<p>I’m considering to write a satire on tomorrow’s SAT. How risky does it sound?</p>
<p>go for it. if you stay on topic, they have to give you a grade lol</p>
<p>I’d say it’s risky. You don’t get points for funny or clever, and I worry that with satire it would be too easy to not actually answer the question.</p>
<p>Plus, you want to make it as EASY as possible on your reader - don’t make them guess. Remember that a lot of people don’t really understand satire. Remember the study about how conservatives liked Stephen Colbert because they thought he was one of them?</p>
<p>Don’t. Just don’t.</p>
<p>I’d advise against it. There’s a large chance that your reader will not even know your intentions.</p>
<p>I would not do it. I once did that in college (in COLLEGE) and it was pretty crazy satire, like we should drug all people of a certain ethnicity so they couldn’t vote and the title was, “A Final Solution to the [Ethnic] Problem” and she gave me an F for racism* (she’s white, I’m not). I had to take it to the department head with her to get my grade changed (she gave me a C, which I thought was fair since I obviously didn’t get my point across, LOL) who told me that satire is only for people whose works or known, or when titled as such. I was shocked but it was good advice. People don’t usually get satire, even in an environment where you’d expect it.</p>
<p>I think it’s a terrible idea to try it on the SAT. I doubt even the most skillful satirist could pull it off.</p>
<p>Maybe try a fun counterfactual argument, if you have experience with that, but not a whole satire. Counterfactual arguments have a place in analytical papers when properly used / if necessary.</p>
<p>*and overall “inappropriateness of theme” type reasons. She was kind of stupid and I also wrote a paper criticizing her entire approach to the class… hence my B- in English 101. But this just goes to show how far that kind of communication style will get you with these people. :D</p>
<p>Can you count a behavior as “risky” if it’s doomed to fail? The purpose of this portion of the SAT is to test your ability to write college-level expository prose. Giving them something else will leave them no basis to judge what they’re trying to judge, and what college want to know about.</p>
<p>I’m not talk about a full blown satire like A Modest Proposal; more like I position myself opposite of my belief. I.E. If the topic was about art, I would talk about how useless it is while subtly praising its benefits to society.</p>
<p>Technically I am answering the question to the full extent</p>
<p>I still don’t get what you want to do. It is perfectly OK to take a position contrary to what you actually believe. But, I wouldn’t take a position and then subtly refute it in the essay. If you contradict yourself, you’ll be marked down because you won’t really be seen as taking a definite position on the prompt.</p>
<p>I haven’t made up my mind whether I’ll be doing so but here is an example if the topic is Art:</p>
<p>Art has no place in society. Art promotes freethinking, freethinking leads to Communism.</p>
<p>I answered the prompt while making ridiculous ad hominem arguments.</p>
<p>You haven’t answered the prompt . . . you’ve talked about the topic. </p>
<p>Let’s be specific: suppose the prompt is a long quote from some famous person about how art creates cultural identity, and then prompt that follows is “Does art play an important role in defining how a group of people (country, organization, etc,) see themselves?” Then you step in with your response and you basically say “No, because art makes you communist.” It just makes no sense!</p>
<p>2010 Oct Prompt:</p>
<p>Why do we not value the creative arts more than we do? Why are subjects like music, drama, photography, and creative writing always the first to be cut from school budgets during hard times? Many would answer that, unlike math, science, history, and other subjects taught in school, the arts are unnecessary. But this is so untrue. The arts are as necessary as these other subject areas—possibly even more necessary.</p>
<p>Assignment:</p>
<p>Is it absolutely necessary for people to study the creative arts? 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.</p>
<p>OK - good! Now we’re getting somewhere. You have a thesis that answers the prompt. Now show me see the “reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience or observations.” I’m serious . . . walk me though it!</p>
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<p>Agreed.</p>
<p>Counterfactual, yes. Argue a point you don’t really believe because you know more convincing factual evidence for it, yes.</p>
<p>Satire is a counterfactual without the hypothesis and without the QED. I don’t think you will want to write an essay for your SATs that doesn’t have the concluding remarks, so it is just a bad idea.</p>
<p>You’re making it so much harder on yourself, and since satire is not valued above other forms of essay, and does not have more emotional force, why? Sometimes it’s appropriate, such as when a political hypothesis or widespread irrational belief is so ridiculous as to be called stupid, but you don’t want to SAY it’s stupid.</p>
<p>But the SAT topics are not that outlandish.</p>
<p>“Why do we not value the creative arts more than we do? Why are subjects like music, drama, photography, and creative writing always the first to be cut from school budgets during hard times? Many would answer that, unlike math, science, history, and other subjects taught in school, the arts are unnecessary. But this is so untrue. The arts are as necessary as these other subject areas—possibly even more necessary.”</p>
<p>I don’t see how this is satire at all. It might not be your position, but since we know that there are schools for the arts around the world, it seems silly to think that the essay grader would not take you at your word. She doesn’t know you don’t go to an arts school that has three hours of art for every hour of hard science or traditional subjects.</p>
<p>I feel like taking a risk on standardized tests is not the best idea.</p>
<p>Hey, let us know what you decided to do, OP. 
Truth be told I’d love to hear that you pulled it off, but whatever your decision, I hope you did well.</p>