Can deceptionpretending that something is true when it is notsometimes have good results?

　　SAT Essay

　　Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

　　There are two kinds of pretending. There is the bad kind, as when a person falsely promises to be your friend. But there is also a good kind, where the pretense eventually turns into the real thing. For example, when you are not feeling particularly friendly, the best thing you can do, very often, is to act in a friendly manner. In a few minutes, you may really be feeling friendlier.

　　Adapted from a book by C. S. Lewis

　　Assignment:

　　Can deceptionpretending that something is true when it is notsometimes have good results? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

　　Deception is not necessarily lying and dishonest behaviors that are desinged for sheer personal gain and embeded with malicious motives. In fact, deception is justified in some apt situations.

　　In the Mahabharata, the greatest ancient war of India, the righteous Pandavas were at war with their evil cousins, the Kauravas. It seemed unlikely that good would win over evil this time; the Kauravas were employing unfair advantages to the maximum. They werent playing fair they had a much larger and stronger army than the Pandavas, possessed weapons of greater strength, and had ferocious demons and giants at their command. They were evil to the extent of slaying helpless soldiers during the battle rest-time at night. In short, if things continued as they were, the Pandavas would be doomed. Unless they played fire with fire, they would lose the war. Bheeshmapitama, the strongest and most skilled among the Kauravas warriors, posed the biggest threat to the Pandavas.

　　So they came up with a cunning strategy. They killed an elephant having the same name as Bheeshmapitamas son and then sent a messenger to inform him about his sons death. When he got the message, Bheeshmapitama grew suspicious since his son was a formidable warrior. The others assured him that the message was a ploy to weaken him emotionally; however, Bheeshmapitama had to be sure. So he turned to Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandava brothers, who always spoke the truth since he was the son of Dharma . Over the din of the battlefield, Yudhisthira replied Yes. Ashwathama, the elephant, is dead. But while enunciating the elephant, Yudhisthira deliberately lowered his volume a little so that he would not be heard. Bheeshmapitama was immediately stunned by the news of his sons death. Seizing the opportunity, the Pandavas felled him with a thousand arrows.

　　Had he not been slain, the Pandavas would have been defeated right in the early stages of the battle. They used subtle deception to avoid certain defeat at the hands of their malicious brethren. Clearly, deception was justified here.

　　Can deceptionpretending that something is true when it is notsometimes have good results?

　　SAT Essay

　　Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

　　There are two kinds of pretending. There is the bad kind, as when a person falsely promises to be your friend. But there is also a good kind, where the pretense eventually turns into the real thing. For example, when you are not feeling particularly friendly, the best thing you can do, very often, is to act in a friendly manner. In a few minutes, you may really be feeling friendlier.

　　Adapted from a book by C. S. Lewis

　　Assignment:

　　Can deceptionpretending that something is true when it is notsometimes have good results? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

　　Deception is not necessarily lying and dishonest behaviors that are desinged for sheer personal gain and embeded with malicious motives. In fact, deception is justified in some apt situations.

　　In the Mahabharata, the greatest ancient war of India, the righteous Pandavas were at war with their evil cousins, the Kauravas. It seemed unlikely that good would win over evil this time; the Kauravas were employing unfair advantages to the maximum. They werent playing fair they had a much larger and stronger army than the Pandavas, possessed weapons of greater strength, and had ferocious demons and giants at their command. They were evil to the extent of slaying helpless soldiers during the battle rest-time at night. In short, if things continued as they were, the Pandavas would be doomed. Unless they played fire with fire, they would lose the war. Bheeshmapitama, the strongest and most skilled among the Kauravas warriors, posed the biggest threat to the Pandavas.

　　So they came up with a cunning strategy. They killed an elephant having the same name as Bheeshmapitamas son and then sent a messenger to inform him about his sons death. When he got the message, Bheeshmapitama grew suspicious since his son was a formidable warrior. The others assured him that the message was a ploy to weaken him emotionally; however, Bheeshmapitama had to be sure. So he turned to Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandava brothers, who always spoke the truth since he was the son of Dharma . Over the din of the battlefield, Yudhisthira replied Yes. Ashwathama, the elephant, is dead. But while enunciating the elephant, Yudhisthira deliberately lowered his volume a little so that he would not be heard. Bheeshmapitama was immediately stunned by the news of his sons death. Seizing the opportunity, the Pandavas felled him with a thousand arrows.

　　Had he not been slain, the Pandavas would have been defeated right in the early stages of the battle. They used subtle deception to avoid certain defeat at the hands of their malicious brethren. Clearly, deception was justified here.