Gold assignment for the week of June 29^th to July 5^th.

This week we will concentrate on the essay. Beginning next week we will work on Math for a few weeks as that seems to be the weak spot for many of you. I’ve added a ton of help for the SAT essay on my site to help you. Much of it is from the spring strategy class but PLEASE take a look at it. Go to the site and click on SAT Prep. Then click on assignment for week 2. YOU CAN DO IT! I can’t wait to see how many of you get a perfect score when you retake the test. Please remember that on your registration form, in the small print, it states that if you get a perfect score in any area, I get a new Porsche (red; black leather interior, at least 8 speakers on the sound system).

ASSIGNMENT

Go to your flash drive and click on common sat words. Go through the list of the first 100 words and copy the first 20 words that you don’t recognize (if you recognize more than 80 of the words, go to the next list on that page and continue until you have 20 words. I would like you to first find the meaning for each word you might want to use www.merriam-webster.com . Rewrite the meaning in your own words. Next, write an essay (instructions for the essay are below) in which you correctly use as many of these words as possible.

Part Two

The second part of the assignment is for you to practice a persuasive argument. This is the type of essay you will write for the SAT . I want you to concentrate on two things; use the words above correctly. Next, concentrate on using different sentence types. This means that I want you to use simple, complex and compound sentences in your essay. As you know, during the test you will have 25 minutes to complete the essay. Don’t use any time limits for this activity. Take as much time as you want. Before you begin this assignment watch the somewhat weird video for this week by clicking here. Then, review the tips by clicking here. The most important thing is for you to be proud of what you send me. When you finish, send me both the vocab definitions and the essay. As always, keep reading.

 The essay topic.

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.

People who like to think of themselves as tough-minded and realistic tend to take it for granted that human nature is “selfish” and that life is a struggle in which only the fittest may survive. According to this view, the basic law by which people must live is the law of the jungle. The “fittest” are those people who can bring to the struggle superior force, superior cunning, and superior ruthlessness. Adapted from S.I. Hayakawa, Language in Thought and Action

Assignment: Do people have to be highly competitive in order to succeed? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

  If you are looking for more to work on, go to the flash drive and take a look at the Greek and Latin root page. Learning these will help you to unlock the meaning of unfamiliar words.

This week, I will be available at Instant Messaging to help you with any questions you may have on Wednesday and Thursday evening from around 7 till 9 PM . My screen name is tomthemonk22. Stop in to say hello even if you have no questions. I’d love to hear from you (this is for parents as well).