SAT essay | memories

The common benchmark that distinguishes a significant event from a mundane one is often whether it forms a lasting memory in the mind of the observer. As much as a person may wish to judge the importance of life events with a conscious mind rather than subconscious recollections, memories are what ultimately dictate what a person can and cannot draw from past experiences. While these memories may seem to be trifling in retrospect to the individual who has experienced them, they form the basis of the criteria for determining whether an occurrence should be deemed "constructive" or "destructive", and whether or not it should be allowed to happen again. Memories, therefore, are of paramount assistance to those seeking to proactively improve themselves and succeed in the present.

A reason frequently offered by history teachers of kindergarteners and graduate students alike is that by examining history, students can learn to avoid repeating mistakes of the past. While this may be a noble idea, its application becomes challenging because the events of the past that comprise history are mere facts, impersonal words printed on volumes of paper. Surely one can consider the plight of Americans in the Great Depression or the greediness of English monarchs when considering a decision in the twenty-first century, but history will not point to an answer; it can only cross out possible choices. Memories, on the other hand, contain far more. Mark Twain, the widely lauded American novelist of the "turn of the century", is a remarkable (if not extreme) example of a memory's immeasurable intrinsic value. He was said to have mentally recorded the way that everyone he knew went about tying their shoes. This spectacular recollection of detail assisted him in authoring his many books and short stories, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. By conjuring up the memories of his childhood in rural Missouri, he was able to add passionate insight into his characters' actions, thoughts, and words that could simply not be matched by an author who had only read about nineteenth century Missouri in a textbook. The difference in Twain's writing was his use of vivid memories, and his fluid writing style transferred those memories to the reader in a way that his American audience had never before seen.

Although "success" can be defined in a myriad of ways by a myriad of people, it cannot be denied that the unique memories of one's past are influential in the futures of those people.