Total Complete B.S. of the WS

[ByrdPac]

I was wondering if its possible to completely BS the WS by putting fake examples by authors who wrote novels on characters and none of which exist. And if anyone is planning to use examples from real movies. For example, "In the English translation of the Japanese novel Rainmaker the main character Yoshi breaks from traditional political ideas, an accepts more revolutionary ones which infringe on the people's rights." Baring in mind that a human grader will look at the essay for 1-1.5mins max and a computer will grade it as well.

[Mithril]

You could. I made something up and got a Q.

[ellorie]

You don't even have to pretend it's appeared somewhere - you're allowed to totally fabricate examples. I did and I got an R.

[cdawso23]

You don't even have to pretend it's appeared somewhere - you're allowed to totally fabricate examples. I did and I got an R.

 

Are you actually allowed to or is it more just that you are unlikely to be caught? Are you saying you actually totally made up a situation like "in 1987, England defeated the Vikings".

[ellorie]

More like "a person, A, did XYZ"

 

I didn't mess with history or anything, but my Kaplan teacher told me it was just fine to use hypothetical scenarios.

[cdawso23]

More like "a person, A, did XYZ"

 

I didn't mess with history or anything, but my Kaplan teacher told me it was just fine to use hypothetical scenarios.

 

Oh ok, that makes sense. Thanks!

[rmorelan]

Oh ok, that makes sense. Thanks!

 

the purpose of the WS is not to test your knowledge of history, but your ability to compose an arguement. This is why the sorts of hypothetical scenarios are allowed. I actually found that more useful that specifics because I could simply tailor my responses to the situation more directly.

 

I happened to get an S on the WS section but since one of my degrees is in arts that really isn't an accomplishment - it is just a matter of practise.

[cdawso23]

the purpose of the WS is not to test you knowledge of history, but your ability to compose an argument. This is why the sorts of hypothetical scenarios are allowed. I actually found that more useful that specifics because I could simply tailor my responses to the situation more directly.

 

I happened to get an S on the WS section but since one of my degrees is in arts that really isn't an accomplishment - it is just a matter of practise.

 

In our TPR class though they said that hypothetical examples won't get you as good a mark as a specific example. Do you just need to make them seem non-hypothetical then?

[Mithril]

There's no rule barring you from saying that the vikings defeated the night elves in 7th century Norway. I mean, if it sounds really outlandish it might give you a bad mark, but I never said that my situations or examples were hypothetical.

[pantheraonca]

interesting..the prep 101 instructors also place emphasis on using real examples because apparently it makes you appear more "knowledgeable and well-rounded"

but it definitely makes sense that a hypothetical situation can be better tailored to your argument, so this might be better.. thanks!

[bored]

by looking at the list of prompts, I do beleive the promt creators and the markers are intended for the writer to write about an actual event. This tests their general knowledge as well. This much is purely speculation, However, if you use a hypothetical example and state that its hypothetical, than theres no reason why marks should be taken..

 

I do feel that using real examples are a must for the ws.

[imawannabe]

I don't think the WS is meant to directly test general knowledge, but it definitely would help. Of course, you can probably get more depth from real examples, but hypothetical ones are great when you can't think of anything under a time limit.

[<abstract>]

This may sound like a stupid question, but how did you go about fabricating your examples without sounding like a total B.S. or fake?

[BillNye]

I agree with everyone here... I think it's perfectly acceptable to use hypothetical examples, as long as they don't appear to be distractingly absurd and take away the point you're trying to make. I usually take examples from real life and add details that I'm not overly sure about to give more depth and detail (I would avoid using this strategy for well known examples like Nelson Mandela or Gandhi, but for obscure examples, I don't see any harm).

 

But it is much better if you can use real examples - I believe that anybody can make stuff up, so it puts you at a different level if you can use real examples. I think that if you're putting out hypothetical situations, you have to do an extremely good job at communicating them compared to when using real examples.

[MacBiochem]

This may sound like a stupid question' date=' but how did you go about fabricating your examples without sounding like a total B.S. or fake?[/quote']

 

+1 can someone who said they fabricated examples please explain how exactly? like did you use specific places, or actual names--- or just make up a name and describe something that made-up name did?

 

thanks.

[thehumanmacbook]

^you can use hypothetical situations. For instance...imagine a king who ___________ and his subjects were __________. In this kingdom this would be an appropriate reflection of _________.

 

It's not too tough, but don't start writing extensively about the Lord of the Rings.

[MacBiochem]

^you can use hypothetical situations. For instance...imagine a king who ___________ and his subjects were __________. In this kingdom this would be an appropriate reflection of _________.

 

It's not too tough, but don't start writing extensively about the Lord of the Rings.

 

haha got it. thank you.

its good to know we can do that if we absolutely cannot think of a real world example. thanks

[Sebriz]

LOTR would have good examples lol

[Leon]

General self-made guidelines I followed for WS:

 

1) Try to think of strong real examples

2) If that fails, create one:

-make it as real sounding as possible (give names, places etc...)

-do NOT say it's hypothetical!!!

-try to make it large scale but no so large that it looks suspicious (eg. it's better to talk about the national war strategy of a small country far away than to talk about the equivalent in a small town nearby)

-avoid movies/books since most of those are fictional anyway (saying "YYY did XXX in a movie" isn't as good as "YYY did XXX in real life" (even if YYY doesn't exist)).

 

Hope it helps.

[HopeToBeGreen]

General self-made guidelines I followed for WS:

 

1) Try to think of strong real examples

2) If that fails, create one:

-make it as real sounding as possible (give names, places etc...)

-do NOT say it's hypothetical!!!

-try to make it large scale but no so large that it looks suspicious (eg. it's better to talk about the national war strategy of a small country far away than to talk about the equivalent in a small town nearby)

-avoid movies/books since most of those are fictional anyway (saying "YYY did XXX in a movie" isn't as good as "YYY did XXX in real life" (even if YYY doesn't exist)).

 

Hope it helps.

 

I completely agree with this. The markers are almost certainly in the U.S and will likely know little or nothing about Canadian politics and history so you can safely fabricate a fair bit in this area. It may even make you essay look exotic and different since most writers will be mining American history for examples.