Self Improvement Site
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
Articles from Paul Thompson | Selfgrowth.com
- There’s Something Rotten in the State of Denmark... and It Isn’t the Eggs in Our Hamlet - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThere’s a major problem with trust between the characters in William Shakespeare’s most famous play - Hamlet. How can you blame them? They’re not the most upright, honorable bunch. In fact, they make Dexter look like a sweetheart.A couple of these Hamlet quotes pretty much say it all in a ...
Views: 1122 - The Great Depression - What’s So Great About It? - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThe Great Depression was an undeniably awful period of time in our nation’s history. The word ‘great’ is really just used here to signify the large extent to which the dire economic situation affected the American population in the 1920s. However, when we examine it more closely, perhaps the ...
Views: 1092 - 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: 1065(1 vote) - This little Piggy: Taking a Look at the Meaning of Pigs in Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies Quotes - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2011 from Paul ThompsonPigs get a bad rap some times. They’re passed off as gluttonous, greedy animals, covered in filth and sometimes their own feces. For humans, being called a pig or a hog is something rude and degrading, intended to make one feel ashamed or inferior.That’s how we generally view pigs: a dirty, ...
Views: 1051 - Considering honesty in literature in Diary of Anne Frank (Written during World War II) and To Kill a Mockingbird - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWriters like to talk about “honesty” and “truth.” They aim to tell an “honest” tale, reveal “honesty” in characters, or get the “truth” of a story on the page. What does it mean? In a fictional novel, the truth authors seek is a sincere understanding of the world and the characters they have ...
Views: 1049 - Monster Madness: Fighting and Facing the Unknown in Beowulf and Lord of the Flies - by Submitted on Jul 29, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThe word "monsters" usually recalls childhood fears of some ugly thing lurking underneath your bed, just waiting for your feet to dangle over the side so it can pull you under. It makes you remember the time when you were afraid so afraid of the dark that you had to dash quickly out of room ...
Views: 1036 - Twelfth Night: Dude Looks Like a Lady - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2011 from Paul ThompsonTo this day, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night remains one of his most widely read, performed and adored comedies. Wonder if it has something to do with the cross-dressing.Seriously. There is a lot of cross-dressing in this one. Yes, true, it’s only one character who does the dressing up, but it’s a ...
Views: 1033 - 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: 1029 - 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: 1008 - Brave New World Gives Sleep-Teaching a Bad Name - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2011 from Paul ThompsonYou may have experienced a phenomenon known as ‘sleep-teaching’ in some of your classes. In your case, however, this probably involved your forehead drooping and gradually coming to rest against your desk as your teacher droned on and on from the front of the classroom about the importance of ...
Views: 983 - Great Gatsby, Not Such a Great Tipper - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2011 from Paul ThompsonFirst of all, if you the reader happen to be one of the truly disgustingly wealthy that are the subject of this article, then it is probably not for you. We’re likely to do a lot of whining and complaining about how unfair it all is that we have to take the bus to work and you get to travel to ...
Views: 973 - Hamlet and Romeo Have Tea with Holden Caulfield: Inside Fan-Fiction - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2011 from Paul ThompsonFan fiction has grown in popularity over the last decade. Gone are the days when the audience believed that a character's fate was strictly in the hands of its creator; now they seem to believe that they can decide the future (or at the very least, an alternate reality) of their favorite ...
Views: 971 - Love Stories from Romeo and Juliet to the Catcher in the Rye - by Submitted on Jul 29, 2011 from Paul ThompsonIt’s pretty easy to name famous works of literature that center around a love story. Troilus and Criseyde, Romeo and Juliet, not to mention the complete works of Jane Austen. The Bible has Adam and Eve, The Iliad and the Odyssey even have a love triangle, consisting of Menelaus, Helen and ...
Views: 971 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Classic That’s Just Plain Fun - by Submitted on Oct 21, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWe here at Shmoop know that reading the classics isn’t always easy work. There’s a reason that they’re considered classics in the first place - they are multi-layered and intelligently written (suck on that, John Grisham), and generally require quite a bit of in-depth scrutiny and analysis in ...
Views: 960 - 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: 945 - The Scheming Tom Sawyer and Hamlet - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2011 from Paul ThompsonEvery myth has its trickster character. In the Greek tradition, you’ve got Hermes. In Roman mythology, there is Mercurius. In many native American folklore, you have the coyote. And in the American literary tradition? Well, we’ve got Tom Sawyer.Technically, Mark Twain’s famous mischievous but ...
