On the SAT Grind: The Break Down

 

You probably don't know and don't care but I am a high school junior.

I've recently taken the November 2, 2013 SAT because that's what juniors do and received a 610 on critical reading, a 700 on math, and 680 on writing for a grand total of 1990, a pretty average score to the least.

I plan on retaking the SAT II some time again in January 2014. But enough about that. I'm going to do a series of posts on this blog about the SAT to help all those other juniors out there gain some insight.

So here's the breakdown for you:

There are three subjects (duh):
1. Critical Reading
2. Math
3. Writing

These three subjects break down into subtopics:

1.Critical Reading
a. vocabulary fill-in-da-blank
b. short passage questions
c. long passage questions

2. Math
a. Algebra
b. geometry
c. numerical operations

3. Writing
a. THE ESSAY (dun dun dun)
b. sentence find-da-error
c. correct the sentence
d. correct the passage

And these subtopics break down into even smaller subsubtopics!:D depending on the skill they're testing.

Personally, I find math the easiest to score points on (I'm in calculus), and critical reading tends to be the one I just give up on life on or fall asleep during.

Each test has about 10 sections
(1) Essay
(3) Math sections
(3) Critical Reading sections
(2) Grammar sections
and (1) survey FAKE section where they get statistics for the SAT on. You never know which section is the FAKE section so you end up doing it for nothing and it's not even going to be scored -___-

2400 is the perfect, golden score
that means,
800 on CR
800 on Math
and
800 on Writing

To get an 800 on the CR, you have to get all the questions correct.
To get an 800 on the Math, you can miss 1 question
To get an 800 on the Writing, can you either
a. get 12 (full score) on the essay + miss 1-2 on the multiple choice
or 
b. get 10-11 on the essay + perfect score on the multiple choice

Isn't that nice? You get to choose!

Sarcasm aside, I intend to post tips, tricks, formats, and helpful info on the SAT.
I hope they help!

On the SAT Grammar Grind: Idioms

raining cats and dogs

Idioms are your not so friendly little monsters if you forget them when the day of the SAT comes along. Remember them and they pile up points for you on the writing section of the test.

Here are some of the common ones...

Idioms with Prepositions 

To be familiar with

To agree with

To disagree with 

To be consistent/inconsistent with something

To enter into

To have insight into

To take an interest in

To have an interest in

To arrive in/at

To succeed in

To have confidence in
To be consistent in (one's action)
To believe in 
To trust in 

To consist of

To accept an offer of

To be convinced of

To be suspicious of 

To gain the respect of

To have an understanding of

To be suspicious of

To have memories of

To take the form of

To gain the trust/mistrust of

To be characteristic of 

To the dismay of
To be in favor of 

In the hope of
At the expense of 


To count on 
To work on 
To stumble (up)on

To turn to

The key to 

To be available to + infinitive
To be indifferent to 

To be prized for

To be grown for

To endure/last for

To call for

To receive compensation for
To argue for 
To blame for 

To predate by

To be engaged by

To be complicated by
To abide by 

To be apparent from

To defend from
To differ from 
To protect from/against 

To protest + noun, no preposition 


To wonder about 
To think about 
To wonder about 

Idioms with Gerund

Regarded as/as being
Viewed as/as being
Seen as/as being 
In the hope of being
Effective in/at being
Enjoy being
Capable of being 
To have difficulty (in) being
Stop being
Insist on being
Deny being
Report being
Consider being
Postpone being
Practice being
Avoid being 
Admit to being 
Resent being
Before being
After being
Without being
While being
Stop being

Idioms with Infinitive

Considered to be
Tempted to be 
Cease to be
Seem to be
Wish to be 
Fail to be
Neglect to be
Refuse to be
Attempt to be
Offer to be
Prepare to be
Arrange to be
Claim to be
Aim to be
Deserve to be
Proceed to be
Agree to be 
Appear to be
Promise to be 
Intend to be
Threat to be
Strive to be
Choose to be
Decide to be 

About Worry about Complain about Wonder about Curious about Think about Bring about To be particular about Against Protect against Defend against At Succeed at Adept at By Confused by Followed by Predate by Puzzled by Perplexed by Impressed by Amazed by Awed by Surprised by Stunned by Shocked by Outraged by Encouraged by Accompanied by

