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Tomorrow's my first SAT test!

“All art is an imitation of nature.”
—Seneca, Roman philosopher, c. 4 B.C.–A.D. 65
Assignment: Do you agree with this statement? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your position on this issue. Support your point of view with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

Not all of the pieces and works of art are in imitaion of nature. In further defining art one finds that the world of art can be split into three categories: paintings, literature, and music.
In analyzing three of the genres of painted art(realistic, Impressionistic, nonrepresentational) one finds that art imitates life in varying degrees. Realistic work such as that of Vermeer or Michelangelo has definite connections to nature. Their works are typical, tangible scenes taken from life. Going on, Impressionism can be seen as both naturelike or fantastical. The swirls and dips of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" cannot be found in nature, yet is there any doubt that the subject is taken from nature? Coming to nonrepresentational art, I find a whole new world. By no stretch of imagination can the works of Jackson Pollock or Vassily Kadinsky be viewed as taken from nature.
Just like art, literature has many genres and subgenres. Again, it cannot be said that it is predominantly realistic or unrealistic. On the one hand you've got sordid love affairs like that of Anna Karenina's. On the other hand, you've got fantasies like "Lord of the Rings;" a far different world than the one we know. While affairs and intrigues are common in today's world, fantasies are only limited to the imagination. Therefore literature cannot be labeled as 'of nature' or otherwise.
Next is the realm of music, of which the genres of rock, pop, and rap can be labeled as of nature, physical in its very essence. The lyrics to the songs often speak of either love or loneliness. Other sections ofmusic, especially classical and instrumental music invite the listener to go beyond nature and touch the divine. Beethoven said that music is a door into the divine, into realms that we do not understand. Who listening to his "Moonlight Sonata" would disagree?
In a nutshell, art is too broad to define as solidly natural or unnatural. There are varying degrees and hundreds of shades to the matter that are beyond the grasp of all but the most brilliant of minds. Undeniably nature holds many surprises but it is bound to rules and laws. Art can express the inexpressible.