Writing Feedback / SAT essay, can we fuse the ideas or just choose one side when offered the choice? [5]

I'm Catherine, and English is not my first language. I'm doing self-study for my SAT preparation now. I am confused whether we should always choose side or we can fuse ideas in such topic.

"In many circumstances, optimism-the expectation that one's ideas and plans will always turn out for the best-is unwarranted. In these situations what is needed is not an upbeat view but a realistic one. There are times when people need to take a tough-minded view of the possibilities of success, give up, and invest their energies elsewhere rather than find reasons to continue to pursue the original project or idea.

Adapted from Martin E. P. Seligman, Learned Optimism
Assignment:
Is it better for people to be realistic or optimistic? 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. "

So, in this case, is it advisable to fuse my ideas of being realistic and optimistic, meaning that I don't actually think one is better than the other, or is it much better to just take one side?

Thanks a lot.

Writing Feedback / SAT, example of a realistic person? - Optimism vs Realism [6]

Catherine here, I'm trying to write this essay, it's just my self study for my SAT preparation.

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

In many circumstances, optimism-the expectation that one's ideas and plans will always turn out for the best-is unwarranted. In these situations what is needed is not an upbeat view but a realistic one. There are times when people need to take a tough-minded view of the possibilities of success, give up, and invest their energies elsewhere rather than find reasons to continue to pursue the original project or idea.

Adapted from Martin E. P. Seligman, Learned Optimism

Assignment:
Is it better for people to be realistic or optimistic? 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.

Essay

"Is the glass half full or half empty?" This is a famous idiom, used rhetorically to determine whether someone is an optimist or a pessimist. In my point of view, even though seeing the glass half-full or having great expectations in life is a good thing, there is one fact we cannot deny; the fact that the glass is also half empty. To be able to deal with life with as few disappointments as possible, we need to be a realistic person who has a healthy proportion of expectations and "what if" attitude so that we are able to be flexible should they all fail. Both positive and negative are equally important to be considered as they comprise the whole.

There is nothing wrong to have a positive outlook on a plan or a goal, and believing we can achieve it. However, there is a danger in thinking that we can always overcome problems that come up. The ironic fact is life is not a smooth road. Hence, we need to be realistic about it. Setting a goal that is obviously impossible to achieve will end up frustrating us to the point where we give up on our goals or worse, we can't move on with our lives. We need an option, and being optimistic may give us false promises or facades to see one thing and create inability to be resilient with the other available options.

Being realistic is also applicable in human relationship. When we relate to people, we can always see good things in our friends, yet similar to all things, humans are not perfect. The realistic outlook can help us understand human imperfection and not overestimate the relationship so that it can't let us as down as not being able to move on at all. There are cases where our loved ones pass away or they are far away from us. Negative thoughts are bound to enter our mind. Saying that we should always be positive is like giving sweet candy to ourselves. The sweet taste can easily deceive and give us false consolations and when it's gone, we become evasive and unable to acknowledge the misery.

"The girl in the park" is one good example of realistic cinema. It's about a mother who is traumatized by the disappearance of her three-year-old daughter fifteen years ago. Since then, she isolates herself from her husband and son due to her inability to cope with her loss, hence clinging to the hope of finding her daughter again. Her emptiness fades away until she meets a homeless teenage girl and she offers home to her. It's a facade that she builds in her mind, treating her like her lost daughter, and the hope that the girl is her lost daughter is always hanging in her mind. She becomes very alive and turns depressed very soon when she finds out that girl is not her daughter. The story depicts a grim picture of reality. It tells us that it is natural for a mother to be in palpable pain but her being overly optimistic in finding her daughter actually stifles her from progressing in her life and jeopardizes her relationship with many other people. The story does not force the viewer to think that every good thing will come along our way if we are hopeful.

To sum up, being realistic shows that we can still fly but we fly with the safest bet, with the parachute, so that we don't drop hard. It proves our ability to accept weaknesses and strive for the best. It gives us second options in our lives, plans and goals and alleviates the pains and disappointments that life may cause. This holistic attitude, accepting both positive and negative sides, will only make us stronger. After all, a lotus is a beautiful flower that blossoms out of the mud.

By: Catherine

P.S: Can anyone help me think of one more example of a realistic person, I am trying to find out about a realistic person in history who did not become over hopeful, and the person was able to be resilient to do something else? Thanks a bunch!

Writing Feedback / SAT - Failure is the beginning of education [7]

The novelist John Hersey wrote, 'Learning starts with failure; the first failure is the beginning of education."

