Tuesday, November 26, 2019

How To Outline A Memoir A 3-Step Guide To Organization

How To Outline A Memoir A 3-Step Guide To Organization How to Outline Your Memoir (in 3 Powerful Steps) For aspiring memoirists, one of the trickiest hurdles comes after the beginning moment of inspiration. You get the brilliant idea to write a memoir, sit down at your computer all ready to spill out your story, and†¦you realize you don’t know how to start.Now you might be hit by a flurry of doubts:Where should I begin writing my life-story?How do I know what to include in my memoir?How can I make sure that other people want to read about me and my story?If you’re asking these questions, the solution is simple: write an outline. In this post, we look at how you can turn your assorted memories into a rock-solid outline that will make it that much easier to write (and publish!) your memoir.Why outline?According to Zadie Smith, there are two types of writers in the world: micro managers and macro managers. They are sometimes known as plotters and pantsers. If you’re the former, you may already have started outlining your memoir in your head - so skip ahead to th e next section for concrete tips and get the ball rolling on your outline.If you’re a pantser (someone who writes â€Å"by the seat of their pants†), you may need convincing as to the benefits of outlining. In a nutshell: a week of outlining now could save you a year of torturous revision down the road. Outlining - and figuring out such things as theme and scope - can give your story a sense of purpose before you even start writing it. It’s particularly important for memoirists to have a firm grasp on this before entering the drafting stage. Otherwise, they’re particularly susceptible to simply spilling unstructured memories on paper. Tip: 1 week of outlining now can save you 1 year of torturous revision in the future. As you write your memoir, you may recall another compelling moment from your life or come to an epiphany that might change the thematic direction of your memoir. You should never hesitate to explore them. However, a â€Å"goal without a plan is just a wish,† as Antoine de Saint-Exupà ©ry said. It’s good to spend some time on an outline and have an initial roadmap in front of you, so that you know in which direction you’re heading - and what point you’re trying to make.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

What Does My PSAT Score Mean 3 Next Steps After the PSAT

What Does My PSAT Score Mean 3 Next Steps After the PSAT SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You just got your PSAT score – what's next?You just got your score, but don't know what it exactly means or what you should do next. There are three strong implications of your PSAT score, and those students that understand them do a lot better in college admissions that those who don't. Read on to find out what those implications are. Did you just get your PSAT score? (If not, check out the PSAT release schedule here). If so, you may be wondering how to interpret the score. The PSAT serves a number of purposes. It prepares you for the SAT test next year, which is one of the most important pieces in college admissions. It determines a number (but not all) of scholarships. And perhaps most importantly, it's the starting line when students with foresight begin planning for college. Step 1: What Does Your PSAT Score Mean? Is It Good or Bad? The PSAT score generally can be mapped to the SAT score divided by 10. So a 2000 on the SAT is similar to 200 on the PSAT. Once you know this, you can see how you did using our guide here. There are some important differences between the PSAT and SAT, however. For one, you're generally taking the PSAT in 10th grade, so that when you take the SAT next year, you will be one year wiser and smarter. This means that, on average, the PSAT provides a lower bound on your score for the SAT (see this article about how to interpret a 10th grade PSAT / SAT / ACT score). The average student improves around 50 points between the PSAT and SAT (and even more with online prep). Therefore, if you take your PSAT score, multiply by 10, and add 120 points, you'll get a good prediction of your SAT score. You can use this score to figure out what range of colleges you'll qualify for: simply search for the college's SAT score. Step 2: Find Out Whether You're in the Running for Merit Scholarships The PSAT is also known as the test of whether you qualify for the National Merit Scholarships (NMS). NMS awards are generally around $2,500, and the PSAT score needed to qualify varies according to circumstance, but in all cases, you need to get above 200 on the PSAT to be even considered. The actual qualification cutoff is 215 on average, but it's possible to score a bit lower and still qualify, or score a bit higher and still not make it. If you make the cutoff score, congrats! However, to get the NMS award, you also have to have good recommendations and academic performance at school. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) details what happens after you meet the cutoff. Also, there are important factors affecting which NMS award you get: most are from the standard pool of $2,500 awards, but some companies give slighly more to special groups. For example, I was qualifying for the NMS, my scholarship was sponsored by my father's employer for a slightly higher amount of $3,000. Finally, certain colleges will give scholarships if you go to that college, but I caution against taking these awards unless that college was your top pick anyway. Whether a college gives you a few thousand dollars is usually a smaller issue than the overall sticker price, or the quality of the education. If you don't make the cutoff, don't stress! Not all scholarships are administered by the NMS. In fact, I would say from my experience that a vast minority of scholarships are administered by the NMSC. For example, when I was attending college, most of my scholarship came from the college itself, much larger than any other I received. Other institutions provide scholarships through a process that bypasses the NMSC completely. Don't stop your scholarship search just because your PSAT score is under 200! Step 3: Get Started With PSAT Prep The PSAT is the kickoff of the college application consideration timeline. Do you need to stress about applications immediately as a sophomore? No. Do you need to read dozens of college entrance guides right this moment? No. But you should definitely take this seriously as the starting point of thinking about colleges. From my experience, my classmates that began to think about college after they got their PSAT scores fared a lot better than those who started thinking about college in the middle of junior year, or God forbid, senior year. What to Do Next How to get a perfect SAT score How to win a National Merit Scholarship

