Alexis Avila Founder/President of Prepped & Polished talks about the recent controversial SAT essay topic about reality television.
He thinks that while the topic may appear at first glance biased only to those who habitually watch reality television, it is still a broad enough topic where virtually any high school student can properly answer the question.
Full Word-for-Word Transcription
Hi, everyone. Alexis Avila, here; Founder of Prepped & Polished, LLC.
Students who recently took the March SAT got a curveball when they opened
up their test booklet and saw Section 1, the essay, was a topic about
reality television and how whether or not it damages society.After that test, parents and students were calling me and saying, “How
could the SAT pick such as trifling topic such as reality television?”
While it may have been disadvantageous for students who don’t habitually
watch reality television to have received that topic, the truth is, the
topic itself is really about society and your reflections about how society
. . . what you think about society. That is a very common SAT question all
of the sudden.Basically, you have to approach your SAT topic, in this case a reality
television show and how it damages society topic, the same way you do any
SAT essay. You’re going to write an introduction and state whether you
agree or disagree with the topic, set forth your examples, and then have a
conclusion. The SAT essay graders are going to grade you on your writing
style, whether you were able to successfully adapt to the essay, and write
in a cohesive fashion. Business as usual; you don’t know what to expect on
the SAT essay, but have a game plan and you should be fine.
Students who recently took the March SAT got a curveball when they opened
up their test booklet and saw Section 1, the essay, was a topic about
reality television and how whether or not it damages society.After that test, parents and students were calling me and saying, “How
could the SAT pick such as trifling topic such as reality television?”
While it may have been disadvantageous for students who don’t habitually
watch reality television to have received that topic, the truth is, the
topic itself is really about society and your reflections about how society
. . . what you think about society. That is a very common SAT question all
of the sudden.Basically, you have to approach your SAT topic, in this case a reality
television show and how it damages society topic, the same way you do any
SAT essay. You’re going to write an introduction and state whether you
agree or disagree with the topic, set forth your examples, and then have a
conclusion. The SAT essay graders are going to grade you on your writing
style, whether you were able to successfully adapt to the essay, and write
in a cohesive fashion. Business as usual; you don’t know what to expect on
the SAT essay, but have a game plan and you should be fine.
I’ll talk to you soon.
Was the reality television SAT essay topic a good or bad question? How would you have answered this SAT essay question?
Post your tips/comments below.
Let me know what your thoughts are about the reality television SAT essay question…