<p>I am taking the SAT in 2 weeks and looking for a 12 on the essay. I really want to know what you guys think about my template and essay(in general). Also, please take the time to read it, it took me a while to type it.</p>
<p>Prompt: “is it really impossible to fail?”
Essay:
We all have goals, things we set out to do. If we do not accomplish them does that mean that we are failures? Well yes, if we fail to reach a destination that we set for ourselves, then our attempt is a failure. During the antebellum time period, many politicians were apprehensive about the impending war. Slavery had too its toll and divided the nation sectionally(North and South). The North demanded an end to the expansion of slavery and the South threatened succession if slavery was abolished. David Wilmot and Alexander Hamilton sought to solve and end dissent by creating compromise. David Wilmot’s Wilmot Proviso and Alexander Hamilton’s Missouri Compromise sought to compromise the two opposing regions of the U.S., but ultimately failed in preserving the Union.</p>
<pre><code> Failure is inauspicious, but prevalent in controversial times. The U.S. had recently beaten Mexico in a war and through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo won the southwest region of North America(including today’s Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California). Whether these states were going to be free or slave states was a divisive issue. In the Senate, the balance between slave and free state representatives was equal, but these newly admitted states would certainly cause an inbalance. David Wilmot passed the Wilmot Proviso, declaring these states gained from Mexico, free states. Obviously favoring the North, the Wilmot Proviso failed to be passed in Congress; thus failing to compromise.
The issue of slavery remained up until the Civil War. The question of whether states were to be free or not came up again when Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase from France. This land doubled the size of the U.S. and would certainly pose a threat to the previously stated balance in the Senate. Alexander Hamilton proposed the Missouri Compromise of 1850, which drew a line at the 36’ 30 latitude line, declaring that states above that line would be free and those below would be slave states. However seemingly beneficial to the North and South, the Compromise further divided the government, as politicians sided with their respective regional sides.
Failure is possible; no matter how conceivably fool-proof our plan is. Failure is imminent today and ubiquitous in history, No matter how hard Alexander Hamilton and David Wilmot tried to preserve the Union, they ultimately failed.
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<p>So my personal universal template involves:</p>
<p>Intro: 1st sentence or two relate the prompt to people or us in general
ex. we tend to…
then i give a brief 2-3 sentence context of both my examples
thesis: usually involves my examples and how they specifically relate to the prompt</p>
<p>Body: 1-2 sentences on summary of example if story or more in-depth context if history
2-3 sentences relating the example to the prompt accordingly with my position</p>
<p>Body 2: transition: involves Ex. Similarly so and so do it
then repeat body paragraph 1</p>
<p>Conclusion: tie both examples together and how they relate to prompt and defend my thesis
then 1-2 relating the prompt in people in general Ex. 1st sentence in my conclusion</p>
<p>So thats my template, tell me what you think and whether I should have 3 examples instead of two</p>