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Annal report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Annal report - Assignment Example Most stock exchanges prefer continuous illustration of the accounting performance of the listed companies (Stanley, 2009). Examples of basic annual accounting records include; Trading profit and loss account, balance sheet, general corporate information, cash flow statement, accounting policies, director report, auditor report, and financial review. Other relevant financial information required by stakeholders include; corporate social responsibility information, that illustrates social and environmental sensitive activities. The details shown in the annual accounting reports are utilized by investors in determining the present financial position of the company, in relation to the future financial and operation direction. In the United States of America, a relatively complex financial report referred to as the Form 10-K is legally filed at the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (William, 2011). The authority and responsibilities associated with preparation of the annual accounting reports and associated financial statements=, lies with the company directors. The directors choose the most appropriate accounting approaches, and then use them consistently. The applicable accounting procedures must adhere to the professionally accepted accounting principles (Richard,

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

E-BUSINESS INDIVIDUAL REPORT WITH A WEBSITE Essay

E-BUSINESS INDIVIDUAL REPORT WITH A WEBSITE - Essay Example Official websites play the role of public relations for the business establishments. Their customers have direct connection to the company and feel better informed when they access the official websites. Internet has also opened up a new concept of business operation, the click concept or rather the online shop concept. Gone are the days when to launch a product a brick and mortar model was required. The new trend in the market is the online marketing of products. The click and mortar model of e- business is preferred by many now. Products are shown in these websites with their properties and price range. The customer is able to choose from the options and order the product. The payment is done online and the product is delivered at home. Thus, completely removing the cost incurred in having a brick establishment. Having a proper shop in mall or in a commercial area is a very costly affair but the new trend in the market has made it a complimentary service rather than an essential se rvice. The spread of internet in the globe across has brought this remarkable change. Most people have access to internet in their daily lives and are more accessible through internet (Weill and Vitale, 2001, p.7-9) Business Literature on e-business Internet has indeed condensed the boundaries amongst the countries across the globe. Making promotion in other countries very easy. Doing business in other countries is also become easier due to easy mode of online payment. Shipment from across the globe has also become a very conceivable concept. Making it easier for business establishments to do business online. The main focus when a company makes their website should be, to create attention amongst target audience. The website has to be informative and attention grabbing in a right sense. Attention of customers looking for the particular product on the internet has to be first caught. The website therefore needs to be appealing to the target audience. Viral marketing is a very new con cept. For websites the term used is SEM, search engine marketing. The basic goal of SEM is to promote a certain webpage by increasing the traffic of the website. This can be done either developing the content of the website in such a way that the hits on the website is maximised. The first step for any website marketing is to make it more visible. Optimisation of search engines provides this facility to the website. Once the attention of the viewing customers is won, then business can be done with them. Certain aspects must be taken care of when websites are designed. It is important for each website in order to get more customers that it appears in the first page of any search engine. Customers often search their requirements in search engines and very few like to go beyond options appearing on the first page. The website also needs to be very informative about the origin of the company, the history behind the company, the products that are available and the extra services given by the company. The website should also have details about the various payment modes accepted by them. These informations are very essential for the customer looking for making an online booking of a product. Display of products on the websit

Sunday, November 17, 2019

The Simpsons Essay Example for Free

The Simpsons Essay One of the most popular sitcoms to date has got to be The Simpsons. It was first aired in 1991 with all of its characters being yellow (besides Asians and some celebrities). The original intent of this was to trick viewers into believing that the tint of their TV was off so they would attempt to adjust it to no avail. People soon realised this and saw the funny side of it, which helped the Simpsons infamous career as a sitcom. A sitcom is a situation comedy. It centres on a family and usually has the same setting each week. Sitcoms have been around since the 1950s and have always been popular. They are normally 20-30 minutes and are showed when everyone has come home from work or school (6 oclock onwards), so people can watch it as a family. Each episode starts off with an orientation to the situation, which leads to a complication that threatens the status quo. The complication is soon resolved and the characters re-evaluate their relationship before moving onto the reorientation where order is restored. The opening sequence for The Simpsons has only ever been changed once, besides the schoolboard and the Simpsons arriving at home each episode. These two scenes change every episode and encourage viewers to be there when The Simpsons starts. It also shows the nuclear power plant, which is often ridiculed for its radiation pollution, and Bart and Lisas school which is detested by children of most ages. These represent the Simpsons policy of taking the piss out of everything wrong with the world. It then briefly shows each Simpsons personality. Bart in detention then quickly skateboarding home. Homer working in a dangerous situation then walking out with plutonium down his shirt. Marge, in the mundanity of her normal house-wife life, puts Maggie on the store conveyor belt. And lastly Lisa in the middle of music practice starts her own music, showing shes a cut above the rest. What the audience should realise at this point is that the Simpsons are mocking them as they are rushing home to watch TV, which is what the audience are doing at that moment. All this is cleverly done in about a minute. The Simpsons follows the traditional narrative structure quite closely, as it always has an orientation, a complication to drive the plot, a solution to the complication, a quick re-evaluation of everyones relationship and a reorientation where everything returns to normal. In the episode Simpson roasting over an open fire the orientation starts with Marge writing her letter and we realise that it is Christmas in Springfield which should be a classic example of any familys relationship. The complication then arises when Homer doesnt get his Christmas bonus and Marge uses up the money in the jar getting rid of Barts tattoo, so Homer has no money to buy Christmas presents for anyone. This is soon solved when Homer brings back the dog he bet on at the racetrack and everyone loves the dog or Santas little helper. Everyone classically loves everyone else in the evaluation of their relationship and then everything returns to normal. The episode does also have the classic Christmas miracle that usually leads to a happily ever after despite what Bart has to say about it. Homer fits the role of stereotypical dad quite well as he goes to great lengths to make everyone happy for Christmas with almost no thought for his pride or dignity. He even takes up a second job as a low-paid Santa in dim hope of getting presents for everyone. However, he doesnt tell his family that he is in this situation to save their respect for him (which is also stereotypical of most males). This goes against most other things we have seen him do over other episodes when he is acting stupid or careless towards his family and shows him in a new light. Marge starts off straight away being stereotypical when she is writing letters to friends and family. And when Bart gets a tattoo she acts very motherly in paying highly to get it removed straight away. Although one of Barts reasons for getting a tattoo was to show he loved his mum, he mainly wanted to be cool, which would stereotype him as teenage prankster, which he fits perfectly. Its because of this that he finds out that his dad is Santa, at which point he becomes a stereotypical 10-year-old boy whose hero is his dad and shows his affection for his dad: you must really love us to sink so low. For the small part that Lisa was in the episode she fit the stereotype of girls are smarter than boys quite well, as she always does. She does not, however, fit any other stereotype, like doing what her parents want as she is very independent and is smart enough to make her own decisions even at her age. For example, she is the only family member that is vegetarian. And lastly, I guess that Maggie was all the stereotypical baby she could be, as she did nothing but get carried around and stay quite. As a whole, the Simpsons are stereotyped like any other family in the same situation would be in another sitcom, except they go about solving their problems differently. It really is a classic situation and even though the ending result is stereotypical, although not exactly predictable (i. e. the dog), the Simpsons make the whole thing enjoyable to watch. The Simpsons are highly stereotyped as family in need of help and get Christmas miracle at the last minute and the ending is pure evidence of this, although nothing like a miracle would ever normally happen. Despite all the stereotypical ending, Matt Groening still managed to add his own touch in the form of Bart chiming in wise cracks after every line of the carol, which would limit the Simpsons stereotypicalism (is that a word? ) ever so slightly, even though it happens a lot through the entire episode.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor Essay -- Flannery OCo

