Deferring from Expectations

Standardized tests are seen as “a necessary evil,” in the eyes of many. While the SAT gives a “standard” for the entire nation to follow, it has also been said to hinder creativity and individuality. In Richard Hague’s poem, “Directions for Resisting The SAT,” the SAT, along with standardized testing in general is criticized, and readers are told not to succumb to it. Through the poem’s form and language, the expectation to complete the SAT and the idea of “success” are challenged.

The tone of the poem and its structure work in tandem to reveal that people should not do only what others expect. The speaker is of the poem extremely blunt. Each line of the poem is no more than seven words, and each instruction given by the speaker has an implied “you” as the subject. The speaker also does not even use any adjectives in the poem. This signifies how to the point the SAT is. Standardized tests do give any room for creativity or beauty or even individuality, just like the language in the poem. The poem’s immediately hooks the reader because when read, it feels like a list of instructions, with the poem’s first four lines stating, “Do not believe in October or May/ or in any Saturday morning with pencils. / Do not observe the rules of gravity, commas, history.” (1-4). Believing and observing and both verbs that require no actual movement. All one would need is a mind in order to do either. Believing and observing also connote a passive nature, which is the opposite of what the speaker wants the audience to be, as he repeats “do not” two times. The speaker is basically hinting that an outcome of failing to resist the SAT is a passive, ordinary lifestyle.

The poem’s word choice is also a key factor to understand the poem’s urges to never succumb to the expectations of taking the SAT. Throughout the rest of the poem, the speaker begins each sentence with an action verb. The audience is advised to “Lie about numbers,” (5) or to “Blame your successes, / every one of them/ on rotten luck,” (6-8). Lying and blaming both have negative connotations and they are also both confrontational verbs. Both lying and blaming are considered a betrayal of trust, and people are expected not to do either. This expectation closely parallels with how people are expected to take the SAT, or any standardized test for that matter. If they fail to meet those expectations, it is seen as a failure, or some kind of wrong-doing. To “Blame your successes..../ on rotten luck,” (6-8), challenges what the world thinks about success. Success is often seen as getting a good job, or making a decent wage, or in this case getting a good score on the SAT. In using the oxymoron, “rotten luck,” implies that the success that the world has put on a pedestal, might be toxic. Lastly, the poem also advices the audience to, “Desire to live whole, / Like an oyster or snail,” (12-13). Neither oysters nor snails are seen