<p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong>Issue Prompt:</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18px">In order for any work of art—for example, a film, a novel, a poem, or a song—to have merit, it must be understandable to most people.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18px"><em>Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.</em></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:18px"><strong>Argument Prompt:</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18px">According to an independent poll of 200 charitable organizations, overall donations of money to nonprofit groups increased last year, but educational institutions did not fare as well as other organizations. Donations to international aid groups increased the most (30 percent), followed by donations to environmental groups (23 percent), whereas donations to educational institutions actually decreased slightly (3 percent). Meanwhile, all of the major economical indicators suggest that consumer spending is higher than average this year, showing that potential donors have ample disposable income. Therefore, the clearest explanation for the decline in donations to educational institutions is that people actually value education less than they did in the past.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:18px"><em>Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.</em></span></p>