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the short story, 'A Good Man is Hard to Find', the main character is the grandmother. Flannery O'Connor, the author, lets the reader find out who the grandmother is by her conversations and reactions to the other characters in the story. The grandmother is the most important character in the story because she has a main role in the stories principal action. This little old lady is the protagonist in this piece. We learn more about her from her direct conversation with the son, Bailey, her grandchildren, June Star and John Wesley, and the Misfit killer. Through these conversations, we know that she is a lady raised from a traditional background. In the story, her attitude changes more than once to accommodate the surroundings that she is in. With the data provided, we can tell that the grandmother goes from not wanting to go to Florida, to anxious to go, and in the end, I felt as if she went off the deep end. All of the sudden, the only thing she really concentr ates on is Jesus and her not being killed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The action in the entire story surrounds and normally begins with something the grandmother has said or done. At the very beginning of the story, she starts off by stating that she does not want to go to Florida. She would rather go to east Tennessee and tried anything she could to change Bailey?s mind (Page 426). Later in the story, as they began the trip to Florida, the grandmother talked the entire time. She would tell stories of her youth to the grandchildren and lecture them about being more respectful to their native state, and to their parents. Although the grandmother is the protagonist, it is her fault that the trip ended in the devastating way that it did. She, unknowingly, led her entire family to their fate. She is even more responsible for the deaths because of what she brought on the trip with her. If there had been no cat, there would have not been an accident. If the accident would not have happened, the family had an extremely good chance to survi ve their vacation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many things that happen in the story that gives more information about the grandmother. The reader can tell that the woman is paranoid by her conversations at the start of this story. She reads about the Misfit killer and assumes it would be dangerous to travel to Florida with a man like that on t... ... her days, people that were raised well in good families did not commit hainus crimes like murder. She could not believe that this man was capable of killing her. In the end, after her entire family was killed, she realized that her time was up. She made a last desperate attempt to save her life and ultimately failed. The Misfit killer shot her three times. The killer then says, ?she would have been a good woman if there had been someone to shoot her every minute of her life?(Page 436). This statement leads me to believe that he knew what type of woman that she was.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most important aspect of this story is the actual meaning of ?A Good Man is Hard to Find.? Most people think that is a term meant just for a woman trying to find a man to fall in love with. In this story, it has a complete different meaning. Through the grandmother?s eyes, it was not only good men that were gone, but it was also the good life. I believe she was ready for death, but this was not the death that she wanted. Works Cited: O?Connor, Flannery. ?A Good Man is Hard to Find.? Literature: An introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2002.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Language Barriers for Non-Speaking Citizens

