SAT practice essay #1

This was a practice SAT essay we did in class: 25 mins. The prompt was along the lines of if the media decides what is important to most of us?

The media is having an everincreasng impact in our lives in regarding our thought, values, beliefs, but at the same time we are also gaining more power to make our own choices and opinions. Generally we humans are conformists, trying to fit in with the crowd and the media in a sense dictates what should be regarded as important. Most people feel a need for confirmation in what they believe and if so if the media, a "oh so credible source" says it is true, it must be so.

Everynight my family and I watch the ten o'clock news. Before the actual news begins, there is a brief introduction with fancy music and graphics where they introduce the main anchorman and other important people. In this introduction they claim that they bring news that is important to all of Hawaii. Many of us buy in their stories because they seem dramatic, interesting, and creative. However what many of us don't know is that the main goal of the news corporations is to make a profit and they will find stories that seem the most appealing, even if it is not very crucial in our lives, to tell.

Although we know that the media places a big impact in the culture and views of a society, the values of individuals are not determined by the media. The popular myspace and facebook, and all the other blogging systems that are supposed to provoke individuality allow us to stray away from conforming and allow us to write what we really value and feel. We hold a lot of power that allows us to make our own decisions even on line. Even though the television and movies may portray drug-use as "cool", an individual still ultimately decides what is imporant for themselves. The media may control what is portrayed as important for the society, it does not dictate what is important for individuals.

So, in response to prompt I am given, I can only say yes, and no. Yes, I agree that the media influences our lives and has a lot of power, but no individuals still hold power to express their own values and beliefs especially now. There is no doubt that the media is shaping our lives. There is no doubt that we shape our own lives.