We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities - CBEST Writing Test

Oscar Wilde once wrote, "We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities." In an essay to be read by an audience of educated adults, state whether you agree or disagree with Wilde's observation.

Support your position with logical arguments and specific examples.

Answer:

I agree with Oscar Wilde's statement. I believe we live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities. For example, smartphones are our necessities today. However, we lived without smartphones ten years ago. Two main reasons make smartphones so popular. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the details and give specific examples.

First, smartphones have various entertainments, such as video games, movie apps, photo editors, etc. These entertainments make our lives joyful. We can use smartphones to play video games online with people all over the work. This feeling is amazing, especially after our stressful work. For example, the football video game on smartphones is very realistic. Having a game with friends is the most popular activity for football fans.

Second, smartphones contain many tools, such as the calculator, clock, notebook, etc. We no longer carry a heavy bag with all the tools. We can also read our textbooks on our smartphones. So, the smartphone saves our environment. For example, to produce paper books, millions of trees are cut down every year. To produce the plastic equipment, the air and water are polluted. Smartphones reduce the pollution caused by production.

Smartphones have replaced traditional equipment and have become our necessities today. This is perfect proof that supports Oscar Wilde's statement.

In the case of a CBEST expressive aim essay, the writer must do his best to write a 5 paragraph essay. The number of paragraphs will allow him to fully express his ideas in a manner that gives him room to develop his presentation. The high scoring rewards come fully developed 4-5 paragraphs, with 5 paragraphs offering the best scoring potential.

The thesis statement for this essay is weak. The writer does not clearly state the reasons he will be expanding upon in the essay. The writer stops short of thoroughly presenting acceptable reasons as the basis of the discussion. This has limited the clarity of the paragraph.

As the writer is trying to become an educator in California,I have to say that he failed to achieve his aim. The writing sounds like an ESL high school level student wrote the paper rather than a trained educator. The tone and reasoning is too juvenile for the target audience.

@Holt
Thank you!

Although I do agree with your statement, the smartphones topic is playout. we know the damages and quite frankly don't care.

Here are few unnecessary things that are now necessary

- expensive clothing/trendy clothes ( think about the money, quality,time span, landfill!)

- American dream ( the one size dream of getting the family, house, money then die)

- Celebrities opinions ( I don't understand why celebrities trend after saying/doing something after all they're still humans but known , doesn't mean they're expressed values should be shared)

-Renter's insurance

- Excessive smoking/drinking
Good luck!!!