The Language Barrier for Non-English Speaking Citizens Lynne Lilley Com/150 University of Phoenix Com/150 March 8, 2010 The Language Barrier for Non-English Speaking Citizens â€Å"No Habla English†. â€Å"21 million people living in the United States cannot speak English. Citizens are not just speaking Spanish, but Chinese and Russian are rising fast. † (U. S. Bureau of Census, 2009) To force a citizen to speak a new language is discrimination. Non-English speaking citizens and immigrants that are without good English skills will fall academically, in the judicial system and when receiving proper medical care. 47 million Americans five years and older used a language other than English. The children that have no English skills will not be able to understand what the teacher is trying to teach. Children will not be able to do their assignments correctly and will eventually fail the class. †Some illegal immigrants are raising their children without teaching them English, hoping that the school will do that job. The Washington Post recently reported that as many as two-thirds of the children in suburban Arlington County, Virginia, receiving language assistance from kindergarten through second-grade born in the United States to non-English-speaking parents who don’t read to them, talk to them, or provide them a background in any language. (Not Speakiing their Native Tongue, 1996) A child being educated in English opens many doors of opportunities. English as a Second Language learner has more benefits than those of native English. Native speakers tend to speak in slang or use cliches and have bad grammar skills. There are even laws to wanting to learn another language as opposed to not knowing another language. In Albany, Georgia, they are trying to pass a law that students no longer have Spanish classes in schools and parents need to hire a tutor to come in to their home and teach the child a foreign language. Learning English will benefit a child not knowing the language and prevent barriers as an adult. Since the first amendment is freedom of speech, why do so many non-English speaking citizens run into barriers in the judicial systems? A citizen cannot explain an emergency to a police official such as; ho attacked them, who they were victimized by or the nature of the emergency they are having. There are just not enough bilingual employees in the judicial system whether it is police, courthouse officials, or translators. If an officer does not speak the language of the victim, the officer has to call a hotline service that will provide the correct language and that could take some time. Attorney’s that have non-English speaking clients recognize initially that such representation will be time consuming. They must begin their representation carefully, making sure a basis foundation for communication exists. Another problem that occurs when the client and attorney waste time because the attorney, court clerk, or other individual fail to identify the correct name of the represented individual. Often times when a non-English speaking citizen has problems with the judicial system it occurs because the person cannot read the notices sent or end up having no counsel or able to consult with their counsel. Defendants end up doing lengthy jail sentences because they did not tell the court they needed an interpreter. â€Å"In Virginia, a convenience store clerk was fired for complaining about the employer’s unwritten English-only policy. In Florida, two hotels faced on AFL-CIO boycott because they reportedly insisted they use English only. In New York, Long Life Home Care has been sued by EEOC on behalf of two workers who allege that the company prohibits employees from speaking Spanish only during breaks, lunch in the cafeteria and within one city block of their office building† (Lost in Translation, 2006). Judicial systems are not the only ones who have problems with language barriers; the medical field are affected too. Non-English speaking citizens and immigrants are receiving improper medical care because of the miscommunication. The people who cannot speak English well are misunderstood, when they go to free clinics or hospital emergency rooms and attempt to explain their symptoms and illness or cannot understand the doctors or medical profession that are trying to help them. † Interpreters are omitting questions about drug allergies. Patients are not telling nurses the correct symptoms. A mother misunderstood by putting oral antibiotic into the ears of the child instead of the mouth. The Puerto Rican word for mumps is not the same in Central America, so a child was mistreated. A doctor mistakenly told a parent to put a steroid creme on entire child instead of just the face† (Yolanda Prtida, 2005). Language barriers in the medical field are dangerous and some times even fatal. There is definitely a need for more translators in hospitals and doctors office. Clear communication is essential for safe quality healthcare. Poor communication can lead to disastrous outcomes, especially for patients with limited or no English ability. Working together with non-English speaking citizens and immigrants would help eliminate some barriers. When you call any bank or financial institute, public utility, or government agency, you can hear a prompt stating if you want to proceed in English press 1. That shows that we are working on a bilingual nation. A language barrier is not a disability, while those who cannot communicate are, of course, handicapped in our society. The inability to speak English is not a handicap in the physiological sense. † Let’s face—English is a crazy language, and English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn’t a race at all). That is why,-when-the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it† (unknown). Works Cited Lost in Translation. (2006, January 17). New York Times , pp. 1-2. Not Speakiing their Native Tongue. (1996, May 14). Washington Post , p. A1. U. S. Bureau of Census. (2009). Retrieved March 2, 2010, from U. S Bureau of Census website: http://factfinder. census. gov unknown. (n. d. ). Yolanda Prtida, M. D. (2005). Language Policy and Practice in Healthcare. Fresno: Center for Medical & Eduacation Research.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Reading comprehension Essay

