Richard Hague's Poem 'Directions For Resisting The SAT'

Richard Hague’s poem, “Directions for Resisting the SAT,” teaches us to live our lives the way we want to rather than following what everyone else does. Moreover Hague tells his readers to control their own lives rather than lets others control them. Hague wants his readers to make their own decisions rather than let others decide for them. The poem’s message is especially targeted towards high schoolers. To elaborate, high school is a time of pressure, but also a time of growth for individual. It is a time where individuals are left to make big decisions. However, an individual’s decision-making, at this time of his or her life, is often influenced by what everyone else is doing or by pressure from trying to please others’ desires. It is understandable to do so, since the in a time of pressure, it is easy to make the wrong decision. However, Hague teaches us to forget what others want us to do, think about what we want for ourselves,

For example, he uses the SAT to symbolize a common trend or societal norm that many individuals follow. In this case, many high-schoolers take the SAT, making it the common thing to do. However, the poem’s title, “Directions for Resisting the SAT,” he is advising his readers to resist choosing to follow and do the same things just because everyone around them is doing it too (Hague 1005). Hague also uses symbolism in the last line: “Make your marks on everything” (Hague 1005). When taking the SAT, test-takers must bubble their answers. It is advised to leave no questions incomplete, but to rather guess on them if the answer is hard to come across. Thus, Hague uses this knowledge to symbolize an idea that can be interpreted two ways. “Make your mark,” can signify to distinguish yourself from others (Hague 1005). The line, “Make your marks on everything,” can also signify to make every single decision by yourself, based on what you think is right and what you want (Hague