For Named for Recognized for Known for Famous for Celebrated for Have a tolerance for Strive for Compensate for Responsible for Watch for Look out for Wait for Last for Endure for Prized for Necessary for Criticize for Blame for Advocate for From Protect from Defend from Far from Different from Refrain from Apparent from Prevent x from doing y Opposite from Into Enter into Have insight into In Interested in Succeed in Have confidence in Engage in Take pride in In x as in y

On Based on Draw on Insist on Focus on Rely on Reflect on Dwell on Over Have power over Have control over Mull over Of Have an appreciation of Suspicious of A mastery of A command of Capable of Incapable of In recognition of Devoid of A proponent of A source of An offer of An understanding of A knowledge of Approve of Disapprove of In awe of Take advantage of Composed of Comprised of Consist of Convinced of Characteristic of Typical of In awe of In the hopes of A variety of A plethora of An abundance of To be a native of On the verge of Combination of x and y

To Recommend to Listen to Try to – not try and Prefer something to something else Devoted to In contrast to In opposition to A threat to Central to Unique to Similar to Parallel to As an alternative to Inured to Be native to Put questions to In addition to As opposed to Toward Biased toward A tendency toward With Familiar with Unfamiliar with Identify with Correlate with Sympathize with Consistent with Inconsistent with Preoccupied with Cope with/Coping with

Creative Mode: Mimic Writing

For this excerise, we were instructed to mimic the "voices", or writing styles, of many famous writers and using this, write our own verisons of the opening line of the bible.

So for example, we took the Genesis excerpt from the bible, emotionless and descriptionless, added the author's voice to it, capturing the essence, tone, and syntax of the writer.

This was our basis piece:

Genesis from the King James Bible
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And  the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called  the light Day, and the darkness He called night. And the
evening and the morning were the first day.

These were the authors I tried to mimic:
-Nathaniel Hawthorne                 (Scarlet Letter)   
-Martin Luther King Jr.                ("Letter to Birmingham Jail")
-Patrick Henry                            ("Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death")
-Neil Postman                             (Amusing Ourselves to Death)
-Sandra Cisneros                        (Only Daughter)

Can you tell which mimic piece I wrote matches which author's writing style?

1.        

1. 

From the vast expense of empty Darkness and Sky, God, in his ultimate edifice of power, created the heavenly lands, tranquil yet magnificent. A face, painted brilliant blue, lapped with waves, was spread across the void. Eternal light swept across the land upon his request. Thou saw the pure, heavenly light, that it was made right, deemed that it ought to be divided from the delicate evil of the night, so that the two, black and white, would touch but never inter collide. Thus the two born twins, of black velvety vile and joyous light, were named Day and Night. At that point, the intervals of hours were firmly divided, with this deed performed, the first day and night were established, and forced to carry their  roles til the termination of eternity.

2.        

2.

 Ever since I was a child, I can firmly remember, my father’s insistence to take my six brothers and I to church every Sunday, rain or shine. Priest Francis taught the young kids about bible scriptures, stories told the great wisdom of Solom or the mystical Garden of Eden. Oddly, my favorite was the one he told of the creation of Earth, how God, I presumed because he  was lonely, created la cielo, Heaven, and la tierra, Earth. God crammed much toil in his creation, shaping the formless land into sculpture, creating light where light was absent. He severed the light from the darkness and laid the sunken vastness down with millas y millas of sparkling clear ocean. God named the divisions la luz del dia and la noche for Day and Night. Sometimes when the Day starts to sputter out rain, I wonder if it’s crying from aloneness, a loneliness that it can’t shuddered off.

3.        

3. 

My fellow brethren, this is the opportunity of which we have become allowed with, to be able to transform God’s creation of the Heaven and Earth into one lit with the light of equality. Right now, as far as I can see, it is as if the Earth were still without form, void in every corner, darkness upon our faces to one another, the oceans drained away. Is this what God intended? To have our fellow brothers and sisters walk among us, live among us, while discriminating one another? The tide of the waters will change and flow through the valleys to become the seas, the void will shape into strong mountains of justice, and God will lead us to bring in new light to this dark, dark land! The Night will never again overcome our righteousness; the Darkness and Day will be separated and all these 340 years we have waited, we will finally be blessed to see the Light.

