Comment A good measure of thinking and writing. (Score 1) 284
Too many responders have come out against the SAT essay and this unscientific comparison. I want to defned it.
A meaure of thinking...
There is critisicm that the essay question is boring and uninspiring. So what? Can you, a thinking person, take the topic, and after short reflection, form four or five coherent, grammatical, and interesting sentances in support or against it? If you can then you have an outline of the essay right there. You also have the topic sentances for your paragrapphs, and your first draft is essentially done.
Are your sentances coherent? They are if the reader can see they relate to the topic at hand. Are they grammatical? Then you are good at communicating in English. Are they interesting? Then you might be an original thinker.
It is a real world scenario. You may have to complete a report that you care nothing for. You may have to sell boring ideas in a memo that needs to go out right away. Brainstorm and write five points in support, and outline it all in 5 minutes.
A meaure of writing...
Now fill in the rest, staying on topic within each paragraph, supporting your thesis and topic sentances. This is exactly what an essay should be. Do your best to communicate your ideas, even if you don't have great enthusiam for them.
Too litle time? You audience doesn't have the time to read it either. Time constraints are a very important part of communication. Be succinct, but stay on topic. That should be easy since you've already drafted your thesis early on.
What's interesting about the experiment is that bloggers, who generally tend to write free-form and not draft their ideas, have abandoned or ignored the very simple lessons we teach high-schoolers about essay writing. What's worse, they've drifted from the topic, or failed to sddress it at all. There's alot of 'navel-gazing' in blogging, and this preference for lightly ego-feuled self expression causes a certain kind of resentment when their expressions should 'conform' to some standard.
But they should conform. They were given a topic, and so many could not, or would not, write about it. How can you communicate with someone when you can't/won't engage the topic at hand?
There are qualities of thinking and writing measured by this test. The simple fact that some can do well, and others can't, shows this. Some can communicate quickly and effectivly. They can think under pressure, and express themselves well. Many cannot, and this is what is being measured. The test seems to have done it's job.
It isn't formulaic or requires one to write-to-the-test. It shouldn't measure how you want to spend your days as a freelance writer, pounding away on your first novel, or a quirky piece for from some 'zine. It isn't fiction writing or poetry, and most of all, it isn't blogging as we know it. It's the non-fiction communication of ideas, which is something bloggers should all be atuned to.
Can you communicate well?
A meaure of thinking...
There is critisicm that the essay question is boring and uninspiring. So what? Can you, a thinking person, take the topic, and after short reflection, form four or five coherent, grammatical, and interesting sentances in support or against it? If you can then you have an outline of the essay right there. You also have the topic sentances for your paragrapphs, and your first draft is essentially done.
Are your sentances coherent? They are if the reader can see they relate to the topic at hand. Are they grammatical? Then you are good at communicating in English. Are they interesting? Then you might be an original thinker.
It is a real world scenario. You may have to complete a report that you care nothing for. You may have to sell boring ideas in a memo that needs to go out right away. Brainstorm and write five points in support, and outline it all in 5 minutes.
A meaure of writing...
Now fill in the rest, staying on topic within each paragraph, supporting your thesis and topic sentances. This is exactly what an essay should be. Do your best to communicate your ideas, even if you don't have great enthusiam for them.
Too litle time? You audience doesn't have the time to read it either. Time constraints are a very important part of communication. Be succinct, but stay on topic. That should be easy since you've already drafted your thesis early on.
What's interesting about the experiment is that bloggers, who generally tend to write free-form and not draft their ideas, have abandoned or ignored the very simple lessons we teach high-schoolers about essay writing. What's worse, they've drifted from the topic, or failed to sddress it at all. There's alot of 'navel-gazing' in blogging, and this preference for lightly ego-feuled self expression causes a certain kind of resentment when their expressions should 'conform' to some standard.
But they should conform. They were given a topic, and so many could not, or would not, write about it. How can you communicate with someone when you can't/won't engage the topic at hand?
There are qualities of thinking and writing measured by this test. The simple fact that some can do well, and others can't, shows this. Some can communicate quickly and effectivly. They can think under pressure, and express themselves well. Many cannot, and this is what is being measured. The test seems to have done it's job.
It isn't formulaic or requires one to write-to-the-test. It shouldn't measure how you want to spend your days as a freelance writer, pounding away on your first novel, or a quirky piece for from some 'zine. It isn't fiction writing or poetry, and most of all, it isn't blogging as we know it. It's the non-fiction communication of ideas, which is something bloggers should all be atuned to.
Can you communicate well?