Assignment:

What are your thoughts on the idea that failure is necessary for education to take place?
Compose an essay in which you express your views on this topic. Your essay may support, refute, or qualify the views expressed in the excerpt. What you write, however, must be relevant to the topic under discussion. Additionally, you must support your viewpoint, indicating your reasoning and providing examples based on your studies and/or experience.

SAT Challenge

Essay 2

"To err is human" is a very simple statement with far reaching implications. Indeed not succumbing to human imperfection is unrealistic, if not altogether impossible. Naturally, we humans are liable to make mistakes - be it professional, personal, emotional ones, or even some faux pas. As a result, when we seek knowledge or aspire to carry out a task or plan, we are bound to fail. Failure, however, is not the end of the world, and as such nor should it be the end of our journey

Failure, in fact, is the beginning of education. When we fail, we can learn not to repeat it, to analyze the failure and to anticipate. When we anticipate, we make necessary changes and better plans, and when we have better plans, we are bound to do things in a much better way. Failure is a life-long teacher that educates us about new ideas and ways of life. Without failure, we can't have a thorough education of what is right or wrong.

Nature also works in unpredictable way. In hindsight, at times, we make some decisions based on available information. Hence, change of situation deprives the current decision of its validity. Ergo, it becomes a mistake. A mistake at present, however, can turn out to be something good with changing situation. Nature explains, we are just bound to make mistakes and fail.

In my own experience, I have made a fair share of those mistakes. Close friends were upset with me and I was even more upset with myself. The thought of punishing myself was inevitable. But to err is human, we make mistakes, sometimes even because we are sleepy or negligent. In short, faulty perception or unpredictable future may cause failures. The failures I had in relationship, in my plans, in life have become a very great teacher for me that lay a good basis for what I should and should not do in my life.

Thomas Alfa Edison, is an epitome of a persistent man who never gave up despite his failures. He had to experience multiple failures before reaching the level of success of which he is known for today. He had failed 9,998 times before he succeeded in inventing the light bulb. Instead of letting himself beclouded by pessimism, he was resilient in learning from the failures.

The right to fail, Friedrich Nietzsche once said "What doesn't kill you will only make you strong". Indeed, failures make us stronger and educate us to be better. It's our prerogative right to make mistakes, therefore we shouldn't be afraid to fail. Failure, if anything, means that we now have an opportunity to learn. Thus, I agree that failure is necessary for education to take place. Even babies have to fall in their first steps so they can walk.

By Catherine

There is one confusion I have when I write SAT essay, it is about Point of Views. Which is better in this kind of essay? To use "we" like the one used in this essay (first person plural) or to use "one" (third person singular)? Thanks in advance.

Writing Feedback / Underrated Vs Overrated by people - what is better? [2]

It is better to be underrated by people than to be overrated by them.

Assignment: What are your thoughts on the statement above? Do you agree or disagree with the writer's assertion? Compose an essay in which you express your views on this topic. Your essay may support, refute, or qualify the view expressed in the statement. What you write, however, must be relevant to the topic under discussion. Additionally, you must support your viewpoint, indicating your reasoning and providing examples based on your studies and/or experience.

Essay 3

It is inevitable that one feels the need to conform to others' expectations, in whatever work they are doing. In society we live in, everyone is in perpetual examination. It is only fair that people demand to be judged based on merit, the skills they actually have. Outward appearance, first impression, however, can make someone being underrated or overrated. Although one may not want to be underrated, for me it is still better than to be overrated.

Being overrated, people are bound to disappoint people when they do not meet the expected demands. Not only that, when people are overrated, they might also feel complacent with their work, false-believing that they are satisfied with what they do and when they fail, they have to cope with such disappointment in themselves and also others. Contrastingly, being underrated channels the idea that people will be surprised in a good way. When one is underrated, he can strive to become better, to prove others wrong and reveal his full potential, and should it fail, there is nothing to lose.

In our daily lives, it is not uncommon to see how a new employee might be underrated when he first enters the enterprise. In fact, being underrated by his colleagues and his boss might become an advantage for him to progress. If he makes any mistakes, there will be less severity or criticism, so it is nothing-to-lose case, but if he does work that is good, he will be complimented because everyone will be astonished of how well he performs his job.

Going back to historical evidence, in France of the eighteenth century, there were social classes which were strictly divided: the noble, the bourgeoisie and the poor peasants or the proletariat. The noble and bourgeoisie underrated the proletariat, never cared about the poor and thought the poor could never do anything. The apathy and depreciation from their part gave the poor ability of emancipating from the tyrannical authority. If they had been overrated by those in power, French revolution would not have taken place.

In conclusion, being underrated gives advantage for one to prove others they are wrong. It allows people to see the quality within, not what it appears to be. After all, it is what I believe, that one need not to appear the best, but be the best.

By Catherine