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Preparing for the SAT I Writing Section

July 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

High school students preparing for college will have to face the nerve racking SAT I writing section. The writing portion of the SAT I test is a 60 minute test that includes an essay writing and a multiple-choice section.

Whether you are looking to obtain an ivy league education or pursue one of the many online education degrees, the scores you get on the writing portion of the SAT I test can determine your future. Here are some tips you can use to help make the writing portion of the SATs a little easier.

Outline Your Writing

Many SAT test takers make the mistake of jumping into the essay portion of the test without outlining their thoughts. This can result in an essay that doesn’t flow or strays off topic.

If you are looking to write a great essay, make sure you take the added time to outline your essay and plan what you are going to write. This will help you create an essay that flows and reads well.

Stay on Topic

While it might be tempting to stray off topic during your essay, it will not help your SAT scores. You will be given one topic to write about. Make sure you stay on topic and only write about the given topic.

Don’t Go For Perfection

The SAT writing section assesses your writing ability but it does not look for perfection. While writing your essay keep this in mind and don’t try to achieve perfection. Instead, focus on writing a clear essay that conveys your thoughts in an organized fashion.

Using these tips will help reduce your stress and help you get a good score on your writing SAT section.

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Overcoming Procrastination When Writing Papers

July 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Whether you are pursuing an online college degree or trying to make good grades in a high school English composition class, procrastination can be a problem. Writer’s block can strike even the best writers in the world, so the key is to learn how to deal with the problem when it arises.

Identify the Pressures Involved in Writing Papers

People procrastinate for a variety of reasons. Fear of a bad grade or the unpleasantness of the task may be possible reasons for putting off writing a paper. The fact remains, however, that an online college degree, a high school diploma and other academic accomplishments require that papers be written. To deal with this pressure, identify the core issue. It may be that your ideas for the paper haven’t crystallized or that you don’t feel secure about your writing skills.

Face the Challenge

Once you’ve identified the reasons behind the procrastination, focus on solutions for each problem. People sometimes procrastinate becomes a task seems too overwhelming and large. Break down the task into smaller pieces. If the topic of your paper is complicated, make an outline and tackle one subtopic at a time. If you are struggling with how to organize the paper, speak to your professor for guidance or look up an essay writing resource.

Reward Yourself

After you’ve tackled each small challenge, reward yourself. Your reward may be a fresh cup of coffee before you sit down to work again. You might watch 20 minutes of your favorite television show after writing a few pages. Be sure to return to work after each small break or reward. Before you know it, your paper will be finished.

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Preparing for the Essay Portion of the SAT Exam

March 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When preparing to take the SAT exam you will need to plan for the writing section. Looking up sample essays, essay writing techniques, and doing some practice essays ahead of time can help you be fully prepared to do well in this section of the exam. Practice essays and information can be found on the official websites for each exam type.

Following a format when writing your essays will ensure that you will have the confidence you need to complete your writing assignment in the time frame given, it will ensure that you will cover the topic completely, and it will give you a sense of structure to your essay.

In the SAT writing exam you may be asked to write a one-example essay or a two-example essay. When writing a one-example essay, choose a subject that you have personal experience with. This subject should be real and not invented. It is easier to write about something you have personal experience with. It is best to steer away from controversial subjects, religion, or politics.

In your one-example essay your first paragraph will introduce your “example” and should create interest in the subject. This paragraph can be general but must include a thesis statement and direct the reader to the general idea of your essay. In the second paragraph you will cover about half of your “example” by describing the situation. The third paragraph should include more specifics and complete information pertaining to your “example.” The fourth paragraph of your essay is where you will discuss the conclusions or moral lessons that your “example” shows and tie them into your thesis statement. In your final paragraph you will be concluding your essay. If possible you should relate your final conclusions to information in your introductory paragraph to round out your essay. Use some online colleges to look for effective tips on writing section of SAT Exam

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Use Canada 411 to Find the Right School for Your Writing Career

January 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Writing
Image via Wikipedia

Knowing how to write well can benefit any career. Those who want to build careers in writing, however, need an education that helps you explore the craft and art of writing. Canada 411 can help you find a Canadian college or university that fits your interest in the English language.

Canada 411 has information on several schools that teach English and writing. Vancouver Island University, for instance, offers undergraduate and graduate programs in creative writing. As a writing student, you can focus on areas of concentration that include:

•Poetry
•Fiction
•Drama
•Nonfiction
•Memoir

University of British Columbia offers similar bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. This school even gives you the opportunity to study other areas of English literature, such as:

•Song lyrics
•Poetry
•Translation
•Screenwriting
•Writing for the radio
•Creative non-fiction
•Children’s literature

If you do not want to commit to a four-year college, then you should consider earning an associate degree from Douglas College. After earning your two-year degree in writing, you can choose to continue your education by completing the school’s Bachelor’s program, or you can start your career.

Canada 411 helps you choose a school that suits your lifestyle because it can focus on colleges in your area. That way you can concentrate on learning about programs in the city where you live and work. You can also choose to look for schools that offer evening and weekend classes. That way you can attend class when you have time instead of sticking to a traditional schedule. This is a useful option for students who already have busy schedules with their families and careers.

Canada 411 gives you fast, convenient results that actually meet your needs. You can even use it to find an online school that will help you meet your personal goals and prepare for a new career in writing.

Filed Under: Education, Reading and Writing

Prepare for the SAT with Novels to Keep from Being Bored

December 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Communication is a very important part of any individual in life. To communicate orally or in writing we need to have a strong base of the language or vocabulary. Reading is a very effective and useful way one can improve his or her vocabulary. If vocabulary is good, then a person is better equipped in understanding and comprehending what words mean. This is very useful to everybody more so in case of students who are studying for the SAT
A student often tries to improve test scores by many ways whilst he is studying for Critical Reading Skills of the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Novels targeted towards high-school students, helps the student to familiarize with new vocabulary words in an interesting and entertaining form. SAT words are in most of these novels are in bold print with their definitions at the bottom of the page.
SAT novels help to hold the student’s interest and attention, without boring them, which may not be the case when using flipping flashcards or memorizing lists of words, students won’t find SAT novels as boring vocabulary builders. SAT novels are intelligently published with currently common and popular topics, such as; dating, sports, summer jobs, driving and high school life, which holds their attention.
Some of the popular novels for the SAT are Head Over Heels, which is a concerns a girl falling for her tutor, who is another high school student. Novels like these hold the attention of teenage girls.
Reading any of these SAT novels is worthwhile with respect to time and the effort in improving and strengthening his vocabulary. These books also provide an interesting and different way of using new vocabulary unlike repetitive and memorization practice tests, besides being educative, yet light reading, proving these novels to being a tool in a perceptive student’s repertoire.

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