For those about to take the SAT:
Here's a video on how to write the SAT essay: https://youtu.be/GZEiY-N58bA Here's a video on what to bring to the SAT test, and what to expect once you get to your testing center: https://youtu.be/UiOt9NA9sUY Hope these help - good luck! (these will also be helpful for ACT takers and people taking the SAT after October 1… ;-) ) Here are links to some last-minute SAT math advice videos I just made. Please let me know what you think – constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you’re taking the SAT on October 1, good luck! Math- Factoring and Quadratic Formula. https://youtu.be/2lk974DMF38 Math- Fractions, Percentages and Ratios. https://youtu.be/ixDxESScFzA Math- Averages, Medians, and Modes. https://youtu.be/5ewaEUvKzwM I’ll make more SAT advice videos soon – hope these help! Dana Gioia : “Why Literature Matters”
Author Dana Gioia, in her article “Why Literature Matters,” cites to relevant statistics and other reliable sources, such as surveys of business leaders and articles surveying business leaders, as well as apt descriptive and emotional language to bolster her logic connecting a decline in literacy to serious social problems, problems that can destroy our society, if they are not fixed – e.g., reduced productivity, ineffective governments elected by ignorant voters with poor reasoning skills, and the like. Her argument is very effective, and frightening. In the first Paragraph, Gioia cites a paradox – while wealth and access to higher education has ballooned over the past quarter-century, interest in literature and the arts has actually decreased. This engages the reader and makes him or her want to read on. In the second paragraph, Gioia cites to a study showing a precipitous decline in participation in 8 or 9 art forms covered by a survey commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts (“NEA”), and performed by the Bureau of the Census, a presumably authoritative source. That study shows that relatively few young adults age 18-24 are reading literature, or at least were as of 2002. Gioia describes this state of affairs as “worrisome,” using emotional language to appeal to the reader and make the reader concerned about these study results. In the third paragraph, Gioia states that reading literature is declining among people who are at a time in their life when they can benefit from it most. The author states that the literature is necessary at a “crucial time of intellectual and emotional development” in young people’s lives, using powerful descriptive language to bolster her argument. Gioia apparently uses the word “literature” to mean fiction such as novels and plays, because she continues by stating that this problem could be mitigated by young adults reading of “histories” and “biographies,” “political works,” and other nonfiction. The author then explains that reading of all types is on the decline, but does not specify where she obtained that information – if it was from the same NEA study, or from some other reliable source. In the fourth paragraph, Gioia states “That such a longstanding and fundamental cultural activity should slip so quickly signifies deep transformations in contemporary life,” again using advanced and powerful descriptive language to emphasize how shocking and important this reduction in reading rates is. Gioia then emphasizes that the NEA published these results as a separate portion of the report with the alarmist title “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America.” This strengthens the author’s argument that the decline in reading rates is very significant, since a prominent government entity believes it to be important enough to be worthy of its own published report. In the fifth paragraph, Gioia answers the question some may have on their minds, namely, “Why should I care if young adults read or not?” The writer cites to the February (presumably 2005, when this article was written) issue of Wired magazine, in which contributor Daniel Pink cited “business leaders” as stating they sought the “ability to craft a satisfying narrative” (i.e., tell a story), to think creatively and non-linearly, to “create beauty,” and other “aptitudes decidedly literary in character” as attributes of leaders – the people who they want to see become managers. In other words, the skill set gained from reading, and better yet, writing, literature is likely to get a student into the board room of a corporation, instead of its mailroom. In the sixth paragraph, Gioia refers to a 2001 study by the National Association of Manufacturers, in which business leaders complain of “poor reading skills” as a major and common deficiency in their workforces, and in which 38 percent of the respondents claimed that schools fail to properly teach reading comprehension. In the seventh and eighth paragraphs, Gioia shows that a failure to learn reading comprehension similarly has degraded American politicial life. The author cites to a 2003 study of the civic knowledge of people between ages 15 and 23 by the National Conference of State Legislatures which bluntly stated that “Young people simply do not understand the ideals of citizenship … and their appreciation and support of American democracy is limited.” That is indeed a powerful indictment of a non-reading contingent of young Americans. Gioia then ties this lack of political understanding to the declining reading rates by citing