*Laughs deeply*
Remember when I said that I "may" post stuff on my blog?
Man, it's just funny how I'm such a slacker.
Though I DID mention that I will post school-related stuff.
So, the following essay, dear reader, is an SAT practice essay I wrote a week ago in response to the following assignment:
"Can loss be more valuable than victory?"
And here goes my response, which had the liking of my amazing English teacher, Mrs. Mariam, and earned me a nice, neat score of 6. Enjoy *doubt dripping from the word*!
It is undeniable that man’s greatest joy lies in achieving victory. Moreover, victory differs from one person’s perspective to another’s, whether this victory is beating an opponent in a chess game or prevailing in a war. Usually, the consequences of such victories drag along a sense of both triumph and utter joviality to its claimers. However, as proven in many instances in both literature and history, loss can actually bring about as equal triumph as victory does.
One striking literary work that serves as an example in support of the view presented above is Anton Chekhov's The Bet. In this story, a lawyer and a banker seal a deal in which the lawyer abdicates fifteen years of his life in imprisonment in exchange for two millions given to him by the arrogant banker. And that's what happens exactly: the lawyer is cut off from all sorts of contact with the outside world while being locked up in a cell in the banker's house garden, provided only books--a great lot of them--and various musical instruments, all of his very own choice. However, during his fifteen years of confinement, the lawyer acquires a great deal of knowledge and insight through the hundreds of volumes he so patiently read, and, therefore, is led to believe that money is not worth a fraction of the wisdom he was blessed with gaining. Thus, the lawyer's loss of the money was in fact his greatest gain.
Rosa Parks makes another great epitome of valuable loss through her famous bus experience. When she was ordered to clear her seat for the white man, she didn't budge, fighting for her right as a current claimer of the seat. As expected, she was arrested for violating the laws and disobeying the police officers who kept ordering her to give up her seat. However, as evident in the history of the African Americans' success in earning their rights, her loss to the police officers and arrestment were powerful motivators for her fellow African Americans to launch the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which eventually led to the victory of African Americans in gaining their long-awaited rights of independence in riding a bus.
All in all, loss can indeed serve us good and prove valuable and even moral in many of our lives' experiences. Although the word "loss" has a generally negative connotation, it can have counter effects than those implied by its mere sound. After all, it's not the idea of an occurrence that matters; it's all about the aftermath.
Hope my essay proves helpful to fellow classmates who face difficulties in SAT essay writing!
Until then, fellas!
(Last time I said that, "then" was more than thirty days later... Wonder how many days will it be equivalent to now?!...)
