SAT Essay Prompts - November 2015

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The following are the SAT essay prompts given for November 2015.

We have a collection of the new SAT Essay Prompts, ordered according to years, from March 2005 till the most recent test released by College Board.

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November 2015

If you took the November 2015 SAT, you would have been given one of the essay prompts below:

Prompt 1

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

Society places great value on being well-informed. People who keep up with current events in their communities and the world at large are generally proud of their knowledge. But often the news is bad, and, worse still, we usually cannot do anything to change the situations or circumstances we learn about. In that case, isn’t it better not to know what’s going on?

Assignment:

Is it better not to know what is going on if we cannot do anything about it? 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.

Prompt 2

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

The common idea that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion is just plain wrong. People often voice opinions that are based on emotion rather than logic. Such opinions may reveal a serious ignorance of the facts. Of course, free expression should not be suppressed, but factually incorrect opinions are not worthy of respect, no matter how passionately they are uttered.

Assignment:

Are emotionally based opinions worthy of respect? 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.

Prompt 3

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

Most people believe that individuals should be judged strictly by their actions. If their actions have negative results, it does not matter whether they meant to do good. Other people, however, believe that individuals with good intentions should not be judged as harshly as those who deliberately intend to do something bad. After all, motivations should be taken into account when people's actions are being judged.

Assignment:

Do good intentions matter, or should people be judged only according to the results of their actions? 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.

Prompt 4

The old saying "Don't reinvent the wheel" means that it is foolish to spend time and effort to come up with something that already exists. In facing an urgent problem, for example, we should simply use a solution that has already proved to be effective. However, some people would argue that, like the original stone wheel, existing ideas, solutions, and products need to be improved or even reinvented.

Assignment:

Is it foolish to develop or improve an idea or product that already exists? 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.

SAT & ACT Writing: Writing a Strong Essay

Learn how to write a strong essay on the Writing section of the SAT and English section of the ACT by:
- writing a strong thesis statement that answers the question posed in the writing prompt
- writing a good topic sentence
- writing a strong paragraph that supports your thesis statement
- writing a strong conclusion that restates your thesis statement and provides examples.