|Types of Reading | |Maija MacLeod | |[pic] | |In this Page: | |Overview | |Intensive Reading | |Extensive Reading | |Intensive and Extensive Reading Together | |Scanning | |Skimming | |Scanning and Skimming Together | |References | |[pic] | |Overview: | |Several types of reading may occur in a language classroom. One way in which these may be categorized ,| |as suggested by Brown (1989) can be outlined as follows: | | A. Oral | | B. Silent | | I. Intensive | | a. linguistic | | b. content | | II. Extensive | | a. skimming | | b. scanning | | c. global | |The first distinction that can be made is whether the reading is oral or silent. This web page will not| |deal with oral reading, only silent reading. | |Within the category of silent reading, one encounters intensive and extensive reading. Intensive | |reading is used to teach or practice specific reading strategies or skills. The text is treated as an | |end in itself. Extensive reading on the other hand, involves reading of large quantities of material,| |directly and fluently. It is treated as a means to an end. It may include reading reading simply for | |pleasure or reading technical, scientific or professional material. This later type of text, more | |academic, may involve two specific types of reading, scanning for key details or skimming for the | |essential meaning. A relatively quick and efficient read, either on its own or after scanning or | |skimming, will give a global or general meaning. | |This web page then will first examine intensive reading. The second part will deal with extensive | |reading, with a focus on how it results in a general or global meaning. The fourth part gives a short | |comment on how intensive and extensive reading may operate in the same class. The fourth part examines | |scanning and the fifth, scanning. A final sixth part comments on how scanning and skimming may be used | |in the same reading. | | | |[pic] | |Intensive Reading | |In this section: | |What it is | |How it looks | |-Characteristics | |-Materials | |-Skills developed | |-Activities | |-Assessment | |When it is used | |Role of the teacher | |Advantages | |Disadvantages | |Questions sometimes asked | | | |What it is | |Brown (1989) explains that intensive reading â€Å"calls attention to grammatical forms, discourse markers, | |and other surface structure details for the purpose of understanding literal meaning, implications, | |rhetorical relationships, and the like. † He draws an analogy to intensive reading as a â€Å"zoom lens† | |strategy . | |Long and Richards (1987) say it is a â€Å"detailed in-class† analysis, led by the teacher, of vocabulary | |and grammar points, in a short passage. † | |Intensive Reading, sometimes called â€Å"Narrow Reading†, may involve students reading selections by the| |same author or several texts about the same topic. When this occurs, content and grammatical structures| |repeat themselves and students get many opportunities to understand the meanings of the text. The | |success of â€Å"Narrow Reading† on improving reading comprehension is based on the premise that the more | |familiar the reader is with the text, either due to the subject matter or having read other works by | |the same author, the more comprehension is promoted. | |How it looks | | Characteristics: | |usually classroom based | |reader is intensely involved in looking inside the text | |students focus on linguistic or semantic details of a reading | |students focus on surface structure details such as grammar and discourse markers | |students identify key  vocabulary | |students may draw pictures to aid them (such as in problem solving) | |texts are read carefully and thoroughly, again and again | |aim is to build more language knowledge rather than simply practice the skill of reading | |seen more commonly than extensive reading in classrooms | | Materials: | |usually very short texts – not more than 500 words in length | |chosen for level of difficulty and usually, by the teacher | |chosen to provide the types of reading and skills that the teacher wants to cover in the course | | Skills developed: | |rapid reading practice | |interpreting text by using: | | -word attack skills | | | | -text attack skills | | -non-text information | |Activities: | |Intensive reading exercises may include: | |looking at main ideas versus details | |understanding what is implied versus stated | |making inferences | |looking at the order of information and how it effects the message | |identifying words that connect one idea to another | |identifying words that indicate change from one section to another | | | | Munby (1979) suggests four categories of questions that may be used in intensive reading. These | |include: | |Plain Sense – to understand the factual, exact surface meanings in the text | |Implications – to make inferences and become sensitive to emotional tone and figurative language | |Relationships of thought – between sentences or paragraphs | |. Projective – requiring the integration of information from the text to one’s own background information| |Note that questions may fall into more than one category. | |. | |Assessment: | |Assessment of intensive reading will take the form of reading tests and quizzes. | |The most common systems of questioning are multiple-choice and free-response. | |Mackay (1968) , in his book Reading in a Second Language, reminds teachers that the most important | |objective in the reading class should NOT be the testing of the student to see if they have | |understood. Teachers should, instead, be spending most of the time training the student to understand | |what they read. | |When it is used | |when the objective of reading is to achieve full understanding of: | | – logical argument | | – rhetorical pattern of text | | – emotional, symbolic or social attitudes and purposes of the author | | – linguistic means to an end | | for study of content material that are difficult |.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

