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Old 07-02-2009, 08:54 PM   #11
silence_kit
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 761
Quote:
Well, OK, I'm not going to actually say the essay "tests" your writing ability. But I suppose it DOES test how much valid material/garbage you can churn out in 25 minutes, and how cohesive you can make that paragraph of valid material/garbage, to deal with the messed up scoring system...

But I think the essay is the most flawed portion of any of the tests... but still, I haven't seen many lousy writers get 12s on the SAT essay (Although I have seen good writers get bad scores since they didn't know about the length thing, and spent too much time refining a little bit of writing...)
Yeah, timed writing tests blow. Good writing takes time and thought. I have no idea why schools think that these tests do a good job of measuring writing aptitude. To do well on them, you have to abandon how you usually write and fill up the lines with boilerplate, 5 paragraph essay bullcrap. ugh.
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