the “Reading at Risk” survey for the fact that readers are roughly four times more likely to participate in civic events such as visits to museums, sporting events, or perform charity work, perhaps as a result of greater civic and historical knowledge. This could perhaps be argued against by positing that people with more time to read probably also have more time and are more likely to have the financial means to attend civic events and volunteer for charity. Poor people aren’t likely to have time or money to go to museums and volunteer, or to read books – they’re busy working to survive. But I digress. In the final two paragraphs, Gioia reiterates the article’s main point, that advanced literacy is an essential skill for technologically advanced democracy, and that, in fact, such a society cannot survive – or as Gioia put it, remain “free, innovative, or productive” - without many people who have advanced literacy skills, which are developed by reading literature. Gioia notes the “noble” efforts of schools and public libraries, but asserts that political intervention is needed, and that literacy should be a high-profile public issue. This may remind the reader of some of the less intelligent public figures he or she sees on television or reads about in the news. Gioia’s conclusion is both alarming and compelling, given the dire political and economic consequences of limited literacy that she cites in her article. All in all, Gioia’s use of emotional and powerful descriptive language, her citation to reliable government sources for statistics and survey results on declining literacy rates, and her use of logic to connect serious social issues to seemingly minor issue such as reduced reading provides the reader with a convincing argument for government and business intervention to the reverse the decline in literacy. I did a College Board sample essay question I had not seen before, under the same time constraints an SAT taker would have (50 minutes - it's long, and the audio isn't very interesting - you've been warned!). Here’s my answer to a sample SAT question from the College Board, which you can find at
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sample-questions/essay/2 . Since the College Board has made this question available to the general public, I assume it is fair use for me to do this. The time pressure did get to me. I also didn’t know Dana Gioia was male, so I incorrectly referred to him as “she” a few times, even though I was trying to use gender-neutral language to refer to him, since I had no idea of his gender while writing the essay. Remember, I wanted to take this under the same conditions a real SAT student would (except for the computer, which, presumably, real SAT takers can’t use without serious special accommodations for a disability). Here's the link: https://youtu.be/-oBKR9pywGE Last-Minute ACT Advice – September 2016 Edition
There’s an ACT date on Saturday. If you’re taking it, you’re probably wondering what you can do to improve your score this late in the game. While I hope you’ve been preparing for some time, the following advice should help you, even if you’re a master procrastinator and you’re just starting your exam prep right now. I’ll break the advice down by test below. English Test: Know that the right choice for a question involving an underlined phrase is the shortest phrase that means the same as the underlined phrase, or the phrase that means what the question asks us, in the case of questions such as “Suppose the writer is trying to explain [whatever]. Which phrase best expresses that?” Even when it appears that a phrase may be repetitive for style, please know that the ACT English Test writers probably would completely miss the humor in the old joke/saying “The three most important things in real estate are: location, location, and location,” and make the correct answer to a question based on it “location, appearance of the property, and tax rates,” or “Change to ‘The most important thing in real estate is location.’” Know the difference between “its” and “it’s,” as well as “there,” “their,” and “they’re.” Look for misplaced modifiers such as “Crossing the street, a car ran a red light and hit the old lady.” Was the car crossing the street? Of course, not, the old lady was, so a better choice would be “The car ran a red light and hit an old lady who was crossing the street.” Think about the passage as a whole. Does something seem to be missing? Does a sentence seem to refer to something or someone you haven’t read about earlier in the passage? That’s a clue that you will see a question such as “The writer is considering adding the sentence “[something that explains the thing being referenced in the sentence you read].” The new sentence should go in before the sentence that seems to be missing something. On the other hand, if the sentence doesn’t make sense in the context, then don’t insert the sentence there, or don’t insert the sentence at all, if it doesn’t make sense. Math Test: Know all the things from the SAT “Math Facts” box that’s at the beginning of each math section, if you have an SAT review book. All right, the equations for the volumes of a sphere, cone and square-based pyramid are likely to be given to you in any ACT problem where you need them, but you won’t be given the basic formulas, such as the areas of circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, and the volume of a cube and