Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Reflection Post
Monday was a busy day for me. I peer-edited two essays in my English class and I had a test as well. I used annotation the most for the essays because if I highlighted my classmate’s papers I’m pretty sure they wouldn't be too content about it. I also suggested some words that they could use and I underlined what I thought didn't make sense. I put question marks on unclear ideas and also added and took out some punctuation. For the test that I took on Monday I studied like no other. I opened up my English book and I did everything I knew. I highlighted, annotated, summarized, re-read, memorized key terms, underlined key facts, SQ3r, and I even read the captions in the pictures from the book(this last one didn't work at all, well at least I know that Eva Mondreau, 26, exists. Oh, and she has a cell phone too). On Wednesday I have two tests and I have to study for finals in the upcoming week. There are so many strategies that I can use that will make my scores more effective. The one's that I trust the most however, are highlighting and SQ3r. I'll probably use the rest of the strategies that I've learned anyway, but SQ3r lets me know what the reading will be about, and later, when I have to re-read the section again, I can just look at the heading that I re-wrote into a question and I’ll remember what the reading was about. Highlighting just helps me find important paragraphs with really important events or facts, and what I like about this strategy the most is that it's extremely visible. Using symbols like this one (*) also helps me single out key facts that I know will be on the test, and when study time comes, I'll know to remember that for sure. All of these strategies are beneficial to me because they really do help me do better in most of the activities that I apply them to. They even get me more focused on what I'm doing because there is so much to do.
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Divorce Generation Grows Up
Stigmatized(v.)
Synonym: brand
Antonym: generic
Sentence: Simple things, like filling out enrollment cards, "Became opportunities to feel stigmatized," he says.
Own Sentence: She was stigmatized by society because she had a child out of wedlock.
Definition: To set some mark of disgrace or infamy upon; To characterize or brand as disgraceful or ignominious.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: The sentence after the one with the actual word gave more meaning to the word. It gave me a big clue to define stigmatized.
Harmonious(adj.)
Synonym: symphonic
Antonym: unbalanced
Sentence: "I don't think I ever recall it being a harmonious family unit," says David, who has two sisters
Own Sentence: The tailored clothes were harmonious with her military bearing.
Definition: Marked by agreement in feeling, attitude, or action; forming a pleasingly consistent whole; congruous.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: The way that the sentence is written makes the word harmonious seem like it's going to mean functional or something like that.
Impromptu(adj.)
Synonym: improvised
Antonym: prepared
Sentence: "That outward calm expression has led me to be labeled as 'cold' and 'uninspiring,' and has at times hampered my ability to succeed both in my professional and personal life," says Chris, who decided to study psychology in college largely because of these impromptu therapy sessions with his dad.
Own Sentence: When he got home he found himself hungry, wanting an impromptu dinner badly.
Definition: Made or done without previous preparation; improvised; suddenly or hastily prepared.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: When I saw the word impromptu I immediately thought of improvise, I kind of knew that they were related but I wanted to find out if they were the same or not.
Synonym: brand
Antonym: generic
Sentence: Simple things, like filling out enrollment cards, "Became opportunities to feel stigmatized," he says.
Own Sentence: She was stigmatized by society because she had a child out of wedlock.
Definition: To set some mark of disgrace or infamy upon; To characterize or brand as disgraceful or ignominious.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: The sentence after the one with the actual word gave more meaning to the word. It gave me a big clue to define stigmatized.
Harmonious(adj.)
Synonym: symphonic
Antonym: unbalanced
Sentence: "I don't think I ever recall it being a harmonious family unit," says David, who has two sisters
Own Sentence: The tailored clothes were harmonious with her military bearing.
Definition: Marked by agreement in feeling, attitude, or action; forming a pleasingly consistent whole; congruous.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: The way that the sentence is written makes the word harmonious seem like it's going to mean functional or something like that.
Impromptu(adj.)
