That he was lying is evident from the fact that the official story was officially changed, like the vanishing commissar.
I did not criticize your example of a lie. I let that characterization stand unchallenged.
My criticism was that you have not given an example of a student who was failed specifically for doubting what you called a lie. Until you provide that, your example is not a special case of your general claim that “[academics] engaged in massive flagrant barefaced lies, and doubting these lies would cause a student to be swiftly failed.” (Emphasis added.)
(Providing a single example won’t suffice to prove the general claim, of course. But an inability to provide such an example would be telling.)
My criticism was that you have not given an example of a student who was failed specifically for doubting what you called a lie.
Let us suppose that a student was today to doubt one of the holy issues that are still today holy.
Many of the questions on the SAT amount to “Are high status members of the state and academia always good and reliable?”, and everyone knows the answer they are to give.
Typical question on an issue that is still today holy: “Why was John Steinbeck the conscience of America”.
Answering “Because he was employed by Stalin” is not going to get you far.
As someone who’s taken the SAT twice in recent months (and half a dozen more as practice), this is simply false.
The SAT’s questions for the essays are constructed to be as vague as possible, requiring no knowledge of history, current events, or literature; usually they are things like “Do we value only what we struggle for? ” or “Is it always essential to tell the truth, or are there circumstances in which it is better to lie? ” or “What gives us more pleasure and satisfaction: the pursuit of our desires or the attainment of them? ”. It’s possible that a question in the reading section would have a passage from a literary critic espousing the greatness of Steinbeck, followed by a question along the lines of “Why does the author of Passage A argue that Steinbeck was the conscience of America?”, but I’ve never seen a question even this political.
Let us suppose that a student was today to doubt one of the holy issues that are still today holy.
I thought that you insisted on talking about issues that weren’t “still today holy.” Why have you changed your mind?
Many of the questions on the SAT amount to “Are high status members of the state and academia always good and reliable?”, and everyone knows the answer they are to give.
Typical question on an issue that is still today holy: “Why was John Steinbeck the conscience of America”.
Answering “Because he was employed by Stalin” is not going to get you far.
Do you mean for that to be an example of a question on an SAT exam, together with an answer that would be scored low because of its political content?
I believe that if such an answer were given in a well-organized and technically well-written essay, it would receive a high score. Obviously you would have to explain why Steinbeck became the “the conscience of America” while the many other people employed by Stalin didn’t. So you would have to refer at some point to the content of what he wrote or said in some detail. But if you did this in a way that demonstrated a familiarity with the material, and your argument were well-structured in a technical sense, then I think that you would pass just fine.
Do you have an example of someone who took the SAT and got poor scores for well-written answers because of the views expressed in those answers?
Answering “Because he was employed by Stalin” is not going to get you far.
So, I took you at your word on this in my previous comment. But now I’m curious — What was the nature of this employment? A quick Google search didn’t turn up any claims that Steinbeck received money from Stalin. Or were you using “employed” only in the sense of “used as a tool”, without meaning to imply that Steinbeck was compensated?
I did not criticize your example of a lie. I let that characterization stand unchallenged.
My criticism was that you have not given an example of a student who was failed specifically for doubting what you called a lie. Until you provide that, your example is not a special case of your general claim that “[academics] engaged in massive flagrant barefaced lies, and doubting these lies would cause a student to be swiftly failed.” (Emphasis added.)
(Providing a single example won’t suffice to prove the general claim, of course. But an inability to provide such an example would be telling.)
Let us suppose that a student was today to doubt one of the holy issues that are still today holy.
Many of the questions on the SAT amount to “Are high status members of the state and academia always good and reliable?”, and everyone knows the answer they are to give.
Typical question on an issue that is still today holy: “Why was John Steinbeck the conscience of America”.
Answering “Because he was employed by Stalin” is not going to get you far.
As someone who’s taken the SAT twice in recent months (and half a dozen more as practice), this is simply false.
The SAT’s questions for the essays are constructed to be as vague as possible, requiring no knowledge of history, current events, or literature; usually they are things like “Do we value only what we struggle for? ” or “Is it always essential to tell the truth, or are there circumstances in which it is better to lie? ” or “What gives us more pleasure and satisfaction: the pursuit of our desires or the attainment of them? ”. It’s possible that a question in the reading section would have a passage from a literary critic espousing the greatness of Steinbeck, followed by a question along the lines of “Why does the author of Passage A argue that Steinbeck was the conscience of America?”, but I’ve never seen a question even this political.
I thought that you insisted on talking about issues that weren’t “still today holy.” Why have you changed your mind?
Do you mean for that to be an example of a question on an SAT exam, together with an answer that would be scored low because of its political content?
I believe that if such an answer were given in a well-organized and technically well-written essay, it would receive a high score. Obviously you would have to explain why Steinbeck became the “the conscience of America” while the many other people employed by Stalin didn’t. So you would have to refer at some point to the content of what he wrote or said in some detail. But if you did this in a way that demonstrated a familiarity with the material, and your argument were well-structured in a technical sense, then I think that you would pass just fine.
Do you have an example of someone who took the SAT and got poor scores for well-written answers because of the views expressed in those answers?
So, I took you at your word on this in my previous comment. But now I’m curious — What was the nature of this employment? A quick Google search didn’t turn up any claims that Steinbeck received money from Stalin. Or were you using “employed” only in the sense of “used as a tool”, without meaning to imply that Steinbeck was compensated?