What Is a Good SAT Score A Bad SAT Score An Excellent SAT Score

What Is a Good SAT Score A Bad SAT Score An Excellent SAT Score SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips What is a good SAT score? You took the SAT, got your scores back, and now want to know how you did. Or maybe you want to know what score to aim for next time. In this guide, we discuss how to figure out how your SAT scores stack up against those of all the other test takers. We’ll then help you determine what a good SAT score for you is based on the colleges you are interested in. Finally, we provide the SAT score ranges of 41 popular schools and discuss what to do if your score turns out to be lower than you expected. What's a Good SAT Score, Compared to the Entire Country? The SAT score range is 400-1600 for your total score, and 200-800 for each of your two section scores. One section score is Math, while the other is a combined Reading and Writing score called Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW). As you would expect, the higher your score, the better you did compared to all the other test takers. But is there a certain SAT score cutoff that marks a "good" score? To determine what makes for good SAT scores relative to everyone else, you need to know exactly how SAT scoring works. Your total score out of 1600 (as well as your two section scores out of 800) corresponds to a percentile ranking. Your SAT percentile tells you what percentage of students you scored better than. So if you got a 60th percentile score, you’ve scored better than 60% of all test takers! The mean, or average, SAT composite score is 1068. Note that the test is deliberately designed so that the mean score hovers around 1000 on the 1600-point scale- about 500 per section. The average score for Math is 531, and the average score for EBRW is 536. SAT scores follow a normal distribution. This means that student performance tends to cluster around the middle of the scale (1000 is the halfway point between the minimum score of 400 and the maximum score of 1600). Far fewer test takers score toward the higher and lower ends of the scale. Here’s an abbreviated SAT score chart with percentiles for 2018 SAT composite scores so you can check out the score distribution for yourself: SAT Composite Score (Out of 1600) Percentile 1600 99+ 1550 99+ 1500 99 1450 97 1400 94 1350 91 1300 87 1250 81 1200 74 1150 67 1100 58 1050 49 1000 39 950 31 900 23 850 15 800 10 750 5 700 2 650 1 600 and below -1 As you can see from the percentiles and corresponding scores, more students score toward the middle of the scale than at the top or bottom. For example, a score jump from 1000 to 1100 (100 points) moves you from the 39th to the 58th percentile- so you’ve moved up past nearly an entire fifth of test takers! But moving 100 points from 1250 to 1350 only brings you up 10%, from the 81st to the 91st percentile. Finally, moving from 1450 to 1550, a 100-point margin near the top of the scale, nets you only about 2%! In terms of what makes for good SAT scores based on this chart, you already know that 1070 is about average, so anything above that would be an above-average score. A 1250 places you in the 81st percentile, that is, in the top fifth of test takers, which is very good. A 1350 puts you in the top 9%, making it a strong score. A 1400 is in the 94th percentile, the top 6% of all test takers. And any score 1500+ puts you in the coveted top 1%! By contrast, anything lower than a 1070 is a below-average score. For example, a 950, which is in the 31st percentile, places you in the bottom third of test takers. And a 900, which is in the 23rd percentile, places you in the bottom fourth. Not so great comparatively. Here’s a chart showing the SAT score percentiles for both the Math and EBRW sections. The distributions are pretty similar, but there are some slight differences. For example, fewer people do really, really well on EBRW than on Math. You can tell this is the case because a 750 is a 99th percentile score for EBRW, meaning you're in the top 1% of test takers. But that same score is in the 96th percentile for Math, placing you only in the top 4%. SAT Score (Out of 800) Math Percentile EBRW Percentile 800 99+ 99+ 750 96 99 700 92 94 650 85 86 600 75 72 550 61 56 500 40 38 450 25 22 400 13 9 350 4 2 300 1 1- 250 and below -1 1- Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Bonus: Want to get a perfect SAT score? Read our famous guide on how to score a perfect 1600 on the SAT. You'll learn top strategies from the country's leading expert on the SAT, Allen Cheng, a Harvard grad and perfect scorer. No matter your level, you'll find useful advice here - this strategy guide has been read by over 500,000 people. Read the 1600 SAT guide today and start improving your score. What's a Good SAT Score for You? So far, we’ve discussed how your SAT score and corresponding percentile ranking shows how you compare with other test takers. But how well you did compared with everyone else isn’t the most important thing for you. What is more important is what makes a good SAT score for you personally, based on the schools you are interested in. A 1280 is an 84th percentile score, meaning you scored better than 84% of test takers. Thus, a 1280 would be a solid score for schools such as the University of Cincinnati (average SAT score: 1233), ASU (average: 1232), and Temple University (average: 1221). However, it would be a very low score for highly selective institutions, such as MIT, Caltech, Duke, the University of Chicago, and Johns Hopkins. Of course, not everyone is trying to get into super selective schools. A score of 1040 (just below the 1070 average) is solid for less selective colleges such as Indiana University Northwest (average SAT score: 1015) and CSU Stanislaus (average: 1005). To sum up, a good SAT score is a score that makes you competitive for the schools you want to attend. It’s also worth noting that the higher your test scores are, the more likely colleges offering merit scholarships are to give one to you. For the purposes of this guide, we’re going to focus primarily on figuring out the score you need for admission (not scholarships), but it’s something to keep in mind. For more information, check out our guide to scholarships based on SAT/ACT scores. Another thing to consider is that a high test score can help you get admitted to certain schools if you have a lower GPA than what their typical admits have. (However, this won’t help you so much at highly selective institutions- they expect students to have high marks across the board!) Does this puppy have competitive scores for your heart? How to Find Your SAT Goal Score: 5-Step Guide In this section, we’ll walk you through how to figure out what makes a good SAT score for you based on the schools you're applying to. Our quick five-step process only requires a worksheet (linked below), a writing utensil, and an internet-browsing device! Step 1: Download This Worksheet First, you’ll need to download our worksheet so you can fill it out with information for your schools of interest. Click here to download it, or click the image below. Step 2: Fill in the Schools You're Applying To Next, fill in all the schools you want to apply to in the leftmost column. If you don't know what schools you're aiming for yet, feel free to use ones that have been suggested to you by parents, friends, teacher, or counselors. However, I recommend taking the time to do some research into schools you might want to attend first so that you have a realistic SAT goal score. The more your list reflects the schools you actually end up applying to, the more accurate your target score will be. Step 3: For Each School, Google "[School Name] PrepScholar SAT" For example, if I'm interested in the University of Alabama, I'd do the following search: Click on the link to our SAT Scores and GPA page (or our Admission Requirements page- they’ll both have the information you need) and scroll down to the 25th and 75th percentile composite SAT scores. The 25th/75th percentile range describes the scores of the middle 50% of all students admitted to a particular school. For the University of Alabama, you'll find that the 25th percentile SAT score is 1050; this means that 25% of