SAT examples

ESSAY EXAMPLES
1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Themes
Theses
Details
Marriage
People sometimes get married because of money, not love
Charlotte Lucas, a poor daughter of a local knight, marries Mr. Collins, a young rich clergy man and an heir to many estates, because she thinks that she is getting older and needs the match for financial reasons
Pride
One’s pride can blind his/her eyes.
Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy for a long time, on the basis of a poor first impression.
Reputation
Behaving out of social norms makes a woman vulnerable to ostracism.
By becoming Wickham’s lover without benefit of marriage, Lydia clearly places herself outside the social pale, and her disgrace threatens the entire Bennet family.
Class
The lines of class are strictly drawn and a lot share the same conception of the importance of class.
Lady Catherine considers Elizabeth an unsuitable match for Darcy, thereby demanding that Elizabeth promise to refuse him
Prejudice
One’s prejudice can blind his/her eyes.
Darcy’s prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues.
2. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Themes
Theses
Details
Masculinity
True gentlemanliness should only be achieved through personality and character, not through looks, money or bloodline.
Dobbin, who is considered to be the only true gentleman in the story, has neither good look nor bloodline.
Perseverance

Be tenacious of something/somebody and your efforts will be reciprocated.
Dobbin waits for Amelia to realize his love for years, and she finally realizes it and accepts him as her husband.
Deception
People dear to you may unite to deceive you.
Becky, Amelia’s friend, commit adultery with Amelia’s husband, who swears undying love to his wife.
Past
One’s past may affects one’s personality greatly.
Rebecca had an impoverished and abusive childhood; therefore, she grows up having wicked and sinister thoughts and actions.
Obsession
Obsessions may prevent one from advancing in life.
Amelia thinks about her death husband every moment and refuses Dobbin’s earnest feelings.
3. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Themes
Theses
Details
Love
Love has the great power to change the most rigid and merciless person.
Myriel turns Jean Valjean, a hardened criminal, into a decent and honest man with love and respect.
Morality
Some people are willing to give up their dignity for money.
Thénardier used Cosette, a little girl, to extort more money from Cosette’s destitute single mother.
Treatment of women
Women are treated unfairly.
Fantine, a poor woman, has an illegitimate child with Tholomyès, a wealthy student who then abandons her.
Altruism
Altruism can change the most persistent person.
When Valjean finally gives Javert irrefutable proof, by rescuing him from rebels, that a man is not necessarily evil just because the law says he is, Javert is incapable of reconciling this new knowledge with his beliefs. He commits suicide, plagued by the thought that he may be living a dishonorable life.
Belief
Beliefs can make the believers blind.
Javert strongly believes that a man is guilty when the law declares him so. Therefore, he does not care what the situation is, and keeps concentrating on putting the one he considers guilty into custody.
4. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Themes
Theses
Details
Difficulty
Extreme situations can make people do outrageous things.
The man whom Pi meets on the sea eats human to maintain his own life.
Perception
The things one does not see are not necessarily non-existence.
The two officials who come to investigate the shipwreck do not believe that bananas actually float; let alone the bizarre story of Pi.
Change
People have to change to adapt to a new circumstance.
Pi is a vegetarian but to survive on the ocean, he has to catch and eat turtles and fish.
Bravery
People should bravely face their own obstacles.
Pi lives with a tiger on the lifeboat. Apart from trying to find food and water sources to maintain his life, Pi has to train the wild tiger to coexist with it.
Desire to live
One should never give up his/her life.
Despite being in the middle of the ocean for years with no actual communication, Pi still has strong will to live, waiting for the day he can finally return to the land.
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Themes
Theses
Details
Duty and Ego
Women often struggle to balance their familial duty and personal career.
While Meg and Beth conform to society’s expectations of the role that women should play, Amy and Jo initially attempt to break free from these constraints and nurture their individuality as artists.
Necessity of Work
Working brings happiness.
Once, the March sisters indulge in selfishness by dressing up in finery, hoarding limes, neglecting chores, or getting revenge, the girls end up unhappy.
Genuine
It is important to be genuine.
Amy turns down Fred Vaughn’s offer of marriage, even though he is rich, because she does not love him.
Love
Love changes people.
Jo gradually becomes more feminine when she is in love with Professor Bhaer.
Love
True love does not matter age, money or lineage.
Jo loves and marries Professor Bhaer, who is about 20 years older than her.