4.        

4. 

It is hard to imagine such a time when the chains of Darkness and void have not been coiled around our ankles, although I can presume in the near future years, if I may speak truthfully, that these bounds will hold our dispositions down no longer. The Majesty of Heaven, one I revere above all earthly kings, will rise and sever the chains, and wash away the snares of our enemies, cleanse the ground with oceans and seas till only the truth is left. The lamp of God shall light my steps by which my feet are guided and soon after the light will illuminate the whole of the world. Such Darkness and Light will be transfixed apart from one another, but until then we cannot find peace nor hope.

5.        

5. 

There was a considerable amount of contemplation that must have proceeded before the creation of the Heaven and Earth, which in their simplest forms include very complex internal systems. The beginning stages of God’s creation, the land, was, obviously, without form and completely void of any living creatures. The waters were put into the sunken down areas which comprised of most of the terrestrial land (the waters in the Red Sea will later be raised by Moses as described in the Old Testament with modern backings from Ron Wyatt). After the water was instilled, the light was put forth and indeed, it was a relief after the darkness that prevailed constantly. The light was separated by certain unexplainable means of maneuvering from the darkness and God named them, generically, Day and Night. 

 Answers: 

1.  Nathaniel Hawthorne

2. Sandra Cisneros

3. MLK

4. Patrick Henry

5. Neil Postman

 

SOAPSTONE: "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!"

For all of you out there who are not familiar with SOAPSTONE, it is an acronym for writing analytical pieces on short pieces.

It stands for...

S: speaker
O: occasion
A: audience
P: purpose
S: syntax
Tone: well, its tone.

Here's SOAPSTONE applied to Patrick Henry's famous "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!"speech.

(soapstone, rock...kind of similar)

 Speaker:

Patrick Henry is an undeniably articulate speaker who can rally up passionate patriotism in his audience. Throughout his “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, he epitomizes the ideal courageous, god-fearing patriot. Henry addresses his audience respectfully, but he professionally delivers his points on the ignorance of the colonists towards the English crown. Overall, Patrick Henry is a brilliant motivational speaker who incorporates effective rhetoric in his speech.

Occasion:

Patrick Henry is addressing the speech to the audience of the Virginian Convention in hopes to persuade them to bid war against the English crown. During the time of his speech, America, as a country, did not yet come into existence. The colonists were divided on the topic of war. British oppression was exercised, heavy taxes were issued without representation and British militants were stationed to “protect” the colonists. The period was tension-filled; Henry had to address his audience carefully, persuading not forcing them.

Audience:

The audience of the Virginian Convention was defined as important white men with status in the colonies. As shown by Henry’s many references to God in his speech, the men in the audience were most likely god-fearing as well. Not all of the audience members agreed with Henry from the start, they all had mixed opinions. In example, “I hope it will not be thought disrespectful of those worthy gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite of theirs, I shall speak my sentiments freely and without reserve.” He addresses the audience in a manner that shows respect toward their perspective but simultaneously pointing out their stupidity in opinions.

Purpose:

The purpose of this speech is explicit. Henry wishes to persuade his fellow colonists to take up arms against King George III, gaining independence from Great Britain. He uses various, complex forms of rhetoric and parallelism to persuade the Convention to see from his mindset. Henry induces his audience to sever ties with England and fight for freedom.

Syntax:

Obviously shown from the astute usage of sentence structure and subtle emphasizes on certain motif words, Patrick Henry is a brilliant orator. His sentences are full of short interruptions which pause to respectfully address the audience and create pauses that allow the audience to fully absorb his points. Certain words are emphasized by repetition. He utilizes rhetorical questions, for example, “Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not…?” He uses rhetorical questions to give specific ideas to the audience without forcing them to accept it but rather guiding them to believe it. Henry also incorporates parallel structured sentences into his speech, listing out the offences of the English crown in a manner that magnifies its faults, “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and implored interposition to arrest”.