admitted students have a score of 1050 on the SAT. That would be a below-average score for admitted students to Alabama. The 75th percentile SAT score for Alabama is 1280. That means that students with that score did better than 75% of all other admits. In other words, scoring at 1280 or above puts you in the top quarter of admits, giving you a very competitive score for admission! If you score at or above the 75th percentile for any school, you'll have an excellent chance of getting in (assuming your other credentials are on point for the school). So that’s a good SAT score for that school. If you're at the 25th percentile, however, you'll need to have a particularly strong application to boost your odds of getting in. For each school on your list, Google the PrepScholar SAT score information and write down the 25th and 75th percentile scores in the appropriate row for that school on your goal score sheet. Step 4: Calculate Your Final SAT Target Score To calculate your target SAT goal score, look at the 75th percentile column. Find the highest SAT score in that column; that’s your SAT score goal. By scoring at the 75th percentile level for the most competitive school on your list, you’ll be competitive at all the schools you're applying to. So that is a good SAT score for you! Another advantage of choosing a high goal score is that if you end up falling 10-50 points short, it’s not a huge deal because you’ll still be competitive for most of your schools. You might be thinking, "Hey, wait! Why did I fill out that entire sheet if I was just going to pick the highest 75th percentile score?" Well, the advantage of filling out this information is that you now have it handy as a reference. You’ll be able to compare your own SAT score with the 25th-75th percentile ranges of all your schools of interest as soon as you get your scores back. Step 5: Make Your Goal Known As a last step, I suggest that you do two things with your target SAT score: #1: Share it with your parents. This can turn into a helpful conversation about your personal goals and how you want to achieve your target SAT score. Plus, your parents can help hold you accountable throughout the test-prep process! #2: Tape it to your wall. This will keep your goal score front and center in your mind, encouraging you to stay motivated to keep up with your SAT study schedule. Puppies are also a great motivator. Good SAT Scores for Popular Schools To help you determine your goal score, we're giving you an SAT score chart with the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores for 2018 for 41 popular schools. I’ve also provided the current US News ranking and acceptance rate to give you an idea of how selective each school is. All schools are arranged in order of ranking. For an even longer list, check out our collection of good SAT scores for 101 popular schools. School 25th Percentile SAT Score 75th Percentile SAT Score US News Ranking Acceptance Rate Princeton 1430 1570 1 6% Harvard 1460 1590 2 5% Columbia 1450 1580 3 6% MIT 1490 1570 3 7% U of Chicago 1480 1580 3 9% Yale 1420 1590 3 7% Stanford 1390 1540 7 5% Duke 1390 1580 8 10% Penn 1420 1560 8 9% Johns Hopkins 1460 1580 10 12% Northwestern 1420 1560 10 9% Caltech 1530 1590 12 8% Dartmouth 1430 1560 12 10% Brown 1405 1570 14 9% Cornell 1390 1550 16 13% Rice 1490 1580 16 16% Notre Dame 1370 1520 18 19% UCLA 1240 1490 19 16% WUSTL 1470 1570 19 16% Emory 1350 1520 21 22% Georgetown 1350 1520 22 16% UC Berkeley 1330 1530 22 17% USC 1300 1500 22 16% Carnegie Mellon 1430 1560 25 22% U of Michigan 1330 1500 27 27% NYU 1290 1490 30 28% UC Santa Barbara 1270 1500 30 33% Georgia Tech 1090 1520 35 23% U of Florida 1240 1410 35 42% Boston College 1320 1490 38 32% Boston U 1300 1480 42 25% Tulane 1330 1490 44 21% UT Austin 1160 1390 49 36% Penn State 1160 1340 59 50% U of Washington 1190 1420 59 46% George Washington 1280 1440 63 41% BYU 1210 1410 66 52% Clemson 1220 1390 66 47% American 1180 1350 78 29% Baylor 1190 1360 78 39% Indiana University 1140 1350 89 76% What If My SAT Score Is Too Low? 3 Strategies What if your SAT score ends up being lower than your goal score? What should you do? In this situation, you have a few options to consider. We’ll go over them here and help you figure out which one is best for you. Strategy 1: Retake the SAT If you have the time to do additional preparation for the SAT and retake it, this is probably your most straightforward strategy. However, keep in mind that if you really want a better SAT score, you’ll need to invest a lot of time into prep and really work on shoring up your weaknesses. These are the estimated time estimates for different total score improvements (not per section) on the SAT: 0-30 point improvement: 10 hours 30-70 point improvement: 20 hours 70-130 point improvement: 40 hours 130-200 point improvement: 80 hours 200-330 point improvement: 150 hours + Strategy 2: Don’t Worry About It If you were just under your goal score (think within 50 points), you might not actually need to do anything if that slightly lower score is still competitive. For example, if you were aiming for a 1560 for your most selective school, Dartmouth, but got a 1530, you’d definitely still be in the competitive range for that school. Depending on how soon you’ll be applying to college, it might make more sense to use the time and energy you'd spend preparing for and retaking the test on other parts of your application. If you were more than 50 points short of your SAT goal score, consider Strategy 1 or 3. Strategy 3: Adjust Your List of Schools If you're 50+ points short of your goal score and don’t have time to retake the test, you might need to make some adjustments in your list of schools. While you definitely should still apply to your dream schools as reach schools, it's wise to pad out your list of match and safety schools to be in like with the lower scores. For instance, maybe you were going for 1510 but got 1410 instead. With your goal score, you had NYU (middle 50%: 1290-1490) as one of your match schools. But with an actual score of 1410, this school is now more of a reach (its 75th percentile is more than 50 points higher than your score). You also had Lehigh University (middle 50%: 1270-1430) as a safety school, but with your current score, it’s better as a match school. Finally, you might consider adding some additional safety schools that align better with your 1410 score, such as American University (middle 50%: 1180-1350) and Penn State (middle 50%: 1160-1340). Read our guide to learn more about choosing appropriate safety, match, and reach schools. Thankfully, all puppies are safety puppies. Review: What Is a Good SAT Score for You? So what are good SAT scores? Your total SAT score out of 1600 corresponds to a percentile ranking that compares you to everyone else who took the test. The current mean, or average, SAT score is 1068. What is a good SAT score for you, though? The answer to this question depends on what schools you want to attend. In this article, we described a five-step process to figure out good SAT scores for you based on the middle 50% of scores for the colleges you're applying to. We also listed SAT score ranges for 41 popular schools. Finally, we provided some advice on what to do if you don't hit your goal score. You can retake the test, do nothing (if you were pretty close to your goal score), or adjust your list of schools based on what kinds of SAT scores they're looking for. All in all, what is a good SAT score? The most important thing to remember is that good SAT scores are specific to you. You won’t necessarily need the same scores as your friends or peers, so don't feel the need to compare your goals with those of other people. What ultimately matters is that your SAT score is high enough to get you into the college of your dreams! What's Next? Trying to figure out a good SAT score for the Math, Reading, and Writing sections? Or are you wondering what makes a good SAT score for super selective institutions? We can help! If you got a low SAT score, we have a low score guide! We can also help you figure out whether or not you should retake the SAT. Disappointed with your scores? Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Top 5 William Shakespeare Plays

