I'll try to do that, only 2 weeks left in the triad though

MySpace = ****. Get a real blog.

(I can even give you one if you want)

It's not like *memorizing* all the details, it's noticing them so you understand what the author's actually trying to say rather than getting a vague perception and ruining his/her artistic imagery

this stuff helps you on the sat too aaha

I.. just.. can't.. do.. that. It's too hard for me, I mentally cannot think that much about a book, to me its a bunch of words about someone elses problems that don't pertain to me... why should I care if there are underlying subtilities?

cuz it helps you on your P/SAT reading comp and gets you into college :p


(And plus it's just a good skill to have. I hate doing it, but whenever I get something it feels good)

Thats true... but I'm not gonna take english in college

English is a required course for you to graduate from college. There still are required courses in college, you know .. at least for first couple years

Yeah. Be prepared for a year of English in college.

Reid, go to your teacher and ask for help. I used to be really bad at writing essays as well, but by getting help I figured out how to do sopretty well.

More reasoning to go to a vocational school/become an aprentice. (this is rather biased since I plan on going to a wooden boat building school.)

Alright, I'm getting good advice. I had a long brain fart and forgot that the teacher is sopposed to teach not give work.

Yes, Geometry was wonderfully easy for me. I finished the year with a 99 average. Got to Algebra II, and barely scraped a 90 after much pain and suffering....

Pre-cal is going awfully for me so far this year though. I'm really not very good at math. I kinda have a learning disability of sorts with it, but it's far too complicated to go into right here. English on the other hand is my forte. I love English, Literature, Poetry, Writing, History, Drama, all of those fine arts and language related subjects. I finished 9th grade English with a 100 average on every quarter!

I got to 10th grade and it went down to the low 90's though.

Either way, take these guys advice. Make sure you communicate with your teacher about your needs and questions. Arrange tutoring sessions, or ask for a moment after class maybe, or even plan to devote a certain amount of time each day to soley English related stuff. Don't cram, but study and learn over a period of time. Reading is helpful, but I think some peopel make out that if you read a lot you'll be fine. Not true. I really don't read much anymore, and I do really well.

Don't get me wrong, reading has definate advantages. But don't assume that it is your ticket to an "A". Really, a discerning mind, good vocabulary, and knack for memorization and critical thinking will help. Reading definately helps, but this isn't limited to classics. Even reading debates on Massassi or news articles on-line will help give you a foothold on analytical thinking.

This is the only non-school related reading I do.

You take Algebra 2 after geo? In my school, you either get:
Algebra 2 - Geo - Precalc/Trig - Calc AB

or:
Geo - Precalc/Trig - Calc AB - Calc BC

normally its Algebra 1 - Geo - Algebra 2 - Math Analasys/Pre calculus
for smart people its geo - algebra 2 - math ana/ precalc - calc ab. Most kids at my school are dumb so there is no triginometry

Dude...you *speak* English.

Just kidding. I got a C- in English III Honors. I hate the class, teachers, and peers.

Also, I'm learning 3 other languages, so that doesn't help my English either.

Yeah, my school does it slightly differently.

8th grade
Advanced Math - > Algebra I
Regular Math - > Pre-Algebra

And then in Highschool:
Geometry -> Algebra II -> Pre-Calculus -> AP Calculus

or

Algebra I -> Geometry -> Algebra II -> Pre-Calculus

or

Algebra I -> Geometry -> Algebra II -> Trig/Statistics

I'm currently on track to take AP Calc for my Senior Year

Why is calc a bad thing? I'm thrilled to take Calculus

I failed pre-algebra in 8th grade.

Then in summer school I passed Algebra I with an A. Take that, *****.

'Cause it's gonna KICK YOUR *** LOL

You have a left sided mind, which means your good at boring stuff like math physics geometry but you suck at creative stuff like art, english etc.

Personally im the opposite, and gladly. You can accomplish alot with a left sided mind but i just find it boring.

I got 95% on my English 12 Provincial exam btw, which is something like top 2% in my province (British columbia) {/end shameless bragging}

I passed Algebra 1 with an A+ in 8th grade. Take that, *****.