Synonym: improvised
Antonym: prepared
Sentence: "That outward calm expression has led me to be labeled as 'cold' and 'uninspiring,' and has at times hampered my ability to succeed both in my professional and personal life," says Chris, who decided to study psychology in college largely because of these impromptu therapy sessions with his dad.
Own Sentence: When he got home he found himself hungry, wanting an impromptu dinner badly.
Definition: Made or done without previous preparation; improvised; suddenly or hastily prepared.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: When I saw the word impromptu I immediately thought of improvise, I kind of knew that they were related but I wanted to find out if they were the same or not.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Curious Lives of Surrogates
Hysterectomy(n.)
Synonym: sterile
Antonym: fertile
Sentence: For Kerry and Lisa-who had a hysterectomy at the age of 20 and could never bear her own children-the benefits were obvious:Ethen and Jonathan,healthy six pound, 12-ounce boys born by C-section on March 20.
Definition: Surgical removal of part or all of the uterus.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: I knew that i t had to do something with not being able to bear children.
Surrogacy(n.)
Synonym: adoptive
Antonym: biological
Sentence: In the course of reporting this story, we discovered that many of these women are military wives who have taken on surrogacy to supplement the family income, some while their husbands are serving overseas.
Definition: A person appointed to act for another; deputy.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: At first i thought it was a job of some sort, I had no clue what it meant
Implantation(n.)
Synonym: inculcate
Antonym: removal
Sentence: The great majority of clinics can now test embryos for genetic diseases before implantation.
Definition: The movement of cells to a new region.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: You could tell right away that implantation is the procedure they use to get the surrogate pregnant.
Synonym: sterile
Antonym: fertile
Sentence: For Kerry and Lisa-who had a hysterectomy at the age of 20 and could never bear her own children-the benefits were obvious:Ethen and Jonathan,healthy six pound, 12-ounce boys born by C-section on March 20.
Definition: Surgical removal of part or all of the uterus.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: I knew that i t had to do something with not being able to bear children.
Surrogacy(n.)
Synonym: adoptive
Antonym: biological
Sentence: In the course of reporting this story, we discovered that many of these women are military wives who have taken on surrogacy to supplement the family income, some while their husbands are serving overseas.
Definition: A person appointed to act for another; deputy.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: At first i thought it was a job of some sort, I had no clue what it meant
Implantation(n.)
Synonym: inculcate
Antonym: removal
Sentence: The great majority of clinics can now test embryos for genetic diseases before implantation.
Definition: The movement of cells to a new region.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: You could tell right away that implantation is the procedure they use to get the surrogate pregnant.
The Green Bully Pulpit
Plausible(adj.)
Synonym: credible
Antonym: fabrication
Sentence: "A plausible explanation is that McCain sought to avoid taking a position that would offend either conservative primary voters or the moderate ones he will need in November."
Definition: Having an appearance of truth or reason; seemingly worthy of approval or acceptance; credible; believable (Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: By reading the paragraph i could tell what the word meant. Explanation is what truly gives it away.
Extemporaneously(adj.)
Synonym: improvised
Antonym: prepared
Sentence: His speech was brilliant -especially considering that it was so hastily prepared that the last seven minutes were delivered extemporaneously.
Definition: Spoken, performed, or composed with little or no preparation or forethought. (Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: I initially thought that extemporaneously meant brilliant or fantastic, but i re-read the sentence again and came up with the actual meaning.
Tenacity(adj.)
Synonym: hardheaded
Antonym: yielding
Sentence: Hillary Clinton has gritty tenacity and long experience dealing with balky politicians.
Definition: holding fast; characterized by keeping a firm hold;holding or tending to hold persistently to something, such as a point of view(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: When the sentence said balky politicians i knew that you hand to stand firm on your ground somehow so i got the definition with no problem.
Synonym: credible
Antonym: fabrication
Sentence: "A plausible explanation is that McCain sought to avoid taking a position that would offend either conservative primary voters or the moderate ones he will need in November."
Definition: Having an appearance of truth or reason; seemingly worthy of approval or acceptance; credible; believable (Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: By reading the paragraph i could tell what the word meant. Explanation is what truly gives it away.
