try and describe the many reasons that we should modify, such as how much time testing takes away from precious learning and the reality that SAT’s are ineffective.

Today I picked up my Redwood Mock SAT results from San Rafael. Sitting there in the tiny yellow dingy office, I waited patiently in nervous anticipation. The lady there handed me a stack of papers with a breakdown of my SAT score...1390. 730 in English and 660 in Math. I couldn't stop thinking about that number. Logically I know a number doesn't define me. It is after all just one test. But even so, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. As my parents reminded me, I needed at least a 750 in both sections to have a good chance at getting into a really good school. Funny how a 4 digit number has the power to make one feel so terrible or so accomplished.

Walk into the building 15 minute early: you have your number 2 pencils, a big eraser, and a calculator. The lady at the door checks your ticket, then your license, and checks you off the list. “Go to the bathroom before you enter the room and leave all items like food, water, and electronics out of the testing room, otherwise you will be kicked out and your test will not be scored” bluntly said the ACT test official. You enter the test room and sit and talk with the people around you before the test begins. The test official rattles all the instructions off like a robot. You and 1.92 million people took the ACT exam this year. Unlike the 1.7 million people who took the SAT.

“Your assignment is to write a persuasive essay and present it to the class in a week. You will be graded based on how convincing it is. Today we will be choosing topics,” announced Mr. Bowerbank, my 7th grade English teacher and ruler of classroom 110. My class simultaneously groaned at the prospect of work. I simply lifted my head with intrigue as it was already May and about time we had our first essay. He then proceeded to give examples of topics we could choose and gave us some time to think before we had to tell him our topic. My classmates were already rushing to tell the teacher their idea lest someone else steal it. That meant the usual abortion, death penalty, or drug use topics were out. I really couldn't think of anything and the teacher was slowly making his way through the remaining students like an executioner beheading criminals in a line. I have always thought that he would make a marvelous supervillain if he had a curly mustache, a tophat, and a cape. Eventually my name was called. I slowly dragged myself over to his desk. Even sitting down, he still seemed to tower over me. “What is your topic Cindy?” As usual in such desperate times, my mind turned to food. “Waffles are better than pancakes.” I figured that a waffle was just a differently shaped pancake with a nicer texture. “Hmm. Excellent topic. I look forward to your essay!” I survived to live yet another day.

Only the beginning of junior year, I was afraid to continue the class. I was afraid I was going to flunk out. The class carried on as I sat there day after day with the thought of failing on my mind. However, that only made me even more determined to get a higher grade on the next test. I could not let a bad grade eat me up and demolish my desire to succeed. Later when the second test was passed back, I looked at it, flashed a smile, and flipped through it, noticing only a few minor mistakes. Returning to the front page, I stared at that 92% until the end of class.

Why spend money that is really needed for other things? Why live uncomfortably? Why be trapped in this hole called a home that belongs to another person? Why not live free and peacefully? When a person rents he or she usually throws away money that could be used to purchase something that belongs to them. Money is not easy to come by so why pay out hundreds toward something that is not benefit to the person paying it out. There is no good explanation for making a decision like this. The best option in a situation like this is to buy a house. Buying a house is a better option than renting an apartment.

Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.