[QUOTE=Raoul Duke]You have a left sided mind, which means your good at boring stuff like math physics geometry but you suck at creative stuff like art, english etc.

Personally im the opposite, and gladly. You can accomplish alot with a left sided mind but i just find it boring.[/QUOTE]
I've heard about this before, and right brained people are more creative and are generally better at math and science. You have it backwards. The funny thing is most CEOs and criminals are right brained

6th grade: prealg
-> Alg I H
-> Geometry
-> Alg 2 H (Freshman year)
-> Precalc H 10
-> AP Calc BC
-> Adv Seminar (Senior year)

I switched schools in 9th grade, but my old school (public) does it the same way if you stay on the track

Slightly less advanced people:
->Math Analysis H (Sophomore year)
->Intro to Calc H (last half of precalc + Calc A)
->AP Calc BC (Senior year)

[QUOTE=Raoul Duke]You have a left sided mind, which means your good at boring stuff like math physics geometry but you suck at creative stuff like art, english etc.

Personally im the opposite, and gladly. You can accomplish alot with a left sided mind but i just find it boring.[/QUOTE]

This guy is on a roll for some reason. Usually I hate his guts.

No one is good at anything, and no one is truely balanced in mind until you are older. Right now, you might be having trouble with more of the less logical and radical stuff such as English and Art, but more better at logical reason like Mathematics and Biology/chemestry/whatever. Just work hard on the ones you have trouble with.

Like this thread, you mean?

[edit]
oops I read that wrong well you have a good point, I guess

Hahah I thought the same thing. I think its because there are no controversial threads right now. But anyways, I'm pretty sure I dont have it mixed up with the right/left brain thing. *just checked and no I am not wrong... I remembered because I thought left seemed like the one that would be creative but it was not so I remembered that*

I've always been like this but it's been harder this year

It didn't get harder for no reason. Factors can upset the mental balance of mind, causeing it to be more difficult to conenctrate and focus.

Any kind of extra stress, trauma, or even just because it is too sunny or too rainy out doors can be factors to how you think.

Well....
I don't see how either subject could be that hard. I got an A in Geometry last year and I consistently get A's in English.... Damn, what could be so hard about writing? If you're literate, writing is a breeze... and grammar is basically just memorization.
In fact....
I think I'm too good at English for a guy. The girls are mostly the big language freaks.

English is easy... just write whatever you feel like writing. Don't worry so much about it. And I agree with everyone else - high school classes are probably nothing compared to a university. I myself am just a freshman, but from what I've been told about college.... man.

Burnsauce.

Really, take a higher level English class.

My freshmen and sophmore junior years in high school, I hated English. I never did well, passed with a low D each year. By a scheduling mistake, my junior year I got put in an IB English class. IB (International Baccalaureate, considered on the same level, if not higher than AP, and credit is internationally recognized) was a huge step up than a college prep english class, than you know doubt would have guessed. But oddly enough, it wasn't hard at all for me. There wasn't anymore needless vocab, grammar, create your own bookcovers, etc. Everyone in the class was serious, and interested in the texts we read.

Sometimes there was some more work, a lot of reading, essays, etc, but it gets pretty easy after a while, once it becomes a kind of procedure. Wouldn't you rather be writing about something interesting in a book? Something deeper than just "compare two characters in the novel", or doing vocab worksheets. If you really are pushed to do well, its so much easier to do well. You don't have kids making jokes all class or kids afraid to say all the answers because they're trying to impress the other kids in the class.

Now, I got somewhere in the high 80's in that class, and doing fine in it my senior year. English went from my least favourite and worst subject, to my best. Maybe it's just me, but I think if you feel compelled to do well, you'll do it.

I used to hate English because I too was never good at discerning hidden details within the plot, descriptions of locations and setting, etc. However, I was able to come to terms with the fact that it doesn't matter if I can pick those things out, because as long as I have an idea about the work that I can support with evidence from the text, I have everything I need to be succesful. I am now almost halfway through my Junior year in college as an English major. The most important thing you need to do is formulate your OWN opinion about a text, and support it with evidence from the text. Your teacher cannot tell you your idea is wrong if you can provide sufficient evidence to back up your idea. The only thing they can do at that point is tell you they disagree, but they will not grade you down for it.

