Please read and score my practice essay for the 2015 SAT. Indentation does not exist on this format.
Prompt 1 (March 2010)
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Many powerful leaders throughout history have considered themselves above the law and acted in ways that violated the laws or guidelines of their own country or group. People are quick to condemn these leaders, but shouldn’t leaders be held to different standards? If what a leader is doing benefits the majority of the people in a country or group, it does not matter if a law or guideline is violated.
Assignment: Should leaders of a country or group be judged by different standards? 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.
\Men of power hold a higher degree of responsibility than those below them. Leaders should be treated differently from their followers because they are most accountable for what happens under their control. The two must be judged differently due to the unequal allocation of power. Niccolò Machiavelli presents this notion in his political treatise The Prince, a guide for future leaders of the world.
In The Prince Junéve Cuvier, an aspiring young soldier, is sent as a member of reinforcements into a ferocious battle. Even though he knew they would lose horrifically, he continued to follow orders since his general believed otherwise. The costs were high, and Cuvier was one of the few men to return from the defeat. Afterwards, the prince, commander of the army, arrived in a sour mood to meet the general and the remaining troops. He did not admonish Cuvier or the other survivors for losing though. Instead, he punished the general with exile to an icy wasteland. But why?
After the story was explained, Machiavelli elaborated upon the duty of a leader to properly act, especially concerning such dangerous situations as war. More importantly for our purposes though, he made clear that the soldiers, who were generally uneducated novices, were nothing more than pawns following orders. They simply continued on as beneficial members of the army. Thus, the one who ordered them was to blame for any failure. Junéve’s general had made faulty decisions resulting in the death of the prince’s men, the destruction and seizure of his military equipment, and the loss of his battle. Although those such as Junéve carried out the plan, the prince’s ultimate fury went upon the general who created it.
Machiavelli demonstrated that the soldier is not to be punished for the general’s mistakes. Since the follower and the leader have a vital difference in the responsibility that each possesses, they cannot be treated equally. Thus, any judgment between the two should be heavily distinguished.