Tone:

Henry’s speech is extremely well-thought out. It shows the careful ways he manipulated his words to form direct but respectful remarks towards his audience. His tone is urging. Henry wishes his audience to take up arms against the crown urgently. Throughout his speech he displays passionate patriotism, rising to a climax of it at the end of his last lines, “Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”

Global Eyes: Nasr City, Egypt

This essay was written as an extension from an MLK piece, "Letter from Birmingham Jail".

I know it's a little outdated because I wrote it during the summer 2013 when the incident happened but I never got the chance to upload it.

Prompt: Read your local newspaper for several days, collecting articles about a
controversial subject that interests you. Using information from the articles take a position
on the issue, and write an essay supporting it. Be sure to document all material you borrow
from your sources.

 

Chaos in Egypt

By Katy Zou

A country that does not seek to separate its religious and military interests from its political aspirations will surely find itself in failure and chaos. The American constitution has shown that separation of religion and political party militaries places order in the governmental structure, ensuring well representation and fair representation for the people. The ongoing power changes and violence brewing in Egypt resulted in strong adherence of politics to the Islam faith and the militarist self-interests meddling with politics. As hard as Egypt struggles to convert herself to a democracy, this cannot be done if certain aspects of interference continue to influence government politics. The Egyptian military, in order to restore order, should not interfere with politics to support their own self-interests or harm peaceful protesters.

The Nasr City protesting event is a prime example of unregulated control of the military. Peaceful protestors in Cairo were massacred like herds of animals when the plan was originally to disperse them peacefully and guarantee safe passage. The specific death toll is uncertain but about more than 400 lay dead and thousands wounded. Doctors, family members, and people attempting to help the injured were shot with snipers and rifles as well. The lack of enforcement power and failure to carry out the actions promised by leaders of the military resulted in the death of hundreds and furthermore muddled the complications in Egypt.

The peaceful protestors who stood ground in Nasr City had every democratic right to be there. Egypt is not a democracy. However, Egypt should realize that democracy or not, violence should not be enacted on peaceful protesting; it can erupt in civil disorder. With the ever-increasing complications of the Egyptian political affairs, unnecessary violence increases as well. The question of whether the military or the protestors opened fire first but either way, the peaceful should not have been killed. It is the duty of the police to protect the people, not kill them. It is the duty of the police to protect the rights of the people, not strip them away. The police force, or military, should stay out of the political sphere of influence, keeping it one sole job as to protect its citizens.

Egypt is in a current disorder of unpredictable chaos and violence. The protectors of the people are killing the people and interfering in politics, greedy for power. In this time of violence and discontent, the best solution would be to protect the opinion of the masses, the opinion of the people. In order to restore the peace, the military must consume itself to protecting the people and remain neutral in politics.

Sources

1.       Coker, Margaret. "Egyptians Brace for More Bloodshed." Wall Street Journal 16 008 2013, A1. Print.

also on webpage: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324139404579014371839426440.html

2.      Entous, Adam, Carol E. Lee, and Julian E. Barnes. "U.S. Treads Lightly as Crisis Deepens." Wall Street Journal 16 008 2013, A1 &A7. Print.

Also on webpage: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323455104579015171553352730.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

3.      Abi-Habib, Maria. "Vicious Backlash Shakes One Egyptian Town." Wall Street Journal 16 008 2013, A6. Print.

Also on webpage: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324139404579015061439067186.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

4.      "America's Interests in Egypt." Wall Street Journal 16 008 2013, A12. Print.

Also on webpage:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323639704579012864220982826.html

5.       "The storm before the storm." (2013): n. page. Web. 19 Aug. 2013. <http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21583718-bloody-confrontation-streets-cairo-damaging-development-and-could-be>.

6.      Mohamed, Feisal G. "Egypt in Crisis: Ten Observations." Dissent. (2013): n. page. Web. 19 Aug. 2013. <http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/egypt-in-crisis-ten-observations>.

7.      Trew, Bel. "They Struck Us Down Like Animals." Foreign Policy. n. page. Web. 21 Aug. 2013. <http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/14/they_struck_us_down_like_animals_muslim_brotherhood_violence_egypt?page=0,1>.