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The makers of the SAT use several themes from which they draw essay questions. By knowing these themes ahead of time, you can prepare several preplanned examples to use for each theme. For example, take Thomas Edison. He used over 6000 filaments before finding one that worked in the electric light bulb. You could use this example for essays onadversity, success, history, and progress. The following is a list of these themes and real examples of essay questions produced by the College Board. The questions have been paraphrased for simplicity, but they provide you with an idea of how the themes are recycled each year.
Theme: Adversity
Do people benefit from adversity? Do people learn more from losing than from winning? Do people learn more from difficulty or from ease? Do people learn from their effort even if their goal is not reached? Does humor help in difficult situations?
Theme: Success
Do people put too much stress on winning? Can people be successful and ethical at the same time? Is persistence more important than ability in achieving success? Is optimism more important than realism in achieving success? Is idealism more important than practicality in achieving success? Is success a result of choices or of luck? Do peoples expectations of themselves affect their success? Can people be successful with low expectations? Is it better to have low expectations and meet them or high expectations and miss them? Do people have to aim for perfection in order to be successful? What motivates people the most in their quest for success? Does success result from improvement to ones best attribute or skill? Can people succeed by repeating their past behaviors? Are people more likely to be successful by compromising or by being inflexible? Do memories help people be successful? Are people more successful when they are under pressure? Do all successes create new challenges? Do all significant inventions and findings result from concentrating on a single area? Can success ever be disastrous? Is it important to sometimes take risks?
Theme: Individuality
Do people need to compare themselves to others in order to appreciate what they have? Is it more important to be different or to fit in with others? Do people let the opinions of others affect their success? Do people put too much value on the opinions of others?
Theme: Motivation
Does power motivate people? What motivates people the most in their quest for success? What motivates people to change? Should emotion be involved when making important decisions? Should people learn the motivation for someones actions before passing judgment on the person?
Theme: Decision-Making
Should emotion be involved when making important decisions? Are impulsive decisions as good as deliberate decisions? Should people ever change their decisions? Does having many options create happiness? Can small decisions have big consequences? Should people trust in common sense or question it? Are negative consequences equally likely for good choices as for bad choices?
Is reality entertainment beneficial or harmful? Does media (such as television and the internet) influence what people find important? Should society limit peoples exposure to certain forms of entertainment or information? Should society admire celebrities? Does media have too much of an effect on some people? Do photographs reflect reality or the photographers viewpoint?
Theme: Heroes
Are heroes people who risk their lives or people who stand up for what they believe in?