right circular cylinder. You also won’t be given the ratios for trigonometry using the sides of a right triangle – you can use “SOH-CAH-TOA” or write “sin,” “cos,” and “tan” in one column, and then start a second column with “Oscar/Has” “A/Headache” “Over/Algebra” to get the same “sin = o/h, cos = a/h, and tan = o/a” formulas. It’s also good to know the formula for the period and amplitude of a trig function’s graph. See, for example http://www.purplemath.com/modules/grphtrig.htm for details. Know the difference of squares, (a+b)(a-b) = a2-b2. Know the values of i (the square root of negative 1, also known as “the imaginary unit.”), to the first through 5th powers, and see how the exponents repeat – the ACT and SAT may both ask questions such as “What is i to the 78th power?” See http://www.regentsprep.org/regents/math/algtrig/ato6/powerlesson.htm for details. Know that a^2+1 has two imaginary roots – (a+i) and (a-i). Know the quadratic formula. You can find it, and an explanation of how to use it, at http://www.purplemath.com/modules/quadform.htm . See, for example, Know the discriminant b^2-4ac and what it means if it’s positive (two real roots), zero (only one root, since the two roots are identical), and negative (the two roots are imaginary and also each other’s complex conjugates). For an explanation, see http://www.purplemath.com/modules/quadform3.htm Know that if the solutions all contain radicals (e.g., √3), you’ll need to use the quadratic formula instead of factoring or “completing the square” to solve the equation. Reading Test: Preview the sections and answer the ones on subjects you know well before trying the ones you don’t. You might want to use one section as a “sacrificial” section where you just pick your favorite letter and answer it for all the questions, then go back and check the answers, changing them if necessary, if you have time. Read the questions before the passage. While I don’t like this tactic much, the ACT is a speed test, and you’ll have to try this to save time. Science Test: Definitely read the questions before the passage; it will almost always save you valuable time. Most of the answers are in the charts, tables, and graphs, not the description of the experiment, and it should be obvious when you need to refer to the passage for a description of an experiment’s setup, the definition of a term, or something similar. Also, some of the problems really DO call for a knowledge of science that isn’t explained in the passage, so using your scientific knowledge not only will save you time, it may save you a futile search for information that isn’t there. A couple of things practice ACT questions I’ve done assume the student knows include the charge of a proton, and what friction is. They’re fairly normal things for a test maker to assume you know, especially if you’re a high school student who plans to attend college, but those examples show that people who tell you “You don’t need to know the science they talk about in the passages to get the right answers” aren’t completely correct. Writing Test (Essay): Many people don’t like essay questions because they can’t give you any hints as to the right answer. They’re missing the point; there IS NO “RIGHT” ANSWER to an essay question. Essays give you a chance to explain what you DO know, while a multiple-choice question about something you don’t know is most likely going to show that you don’t understand it, assuming you don’t randomly guess the right answer. So, first of all, read the prompt (the statement about the issue- the Internet, community service, whatever). Then read the three perspectives. Take some notes and think of examples showing why you agree or disagree with each perspective. Then think of your own perspective – do you agree completely with one of the perspectives? If yes, explain why – you can do that in the paragraph where you discuss that perspective. If you don’t agree completely with one perspective, or you agree with more than one, or you partially agree and disagree with all three perspectives, you’ll have to write a separate paragraph to explain YOUR perspective. When writing on the sheet that will be graded, leave some space for your introduction, but DO NOT write it. Start with your ideas on the first perspective (state your opinion and give one or more example(s) explaining your position). Repeat that for the other two perspectives. Then write your perspective and give supporting examples. Then, and only then, should you write the introduction at the beginning, and a conclusion at the end. In the introduction, you should rephrase the statement of the issue given you in the prompt, so the reader knows you understand it well enough to restate it in different words. Then summarize your opinion of each perspective, and state your perspective. Keep it to one sentence per perspective, since you already explained them in detail in the body paragraphs you wrote. Then rephrase your introduction at the end, while citing to your examples. That will be your conclusion. Keep an eye on the clock (bringing a wristwatch or small timer is a good idea – you won’t get to use your cell phone) -you don’t want to run out of time while writing the essay. That’s all for now- good luck! |
Author: John Linneball Who did you think? ;-)I'm the proprietor and only tutor for this business; that's why I named it after me. Archives
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