His eyes were as blue as the sky; his face shined with brightness of the sun; his body was well built and as strong as a bull.

<

eyes.color = "blue";
face.brightness++;
body_type = strong;

I'm the other way around. I get perfect scores in English, and narrowly pass my math classes.

Except for geometry, which everyone gets an A in.

I got a C in Geometry.

That might explain why I suck at modelling >.>

I hate math because the way they teach it in schools, it all seems so pointless. How many times has some kid raised his hand in math class and asked the stupid *** question "When the hell are we ever going to use this in real life?"...The truth is you will use it but the way they present it makes it hard to see any use.

I got C's in Calc 3 and Differential Equations. I still don't understand much from Calc 3, but I get Diff Eq now that we're doing it a lot more in Circuit Theory. Main reason I got a C was because Calc 3 was at 9:00 am, and I'm a night owl and have a hard time getting up in the morning.

Though my favorite math classes by far were Statistics and Discrete Mathematics. I kind of want to take Fractals and Chaos Theory too, but I don't know if I want to deal with FORTRAN, which they use in that class.

[quote=Raoul Duke]How many times has some kid raised his hand in math class and asked the stupid *** question "When the hell are we ever going to use this in real life?"[/quote]

As my Discrete professor said - when you become a math teacher. But honestly, Diff Eqs are so incredibly useful when dealing with LTI circuits, it's not even funny. I'm actually looking forward to doing Laplace Transforms on circuits.

well looking from this convo, i understand very little

im from england btw. im at secondary school at the mo (high school :P) and will have finished by this time next year. then i will be going onto doing A levels. i hope..

I hate English too. I get (relatively) good grades in all of my sciences, maths, and even other languages, but I can't do English. This year, I think, it's because I get really pissed off when I go into the class. I hate my English teacher (this is the second year in a row I've had her) and what she's teaching me.

What I don't get, is why English (the way it is currently taught) is a required course. Literature is supposed to be an art, right? Well at most schools only two years of the other fine arts are required, in any combination. Literary analysis is just one of those things that you either like and talented at, or you're not, just like music or visual arts (And don't go telling me how people can become good at anything. I said "talented" and just because you're good at it doesn't mean you really like it). If music or art aren't required past a certain point, why should Literary Analysis?

I kept saying "literary analysis" instead of "English" because I'm certainly not opposed to a class that teaches grammar and language rules, and teaches how to write effectively. In fact, I feel that I cannot yet write effectively enough. All I've learned from all of my English classes so far (I'm a Junior in high school) is the basic five-paragraph essay structure, and how to write a basic comparison and contrast essay. Never, though, have I learned how to write a good essay. There are hundreds of tips and tricks and pieces of advice that can make an essay better, but I've never heard any of them from an English teacher. All of my teachers have simply assigned an essay, given us a grade, and then moved on to "dig deep" into some poetry that isn't interesting enough to hold my attention anyway.

In my English class this year, we're spending a whole quarter (I think, I don't have the syllabus with me now) and another one or two on literary analysis of classic works. What skills does literary analysis teach me? What job (besides English teacher or literary criticist) requires this kind of work? I can think of one important thing, and that is exposure to classic and famous works. I do like it that I now understand more jokes than I did before (many of them having to do with "the rabbits"). Also, I love Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night's dream is one of my favorite works of literature, and it is most definitely my favorite play. I do not, however, like studying Shakespeare in class. I'm not looking forward to studying Hamlet this year in English. Why? Because instead of focusing on simply understanding the play, we look at what the Raven, as a symbol represents.

I understand that there are people that like literary analysis. I do sometimes find cool things in the text that I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been looking carefully (though sadly, those are never the things we discuss in class). Even so, I do think that the class shouldn't be required, or should be retooled to focus on how to write well and maybe simply reading classic works, not analysing them in depth.




(Also, I found geometry to be harder than my A2/Trig class and my IB HL1 class)