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Articles from Paul Thompson | Selfgrowth.com
- AP Calculus and/or AP English Language: How To Choose Your AP Exams - by Submitted on Jul 07, 2011 from Paul ThompsonMany high school students choose to enroll in Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses because they believe that taking more rigorous courses will help them get into their top-choice universities. This is definitely true (though the student also needs to do very well in those ...
Views: 612 - Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet: On the Page and on the Stage - by Submitted on Jun 29, 2011 from Paul ThompsonProfessors can take a lot of approaches when it comes to teaching Shakespeare. Some professors would teach the Bard’s works like they would any other kind of literature: with lots and lots of theory. Economic theory for The Merchant of Venice, racial theory for Othello, psychoanalytic theory for ...
Views: 657 - Fresh Prince of SAT prep, The Great Gatsby quotes, and a Macbeth summary – yeah…that’s cool - by Submitted on Jun 29, 2011 from Paul ThompsonNow this is the story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down. And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there! I’d like to tell you how I became a prince of a town called… Wait. What? West Egg? Isn’t that where Big Bird was raised??Apparently this isn’t a story about me ...
Views: 937 - Hurry up! Teach the Great Gatsby, finish that PSAT prep course, and get home to Huckleberry Finn - by Submitted on Jun 29, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWhat’s better than mystery, love, deceit, and death? Not much, you say? Then do we have the course for you!Should you decide to take our PSAT prep course not only will you leave with the knowledge you need to be successful on the PSAT, but you will be able to teach The Great Gatsby to your ...
Views: 683 - CAHSEE, AP Exams and the SAT: Oh, My! - by Submitted on Jun 29, 2011 from Paul ThompsonStandardized tests seem to be universally disliked. Students hate studying for them, hate taking the myriad practice tests that instructors (or their parents) will frequently require, hate the tests themselves, hate waiting weeks for the results, and, depending on how they did, hate re-taking ...
Views: 539 - The Red Badge of Courage, The Great Gatsby and Atonement: Crucial Texts for WWI, WWII and the Civil War - by Submitted on Jun 17, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWhile novels should never replace non-fiction books in any history classroom, works of fiction written around and about important historical events can add an extra level of depth to a student’s understanding of history. Just as historical context can improve a reader’s understanding of a novel, ...
Views: 939 - The Memo Said: A connection between the SAT and AP US Government has been discovered - by Submitted on May 06, 2011 from Paul ThompsonMmmmm….yeah. Did ya get that memo??Oh. You mean the memo that says it’s my year to take the SAT? Yeah. I got it. What about it? I have plenty of time to prep… Does this internal conversation sound familiar? Then hold onto your hats and glasses ‘cause here we go!It’s your senior year and ...
Views: 695 - Life and War: WWI and WWII in British and American Fiction - by Submitted on May 06, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWhile there are plenty of novels written about wars, sometimes the absence, aftermath, or anticipation of a war can define a literary work just as much. No one need doubt how World War I affected Frederic Henry in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. In fact, no one who’s read any Hemingway can doubt ...
Views: 683 - Readers and Writers: What Does Reading Huckleberry Finn do to a Student's Writing? - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThere are a variety of different theories as to how to best teach students to write. Some teachers argue that a deep understanding of writing mechanics is necessary for becoming a good writer, and that all teachers should emphasize the rules of spelling, grammar, and diction. Others believe that ...
Views: 628 - Macbeth, AP Calculus and Soccer: The Stressful Life of a High School Senior - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThere’s been a lot of research conducted lately about the amount of stress that high school seniors are enduring. Apparently it’s skyrocketed recently, and researchers and social scientists are trying to figure out why this is and what can be done.This is pretty shocking, considering that ...
Views: 1165 - AP US History + the ACT = you? - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2011 from Paul ThompsonClose your eyes (perhaps squint so you can still read this) and imagine this scenario: You are a junior in high school sitting in a class. Not just any class, but a class with your favorite teacher and your favorite subject. US History. AP US History to be exact. It’s the first day of class ...
Views: 623 - AP US Government, the SAT, and a bunch of other stuff - by Submitted on Apr 08, 2011 from Paul ThompsonConcentration camps. Third Reich. Axis. Allies. Hitler. Mussolini. FDR. Winston Churchill. Imagine your now-grandfather hearing these words and names in every-day conversation as a senior in high school in early 1941. Would he even know who Hitler was? Does anyone in his family follow ...
Views: 648 - Old Money vs. New Money in the Great Gatsby - by Submitted on Mar 25, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThe concept of “new” and “old” money is hard for the average modern reader to understand. In most parts of the country, the term “nouveau riche” isn’t often used, and with the onslaught of new Internet millionaires and billionaires in the last decade, the judgment is certainly no longer there. ...