Views: 942 - 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: 924 - Seniors: Declare "Undeclared" and focus on your AP Calculus Exam - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2011 from Paul ThompsonChoosing a major is one of the most important decisions a high school senior can make. Close runners-up include: who to take to prom, whether to start the wave at graduation, which ACT prep book to purchase and what to write in people's yearbooks. A person's can major can determine he entire ...
Views: 919 - Classics like Romeo and Juliet Adapted for the Screen and the new Great Gatsby Movie and its Setting - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2011 from Paul ThompsonChose a classic and chances are it has been adapted into a movie or television show. Some of the adaptations may be exactly as the original version was and others may take liberties, but it seems as though a classic untouched by Hollywood is about as common as a movie version of the SAT. Why are ...
Views: 916 - 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: 912(1 vote) - Editing Huckleberry Finn and Removing the French and Indian War from AP US History - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, has been critically acclaimed and the subject of much controversy since its publication in 1885. It’s not surprising that Twain’s fearless exploration of racism through the relationship between thirteen-year-old Huckleberry Finn, and ...
Views: 904 - 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: 890 - Have Great Expectations and You Will Not Be Disappointed - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWe’re sure you’re familiar with the concept of a Hollywood ending. If you’d care for a few examples: the guy finally gets the girl, the bad guy gets caught and locked up, good triumphs over evil, you get a perfect score on your SAT. You know - the stuff dreams are made of.Nearly every Hollywood ...
Views: 884 - Putting a human face to tragic history in The Diary of Anne Frank and To Kill A Mockingbird - by Submitted on Nov 17, 2011 from Paul ThompsonPerspective is everything. Oftentimes, it makes the book what it is. Consider The Diary of Anne Frank. The Diary of Anne Frank is often considered a literary exemplar that stands for the atrocities during the Holocaust. It is taught in high school classes and served up as examples on CAHSEE, ...
Views: 850 - What Does the CAHSEE Miss? - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2011 from Paul ThompsonAmerican high school students are very familiar with college entrance examinations; they come in all forms. SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement tests are amongst the ones most commonly taken while still in high school, and many colleges and universities frequently require that students complete math ...
Views: 838 - 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: 835(1 vote) - From Adulteress to Bombshell: The Continuing Relevance of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2011 from Paul ThompsonIt bears repeating that history repeats itself. Although Arthur Miller's The Crucible is about the Salem Witch Trials in 17th century New England, it is also a biting satire of McCarthyism in the 1950s. Just as colonists tried to save their own skin by accusing community members of witchcraft, ...
Views: 826 - 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: 824 - Kurtz and his Heart of Darkness - by Submitted on Oct 21, 2011 from Paul ThompsonIn Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad presents us with two men who are, more or less, polar opposites. Charlie Marlow is a compassionate, humane man with a stockpile of integrity, and he is a lover and pursuer of truth and justice. Mr. Kurtz, on the other hand, is a bit of a &$%!@#.Both men are ...
Views: 814 - 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: 811 - Animal Farm Makes Politics Seem Almost Interesting - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2011 from Paul ThompsonSorry to interrupt - we’re sure you’re probably in the middle of watching an old VHS (VH-what now?) tape of the 1988 Vice Presidential debate. Or perhaps you’re simply catching up on all those saved DVR recordings of C-Span programming. All right, so maybe it’s more likely that you’re ramming ...
Views: 810 - Is The Great Gatsby the Great American Novel? - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2011 from Paul ThompsonThe concept of the "Great American Novel" is so pervasive that it has become something of a cliché. Burned out businessman and frustrated housewives and everyone in between has said that they'll take time out to write it, but what if it's already been written? What it it's a book that almost ...
Views: 804 - 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: 782 - Study Smarter, Not Longer: ACT Prep, PSAT and Practice AP English Literature Exams - by Submitted on Jul 07, 2011 from Paul ThompsonWith all the emphasis that is placed on standardized testing these days, you might think that those tests one might think that they truly measured a person’s intelligence. But it’s impossible to measure a person’s intelligence with just one test, especially one like the SAT. What if a student ...
Views: 776 - 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: 776 - 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: 762 - 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: 759 - How the PSAT is Different from the AP Exams: Study Skills - by Submitted on Aug 30, 2011 from Paul ThompsonIt might seem like the PSAT is not worth a student's time. It's a test that has the word "preliminary" in front of it. The results of this test have no bearing on whether the test taker gets into college, so why all the fuss?There's one very good reason. Besides providing overachieving high ...
Views: 753 - 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: 742 - 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: 731 - 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: 728 - 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: 719 - 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: 717 - 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: 683 - 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: 655 - 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: 643 - 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: 624 - 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: 583