SAT's essay question turned into creative writing exercise

[acroyear]

Is this a question worthy of asking (or answering) on the SATs?:

Reality television programs, which feature real people engaged in real activities rather than professional actors performing scripted scenes, are increasingly popular. These shows depict ordinary people competing in everything from singing and dancing to losing weight, or just living their everyday lives. Most people believe that the reality these shows portray is authentic, but they are being misled. How authentic can these shows be when producers design challenges for the participants and then editors alter filmed scenes?

Do people benefit from forms of entertainment that show so-called reality, or are such forms of entertainment harmful?

Oh good grief.

Can ANY form of entertainment be considered "harmful"?  There's a can of worms is one that has had psychologists and sociologists arguing for decades since CPE Bach invented the Sonata Form and his father, J.S., yelled back "turn that crap down!".

The arguments that a form of entertainment is harmful are, generally, just made up (as anybody who grew up watching the Tipper Gore rock album stickers hearings on TV saw). It is a "creative writing" exercise at best, as for anybody who prefers to base their written opinions on actual well-known facts (or even an existing text such as an analysis of a Shakespeare play) there is simply nothing to go on here. Anything written would get a historian or journalist yelling back "citation, please", and of course there would be none to give.

Comments

[dawntreader]

not only that, but i think it's an unfair question to ask on an SAT. it's about pop culture, not knowledge. it's a ridiculous question. kids who aren't up on pop culture, don't follow it, or can't follow it (either lack of time or money or means for whatever their living situation) are at a disadvantage to answering the question.

i call test question bias. >:(

[dawntreader]

not to mention the potentially misleading assumption in the question that "most people believe that reality shows are authentic." do they? do they have statistical backing for this question? have they done their research? is the question vetted?

it's a crap question.

[mandrakan.livejournal.com]

According to the NYT article I read, all of the information necessary to answer the question was in the material provided.

[dawntreader]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/education/17sat.html

it looks to me like that question is all they got. the prompt, the assertion, and then, "now you!"

in the NYT article the executive director of the SAT program said, "It’s really about pop culture as a reference point that they would certainly have an opinion on."

certainly? sure. everyone has an opinion about that particular pop culture reference point.

but the question that was asked was, "How authentic can these shows be when producers design challenges for the participants and then editors alter filmed scenes? Do people benefit from forms of entertainment that show so-called reality, or are such forms of entertainment harmful?"

first a leading question, then asking writers to write an opinion piece based on something they may not have any actual knowledge. it wasn't asking why you do or do not watch Reality TV and how "real" you think it is.

therefore, i still think it was a crap question.

[mandrakan.livejournal.com]

"Prompt," I think, refers to a reading they do before answering the question. Not sure about that, of course.

[dawntreader]

it does. it's the passage (or image or video) the user is supposed to respond to with their answer.

i work at ACT, remember?

but that's not why i think the SAT question is crap. lol

[uncle-possum.livejournal.com]

I was going to explain point by point why it's a crap question, but there's too much wrong. I am interested how many of the NYT comments miss the major points and discuss whether "literary" examples should have been used rather than pop culture examples.

The problem starts with the statement about reality TV, which is then contradicted with a later statement that the shows do not actually show real people engaging in real activities.