Views: 15107 - Minor Characters, Major Impact: A Look at the Minor Characters in Hamlet, Macbeth and To Kill a Mockingbird - by Submitted on Mar 25, 2011 from Paul ThompsonMinor characters serve an important role in literature. Frequently, it’s the minor characters in novels that the reader will connect with and especially enjoy, even more than the protagonist. Mansfield Park’s deliciously manipulative Mary Crawford is infinitely more intriguing than the painfully ...
Views: 4347 - Bittersweet Redemption in The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter - by Submitted on Mar 25, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThe concept of redemption is a popular one in literature. Perhaps the very first story of redemption is the story of the Prodigal Son. It comes from the New Testament, and is a story of two brothers. The older brother is obedient and hardworking; the other leaves the family home, squanders his ...
Views: 6128 - More Than a Summary of Their Parts: Hamlet, Macbeth, and Catcher in the Rye - by Submitted on Feb 05, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWhile opinions on literature differ significantly, most scholars agree on which works of literature can be considered “great.” Not necessarily “great reads” but great as in the effort the author made to create them, the impact they had on the world around them, and their likelihood of standing ...
Views: 1107 - Catcher in the Rye, Macbeth, Great Gatsby: What Your Favorite Quotes Say About You - by Submitted on Feb 04, 2011 from Paul ThompsonAlmost everyone has a favorite quote; something they find especially touching, thought-provoking, intelligent, or just funny. Some people's favorite quotes are ironic, some are serious, and some just make absolutely no sense. Previously, true quote-fanatics had only a limited number of ways to ...
Views: 859 - Know Thy Enemy: A Guide to Successful AP English Literature Test Preparation - by Submitted on Feb 04, 2011 from Paul ThompsonAll one has to do is go to the test preparation section of any major bookstore to see what serious business it is. Books, DVDs, guides, games. There are classes and private tutors and online tutorials and forums galore. Testing has become such a crucial part of the high school experience; no ...
Views: 726 - What Students Learn in AP US History or AP US Government Can Help Them in Their Other Classes - by Submitted on Jan 28, 2011 from Paul ThompsonAs undergraduate and graduate programs get more and more interdisciplinary, it does not seem that high schools are following suit. The traditional high school curriculum is still strictly divided into academic subjects: English, history, math, science, foreign language and the arts. Students are ...
Views: 507 - SAT, ACT, AP Exams: What To Do (And When) For College-Bound Students - by Submitted on Jan 28, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWaiting until the senior year to start making oneself attractive to colleges is one of the biggest mistakes a high school can make. Colleges like to see sustained achievement across all of the high school years, both academic and extracurricular. When an admissions officer looks at an ...
Views: 541 - Choosing Your AP Course: AP English Language and AP Microeconomics - by Submitted on Jan 28, 2011 from Paul ThompsonAny savvy high school student has known that he or she should take Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses if he or she wants to be a competitive applicant to top universities. College admissions are definitely getting more and more competitive, but high school students are ...
Views: 595 - Sure, You Love To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes and Characters, But Will Your Sixth Grader? - by Submitted on Jan 28, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThe age that a person is first exposed to a particular work of literature can greatly affect how she relates to it. Giving someone a book to read before she is ready for it can prevent her from ever wanting to give it a chance again. She can decide that's weird or too confusing, and even though ...
Views: 848 - Wherefore Art Thou: A search for the romance in Romeo and Juliet - by Submitted on Jan 28, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWhen people are trying to describe an incredible love story, a beautiful romance, a couple so right for each other they seem to have been predestined by fate, two names are almost always on the tips of their tongues: Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare's tragic tale of two "star-crossed ...
Views: 561 - Why there are no female versions of The Outsiders or Catcher in the Rye - by Submitted on Jan 07, 2011 from Paul ThompsonIt's rare that a story featuring an adolescent girl is considered a "classic" novel. Sure, there are tons of books that star teenage girls. They get made into television series like Gossip Girl or movie franchises like the Sisterhood of Travelling Pants or The Princess Diaries. There's nothing ...
Views: 1089 - What's Your Great Gatsby? Love story, 1920s story or money story? - by Submitted on Jan 07, 2011 from Paul ThompsonF. Scott Fitzgerald's classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, like a lot of novels that have withstood the test f time, means a lot of different things to different people. To some, it's a love story. Jay Gatsby is in love with Daisy, but if unable to pursue her because he doesn't have enough ...
