SAT Essay Prompts, January 2011
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A collection of SAT Essay Prompts from March 2005 till the most recent test released by College Board.
January 2011
If you took the January 2011 SAT Reasoning Test, you would have been given one of the essay prompts below:
Prompt 1
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and
the assignment below.
Idealistic people, people who pursue great ideas in hopes of changing the world, often have ambitious plans that are difficult or even impossible to carry out. These people can claim few solid accomplishments. In contrast, practical people concentrate on workable ideas and goals, even though these may not meet an idealist’s high standards. Their approach is likely to be more valuable than the approach of idealistic people.
Assignment:
Is an idealistic approach less valuable than a practical approach?
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.
Prompt 2
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and
the assignment below.
People generally put more trust in what they have learned for themselves than in what they learn from others. Few people, however, are really motivated to learn anything on their own. They are much more apt to learn when others are willing to teach them. Even though learning from others means occasionally learning things that are not useful or important, people are still better off when they learn from others.
Assignment:
Is it better for people to learn from others than to learn on their own?
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.
Prompt 3
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and
the assignment below.
Too many people do not consider their task or project complete or acceptable until every detail has been done right. Fortunately, such people have not always had their way, since nothing would ever be completed if we had to check every detail before we could consider our work done. In fact, none of the world’s greatest accomplishments would have been made, because none of them is perfect in every detail.
Assignment:
Do people put too much importance on getting every detail right on a project or task?
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.
Try the free Mathway calculator and
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problem and check your answer with the step-by-step explanations.
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