6. David Copperfield by Charles Dicken
Themes
Theses
Details
Wealth and Class
Wealth and class should not be considered as measures of a person’s value.
Steerforth, who is wealthy, powerful, and noble, shows that these traits are more likely to corrupt than improve a person’s character. Steerforth is treacherous and self-absorbed. On the other hand, Mr. Peggotty and Ham, both poor, are generous, sympathetic characters. However, there are some poor people who swindle David when he is young, even though he too is poor and helpless.
Weak
One’s weak personality can lead to his/her loved ones’ and his/her own misery.
David’s mother listens to and accepts everything her cruel second husband says and does, which leads to her health deteriorating and David’s unhappy childhood.
Mother Figures
Mother(s) can offer emotional support and help the child overcome his/her difficulties.
David’s mother offers him emotional support and occasional reprieve from the Murdstones’ cruelty. Peggotty (and later, Miss Betsey) save him from the fate of being a pitiful boy in a cruel world.
Appearance and Inclination
Sometimes, thing is not what it seems.
Steerforth seems to be a mature and kind boy at first, but gradually, he shows his true self as a ‘bad angel’. On the contrary, Miss Betsey, who usually looks stern and cross, is actually very kind-hearted.
Sheltering
Extreme sheltering for someone can do him/her more harm than good.
Dora is too sheltered and therefore, she is impractical and rather stupid.
7. Oliver Twist by Charles Dicken
Themes
Theses
Details
Weak
The weak is tossed around by the evil stronger ones.
Oliver Twist is brought to a workhouse, then transferred to a cruel man’s house, induced to go to wicked Fagin and his gang of thieves’ den.
Countryside
Countryside is more peaceful than cities.
Most of Oliver’s incidents occur in the city. At the end of the story, Oliver spends his blissful life with his loved ones in the countryside, where one can purify one’s thoughts, and be neat and clean.
Charity
During the time of the Industrial Revolution, charity was a failure.
Charitable workers like Mr. Bumble and Mrs. Mann are arrogant, greedy and lazy.
Industrial Revolution
One of the bad sides of the Industrial Revolution is that the workers were treated pitilessly.
All Oliver gets for a meal in the workhouse was an allotted bowl of gruel.
Sacrifice
Some can take risk protecting others’ lives.
Nancy puts her life at risk when she goes informing Rose and Mr. Brownlow about Fagin’s gang, and she is murdered by Bill Sikes as the result.
8. Romeo and Juliette by William Shakespeare
Themes
Theses
Details
Love
Love at young age can lead to tragedy.
Romeo and thirteen-year-old Juliet fall in love at first sight, marry within twenty-four hours of their first meeting, and die in each others' arms only days later.
Hatred
Hatred can turn love into tragedy.
The hatred between their two families propels the lovers towards their tragic deaths.
Death
Death is not the end to everything but the beginning of something else.
After both Romeo and Juliette commit suicide, the two lords of the rival houses are moved by their dead children's love story and agree to reconcile.
Family
One must obey everything his/her parents say.
Juliette’s parents choose a husband for her and threaten to disown her if she disobeys.
Marriage
In the 16­th century, marriage for love, rather than money or social position, was a radical and dangerous choice.thth
Romeo and Juliet pay a heavy price for marrying for love – their clandestine union propels the lovers towards their tragic deaths.
9. Napoleon I
Themes
Theses
Details
Application
Apply what one knows to certain situations.
Napoleon’s application of conventional military ideas to real-world situations effected his military triumphs, such as creative use of artillery as a mobile force to support his infantry
Sagacity
Consider the circumstance and utilize suitable strategy
In the Battle of Shubra Khit, General Bonaparte's forces of 25,000 roughly equaled those of the Mamluks' Egyptian cavalry, but he formed hollow squares with supplies kept safely inside. 29 French and approximately 2,000 Egyptians were killed.
Appearance
Appearance does not determine one’s personality and achievements.
Although short and not physically imposing, Napoleon was extremely strong-willed, and in one-on-one situations he immediately had a hypnotic impact on people and seemingly bent the strongest leaders to his will.
Dictator
A dictator will get bad result in the end.
Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helen and lived there till death.
Ambition
Extreme ambition will do more harm than good.
At first, Napoleon wanted to free his home island. But then, as he got rapid promotion and finally became the Emperor of France, he turned to wanting to rule over the World.
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Themes
Theses
Details