Views: 1384(1 vote) - Southern Identity and the Causes of the Civil War, German Identity and WWII - by Submitted on Jan 07, 2011 from Paul ThompsonA true Southerner is classified by three distinct characteristics: a love of a fried food that people from the other regions of the country may respect, but will never understand; strong feelings about the superiority of their state university’s football program; and finally, very certain ...
Views: 813 - Huck Finn, Great Expectations or To Kill a Mockingbird: What a person's favorite book says about him or her - by Submitted on Jan 07, 2011 from Paul ThompsonNot everyone has a favorite book. It's certainly not a requirement. But with all the novels that have been written through the centuries, it's pretty shocking to meet someone who can't think of just one book that they've read that they like the most. It's worrisome, to be honest. Of course, not ...
Views: 976(1 vote) - How To Get Into College: Advice on the PSAT, SAT and other college entrance examinations - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2010 from Paul ThompsonCollege admissions are getting more and more competitive all the time, and it's not surprising that today's high school students are feeling anxious about getting admitted to their top choice college. Unfortunately, there's no magic wand to automatically prepare someone for college applications, ...
Views: 642 - Great American Novel Contenders: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and The Scarlet Letter - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2010 from Paul ThompsonAmongst many clichés in the world of literature is the concept of the Great American Novel. Some argue that it is still waiting to be written, and some argue that it was written long ago and no piece of fiction that follows will ever touch it. This article aims to examine some of the novels that ...
Views: 2921 - Female characters in Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2010 from Paul ThompsonWilliam Shakespeare is generally considered an avant-garde writer with progressive ideas about gender. Because of the era in which he wrote, the women in his plays generally had to be wives, servants, or a woman of some type of ill repute. But an examination of the female characters of three of ...
Views: 2683 - Favorite Book as Personality Test The Catcher in the Rye, The Lord of the Flies and The Outsiders - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2010 from Paul ThompsonA person's favorite book says a lot about who they are. For one, it may be an example of the last time he or she read something. Avid readers tend to place a lot of value on other people's books of choice, but what do certain books say about the people who love them?J.D. Salinger's famous novel ...
Views: 1859 - Don't Mix Up WWII and the Vietnam War: Study tips for the AP US History Exam - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2010 from Paul ThompsonStudying for history exams is generally one of the more painful tasks a high school student can take on. While history itself can be a fascinating subject, full of intrigue, drama, and betrayal, studying for a history exam is generally anything other the fascinating. It consists of memorizing ...
Views: 715 - Lifestyles of the Fabulously Rich and Dissatisfied in The Great Gatsby - by Submitted on May 18, 2010 from Paul ThompsonAs America’s most famous novel about the Roaring Twenties, The Great Gatsby helped create an image of the 1920’s as a ten-year party ranking high in the list of eras to visit given time-traveling capabilities. The decade is now synonymous with fringed flappers, bobbed hair, and glamorous ...
Views: 4812 - Want to Save College Tuition? More Students than Ever are Taking AP English and AP US History Exams - by Submitted on Apr 23, 2010 from Paul ThompsonCompetition to get into college has gotten out of control. The playbook on admissions strategies has become fatter than the college textbooks themselves - which is saying something if you've ever had to tote around the Fundamentals of Physics series. Nowadays there are programs that coach ...
Views: 837(1 vote) - Lyrical Contradictions in Sweet Home Alabana, Livin’ on a Prayer, and Paper Plans - by Submitted on Apr 23, 2010 from Paul ThompsonSweet Home Alabama is the ubiquitous feel-good song. It lends itself to everything from summer road trips to drunken frat parties to scenes of Forrest Gump dancing inflexibly with his Jenny. Its easy mix of blues, country, and rock tends to obscure the fact that it’s been a politically-charged ...
Views: 1217(1 vote) - Know Your Roosevelts: a Look at the Lives of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Teddy Roosevelt - by Submitted on Apr 23, 2010 from Paul ThompsonFranklin Delano Roosevelt was born in 1882 into an extremely wealthy family. We’re talking townhouse in Hyde Park, summer home in Maine, private railroad car wealthy. Contrary to what you might expect, however, his upbringing was extremely disciplined. As a child he had a strict daily routine, ...
Views: 1176(1 vote) - Hamlet, The Catcher in the Rye, and the Age-Old Story of Teen Angst - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2010 from Paul ThompsonDespite what marketers would have you believe, angst is not just a gelled, chiseled, perfectly unkempt product of the Twilight phenomenon. Holden Caulfield is king of twentieth-century angst, and he was kicking around with a buzz cut back in the 1950’s. Søren Kierkegaard set the philosophical ...