The Top 5 William Shakespeare Plays The idea of picking the top five plays by William Shakespeare is sure to spark a quarrel among literary critics and theatergoers. Though many consider Hamlet the Bards best work, others prefer King Lear or The Winters Tale. Tastes vary, but there is some critical consensus about which plays have the most enduring literary value. Hamlet Considered by many literary critics to be Shakespeare’s greatest play, this deeply moving story follows Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, as he grieves for his father and avenges his death. Possibly based on Shakespeare’s personal experience of losing his own son, Hamnet, in 1596, this tragedy manages to explore the complex psychology of its young hero hundreds of years before the emergence of psychology as a concept. For this alone, Hamlet deserves the number one spot. Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare is perhaps most famous for Romeo and Juliet, the classic story of two â€Å"star-crossed lovers.† This play has seeped into the consciousness of popular culture: if we describe someone as romantic, we might describe him as â€Å"a Romeo,† and the balcony scene is possibly the world’s most iconic (and quoted) dramatic text. The tragic love story unfolds against the backdrop of the Montague-Capulet feud- a subplot that provides several memorable action scenes. Shakespeare gets straight down to business at the start of the play and stages a fight between the Montagues and the Capulets serving men. The key reason for Romeo and Juliet’s popularity is its timeless themes; anyone of any age today can relate to a story about two people from very different backgrounds falling head-over-heels in love. Macbeth Macbeth- a short, punchy, intense piece of drama that charts the rise and fall of Macbeth from soldier to king to tyrant- features some of Shakespeares finest writing. Although all of the characters are well-drawn and the plot is perfectly formulated, it is Lady Macbeth who steals the show. She is one of Shakespeares most enduring villains, and it is her intense ambition that drives the play. This crime drama is so popular with audiences that it has inspired over 10 film adaptations. Julius Caesar Beloved by many, this play focuses on Roman senator Marcus Brutus and his involvement in the assassination of Roman emperor Julius Caesar. Those who have not read the play are often surprised to learn that Caesar only appears in a handful of scenes. Instead, the tragedy centers on Brutus conflicting morals and his psychological turmoil as he weaves a conspiracy that will transform history. Critic Harold Bloom has said that the play could have been called The Tragedy of Marcus Brutus. Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing is Shakespeare’s best-loved comedy. The play mixes humor and tragedy and is one of the Bard’s most interesting texts from a stylistic point of view. The key to the play’s popularity rests on the turbulent love-hate relationship between Benedick and Beatrice. Throughout the play, the two are locked in a battle of wits- and although we know they really love each other, they just can’t admit it to themselves. Some critics consider Much Ado About Nothing a comedy of manners because it pokes fun at aristocratic behavior and language.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Beckett's prose Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Beckett's prose - Term Paper Example Considering the times, it makes sense that much of Samuel Beckett’s works—his plays, poetry, and novels—focus on the theme of madness. This reaches back very early in Beckett’s career, even in his first novel, Murphy, published in 1938. It explains why many consider Beckett an existentialist, although as Ackerley and Gontarski state, Beckett’s views are far removed from Sartre’s existentialism (501). Much of Beckett’s works, especially his plays written after the war, have existential themes, although it is incorrect to pigeonhole him as an existentialist. It seems that as Beckett progressed in his career, he became both more existential and minimalist. Beckett is often mislabeled as an existentialist because of his connection with Theatre of the Absurd as described by Martin Esslin (n.p.), who coined the phrase and used Beckett and Waiting for Godot as his main examples. Plays in the Theatre of the Absurd genre have been strongly influenced by existentialism. Esslin saw them as the fulfillment of the existential thinker Albert Camus’ concept of â€Å"the absurd.† By placing Beckett’s plays within the genre and connecting them with Camus, Beckett was subsequently wrongly closely associated with the existentialists. It cannot be denied, however, that Beckett’s works, even his earlier ones like Murphy, have existential themes. Esslin describes these themes as â€Å"the sense of metaphysical anguish at the absurdity of the human condition† and the â€Å"sense of the senselessness of life, of the inevitable devaluation of ideals, purity, and purpose† (n.p.). Beckett’s works, including Murphy, can be placed squarely within this tradition of writing. Murphy is Beckett’s second work of prose, and his first novel. Unlike most of his works, which were composed in French, it was written in his