Extemporaneously(adj.)
Synonym: improvised
Antonym: prepared
Sentence: His speech was brilliant -especially considering that it was so hastily prepared that the last seven minutes were delivered extemporaneously.
Definition: Spoken, performed, or composed with little or no preparation or forethought. (Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: I initially thought that extemporaneously meant brilliant or fantastic, but i re-read the sentence again and came up with the actual meaning.
Tenacity(adj.)
Synonym: hardheaded
Antonym: yielding
Sentence: Hillary Clinton has gritty tenacity and long experience dealing with balky politicians.
Definition: holding fast; characterized by keeping a firm hold;holding or tending to hold persistently to something, such as a point of view(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: When the sentence said balky politicians i knew that you hand to stand firm on your ground somehow so i got the definition with no problem.
Hillary and the Invisible Women
Conviviality(n.)
Synonym: festive
Antonym: mellow
Sentence: She doesn't come back much to visit the press, except for the odd bright-eyed moment of managed conviviality.
Definition: Friendly; agreeable; fond of feasting, drinking, and merry company.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: The clues that I got for this word were none. I had to use the dictionary to be able to know what it meant.
Inherently(adj.)
Synonym: indigenous
Antonym: extrinsic
Sentence: I looked at my friend Bill 30 years ago and I thought, If there is anything inherently healthy in the universe, you should be president one day.
Definition: Existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: Just by reading the text and realting it to what the topic was about I knew what the word meant.
Alienate(v.)
Synonym: disunite
Antonym: unite
Sentence: Or maybe it was a cunning strategy to alienate male voters expecting a Houston Astros spring-training game.
Definition: To turn away; transfer or divert; to make indifferent or hostile.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: The sentence that this word was used in made the word easy to define.
Synonym: festive
Antonym: mellow
Sentence: She doesn't come back much to visit the press, except for the odd bright-eyed moment of managed conviviality.
Definition: Friendly; agreeable; fond of feasting, drinking, and merry company.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: The clues that I got for this word were none. I had to use the dictionary to be able to know what it meant.
Inherently(adj.)
Synonym: indigenous
Antonym: extrinsic
Sentence: I looked at my friend Bill 30 years ago and I thought, If there is anything inherently healthy in the universe, you should be president one day.
Definition: Existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: Just by reading the text and realting it to what the topic was about I knew what the word meant.
Alienate(v.)
Synonym: disunite
Antonym: unite
Sentence: Or maybe it was a cunning strategy to alienate male voters expecting a Houston Astros spring-training game.
Definition: To turn away; transfer or divert; to make indifferent or hostile.(Dictionary.com)
Context Clues: The sentence that this word was used in made the word easy to define.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Reflection Post
There has not been a worse time for me to use the study skills and reading habits that I have learned. This week I’m going to watch a film in almost all of my classes. I could apply taking notes and annotating the movie but it won't be the same. Next week however, everything changes. I have to peer-edit essays in my English class and I have to study for two tests. There I can apply everything I’ve learned, from highlighting to annotating to SQ3R to even re-reading. The strategies that work the most for me are the methods of SQ3R and highlighting. I’ve noticed that my test scores and even the interest in the subject I’m doing increases drastically when I use these strategies. SQ3R helps me by knowing what the subject is going to cover, I’ll read the heading, make it into a question and I’ll have an idea on what the section I’m covering is about. Highlighting helps me remember very important details and it helps me find them a lot easier, I don't have to re-read the whole section to dissect the main ideas from the reading. I have also noticed that my vocabulary has expanded, I don't use too many big words but I’ll catch myself saying one every now then. This is great because when I have to peer-edit the essays of my class mates, I’ll have more of a probability in understanding the words that my class mates use. Re-reading will also be crucial in the understanding of the essays that my class mates write. After I read the paragraph I have difficulties with twice, I’m pretty sure that not one mistake will get away from me, I’ll also be able to identify the thesis of the paper correctly after I read it twice.
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