Views: 1427(1 vote) - What the Female Catcher in the Rye Characters Tell Us About Holden Caulfield - by Submitted on Dec 30, 2009 from Paul ThompsonThe main theme of The Catcher in the Rye is isolation, which is interesting coming from a guy who spills his guts to the world for 200 pages. Nevertheless, the contradiction characterizes Holden Caulfield perfectly; he can’t decide whether to call all his buddies together for a round of drinks ...
Views: 2650(3 votes) - Doing the Wrong Thing the Right Way: A Look at the Characters in Macbeth and Hamlet - by Submitted on Oct 23, 2009 from Paul Thompson"The Tragedy of Macbeth" and "The Tragedy of Hamlet" are Shakespeare’s most widely read plays featuring royalty as main characters. Both are about the violent overthrow of the throne, both contain plenty of needless casualties, and both are gruesome enough to drive their leading ladies to ...
Views: 741(1 vote) - FDR and Mark Twain Quotes, and Why We Love to Quote Them - by Submitted on Oct 12, 2009 from Paul ThompsonSamuel Langhorn Clemens (better known as Mark Twain) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt don't seem to have especially much in common except for the fact that they are both as American as apple pie – which, true to form, is actually a British concoction. Both have cool nicknames ("Mark Twain" and ...
Views: 1502(2 votes) - Lies, Innuendo and Oneupmanship in Shakespeare's Poetry - by Submitted on Aug 17, 2009 from Paul ThompsonShakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” is unique in its unglamorous portrayal of the so-called “Dark Lady” to whom it is addressed. In it, the narrator offers us a startlingly generous list of differences between the Dark Lady and your stereotypical beauty: she has ugly lips, a bad complexion, frizzy hair, ...
Views: 1531(3 votes) - J. Alfred Prufrock, and the Dilemma of Teaching 21st Century Students - by Submitted on Aug 17, 2009 from Paul ThompsonNow that the fall semester is gearing up, you’re probably cooking up new ways of getting today’s students engaged in their studies. And since conducting class via Twitter sounds neither feasible nor appealing, it might be time to look into your other options.With more and more sites like ...
Views: 1411(2 votes) - Romeo and Juliet, Sweat, and the Value of Vulgarity in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - by Submitted on Aug 10, 2009 from Paul Thompson“To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin.” Okay, so maybe this isn’t the first line that jumps to mind when you think of the great American classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but it’s a darn important one.Ernest Hemingway wrote that Huck Finn is “the best book we've had. All American ...
Views: 1299(3 votes) - The Columbian Exchange Beginning with Spanish Colonization - by Submitted on Aug 10, 2009 from Paul ThompsonThe Europeans’ so-called discovery of the so-called New World goes down in history as one of the most important and earth-shattering moments in human history, ranking right up there with the advent of agriculture, the domestication of animals, and the discovery of the use of fire. Although the ...
Views: 4241(2 votes) - Madness, Futility, and Death: A Shakespearean Take on Poe’s “The Raven” - by Submitted on Jul 24, 2009 from Paul ThompsonEdgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is one of the most easily recognizable poems in the world, ranking it right up there with “Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit.” Written from a first-person perspective, the poem chronicles its narrator’s rapid descent into madness, paranoia, and the macabre after a ...
Views: 2443 - Visions of Dystopia in The Giver and “The Lottery” - by Submitted on Jul 23, 2009 from Paul ThompsonLois Lowry’s The Giver is only one in a huge series of classic “dystopian” literature. (Think “utopia,” then think Third Reich.) What makes it stand out from novels like 1984 or Brave New World – aside from the iconic grizzled-old-man cover – is that you might have memories of reading it already ...
Views: 8794 - Why Shakespeare Breaks Basic Writing Rules in “Sonnet 18,” “Hamlet,” and “Romeo and Juliet” - by Submitted on Jul 22, 2009 from Paul ThompsonShakespeare famously opens his “Sonnet 18” with the question, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” and then proceeds to do exactly that. Aside from establishing rhythmic continuity and rhyme scheme, this may not seem like the best use of the reader’s time – especially considering that ...
Views: 1561 - Death, Dating, and Crazy Shut-Ins: Southern Gothic Writing in “A Rose for Emily” and To Kill a Mockingbird - by Submitted on Jul 20, 2009 from Paul ThompsonSouthern Gothic is an American subgenre of the Gothic style, which is probably most familiar to you from the Brontë sisters of Victorian England. (No, we’re not talking Hot Topic here.) Like its European progenitor, the Southern Gothic style relies heavily on the supernatural – only with less ...
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