Despite great efforts on the part of the College Board to remove bias from the test, the SAT still includes cultural elements that can put Chinese students at a big disadvantage. Nowhere on the exam is this more the case than on the essay, a section that has proved to be an Achilles Heel for many otherwise brilliant Chinese test takers.
Because of this, Chinese students need to begin their writing practice at the very beginning. Before you can provide an answer, you must truly understand the question. If, for example, you were given the prompt: Should we constantly seek to challenge authority figures, even those with more expertise than we have? how would you respond? Lets say that you are unclear about the meaning. You cant simply ask the test proctor for a new essay question. You will need to make do somehow.
This means that before you even begin practicing your writing structure, thinking of examples, or even going over how to spell words, you need to familiarize yourself with a range of different prompts and understand the types of topics that are most likely to appear.
Among other topics covered in this blog, I will help explain how to handle this critical writing challenge and will explain the different types of issues for which you need to ready yourself. First, lets begin with a quick lesson on a key difference in Chinese and American culture. I think it can come down to something as simple as a pair of words. In China, the virtue that sums up the ambitions of the society at large is often defined as harmony. In America, we put far less emphasis on that ideal, though. For us, the word of all words is freedom.
That may seem like a simple issue, but it is very important. Think, for example, how that difference would influence how you answered the aforementioned essay prompt. If you were approaching it from the Chinese perspective you might think: Of course we should not let everyone challenge authority. Imagine if that happened in China with 1.3 billion people challenging everything, nothing would ever get done. It would disturb the harmoniousness of society This is a very valid argument, and reflects values and lessons learned from growing up in China. In fact, in all my years teaching the SAT, nearly every single Chinese student has chosen to tackle the prompt from that angle.
Americans tend to see it another way. When we think about the prompt, we think about things like slavery and the civil rights movement. We think about amendments to The Constitution. We think about the countless times when authority got it wrong. For that reason, almost all American students argue the other side, and the graders are likely to expect that.
So what does that mean for you? It doesnt mean you have to imitate the Americans. There are no prompts on the SAT where you can only argue one side. However, you do need to understand the American perspective. You need to explain your points more clearly, because if you do not, you will be misunderstood. A lot of the time when Americans talk about freedom, it can sound to Chinese people like we are arguing for chaos, rudeness, or selfishness. Likewise, when Chinese students champion the virtues of harmony, they can end up sounding like they are championing stagnation, conformity and even oppression.
To deal with this is simple. All you need is a single sentence, explaining why it is that you are making the argument. While authority may make mistakes at times, society as a whole would cease to be able to function if everyone was allowed to challenge ever decision. That is all you need to do. However, in essay after essay I have observed Chinese students skip this step because it was just too obvious. Unfortunately, it was not obvious to the American graders, who marked them negatively for needlessly stifling freedom of expression_r_r.
Never shy away from your own beliefs. Never attempt to deny Chinese culture in favor of American culture. Chinese cultural values will resonate with Americans just as they do with Chinese people. However, always remember your audience. Understand their prejudices and presumptions, and tailor the argument to them. You will gain nothing by making an argument that they cannot possibly understand.