What's the
Big Idea?
Big Idea?
The main idea of this text:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
What is that everyone who has ever succeeded has first experienced defeat?
The places you should add commas to this statement:
"The guard the coachman and the two other passengers eyed him distrustfully."
What is after guard and after coachman?
The amount of time you have to complete the GED RLA Extended Response.
What is 45 Minutes?
The meaning of the word "interred" in this text:
"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar."
What is Buried?
The main argument of this text:
"Isaac Newton has often been thought of as the greatest thinker in human history. His insight into the role that gravity plays in existence and physics completely changed our collective understanding of the universe and our place in it. He was understood in his own time as a genius....
Yet, when the famous economist John Kenneth Galbraith purchased Newton's journals and diaries at auction, he found to his astonishment and partial dismay that more than half of Newton's work was dedicated to the practice of alchemy -- the pursuit of turning ordinary materials into precious metals. Our current understanding of science tells us that this is impossible and that Newton was wasting a significant proportion of his time.
Another famous story about Newton tells of his attempts to figure out the effect of direct sunlight exposure on the human eye. To carry out this experiment he decided to stare at the sun for as long as humanly possible to see what would happen. The effect, as you might have guessed, was that he very nearly went permanently blind and was indeed completely unable to see for two days.
One might determine from these stories that Newton was not the genius we consider him to be -- that he was, in fact, a fool; however, it should tell us something about the nature of genius. It is not merely deep intelligence but the willingness to try new things and the rejection of the fear of failure. Newton was not a genius in spite of his mistakes, but because of them."
What is that Newton was a genius because of his willingness to make mistakes, not in spite of them?
The main idea of this letter:
"Dear Congressman,
I am writing to urge you to reconsider closing the shipyard. I'm a doctor in the area, so I meet many of the workers employed by the facility. Many of these people live paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford regular medical care, which means that any gap in their employment could be devastating. Looking at it from an economic angle, think about the tremendous cost to the taxpayers when these people have to rely on public assistance; surely it is more cost-effective to keep the shipyard open."
What is that closing the shipyard would be bad for the workers and bad for the economy?
The one word that will fix this sentence:
"There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his valour, and death for his ambition."
What is "are"?
The number of words your Extended Response should include.
What is 300-500 Words?
The meaning of the word "epoch" in this text:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us."
What is an era?
A way the author of this passage might be biased:
"I urge you to reconsider your closure of the shipyard. I'm a medical practitioner in the area, so I meet many of the men and women employed by the facility. Many of these people are living paycheck to paycheck, unable to afford regular medical care; any gap in their employment could be devastating. If you must see it economically, consider the tremendous cost to the taxpayers when these people must rely on public programs for assistance. I ask you to please keep this shipyard open."
What is the author may benefit financially if his clients stay employed?
The reason the author believes there was no slang in Shakespeare's time:
"Could Shakespeare come to Chicago and listen curiously to the man on the street, he would find himself more at home than in London. In the mouths of messenger boys and clerks he would find the English language used with all the freedom of unexpected metaphor and the plastic, suggestive diction that was the privilege of the Elizabethan dramatists; he would say, no doubt, that he had found a nation of poets. There was hardly any such thing as slang in his day, for no graphic trope was too virile or uncommon for acceptance if its meaning were patent. His own heroes often spoke what corresponds to the slang of today."
What is that even strong, offensive, and unusual language was widely accepted and understood?
The one word that will best fit this sentence:
"She wasn't sure whether her physician had ordered the correct tests, ______ she had a sneaking suspicion that she should consult a specialist instead."
What is "but"?
What you're going to write about on the Extended Response.
What is the Stronger Argument -- Not Your Preferred Argument?
The literary device in this sentence:
"That punctual servant of all work, the sun, had just risen, and begun to strike a light on the morning of the thirteenth of May, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, when Mr. Samuel Pickwick burst like another sun from his slumbers, threw open his chamber window, and looked out upon the world beneath."
What is personification?
The reason the author believes that Shakespeare would be more at home in Chicago than in London:
"Could Shakespeare come to Chicago and listen curiously to the man on the street, he would find himself more at home than in London. In the mouths of messenger boys and clerks he would find the English language used with all the freedom of unexpected metaphor and the plastic, suggestive diction that was the privilege of the Elizabethan dramatists; he would say, no doubt, that he had found a nation of poets. There was hardly any such thing as slang in his day, for no graphic trope was too virile or uncommon for acceptance if its meaning were patent. His own heroes often spoke what corresponds to the slang of today."
What is that he would find the English language used in a more similar manner to his in modern-day Chicago than in modern-day London?
The point of view (i.e. first, second, or third person) for this text:
"Gardening, walks, rows on the river, and flower hunts employed the fine days, and for rainy ones, they had house diversions, some old, some new, all more or less original. One of these was the PC, for as secret societies were the fashion, it was thought proper to have one, and as all of the girls admired Dickens, they called themselves the Pickwick Club. With a few interruptions, they had kept this up for a year, and met every Saturday evening in the big garret."
What is Third Person?
The one word that can be removed for this sentence to have parallel structure:
"In spring, summer, or in autumn, cicadas can be seen in various life stages along her favorite river."
What is the second "in"?
A word you should avoid in your Extended Response.
What is I?
The phrase "man who is actually in the arena" is an example of this type of literary device.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
What is a metaphor?
The conclusion about why Belarus was not admitted to the EU supported by this argument:
"Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the European education system underwent an overhaul which was, in part, solidified with the creation of the Bologna Process, an agreement among European countries to improve consistency and quality in higher education across the continent. The creation of the Bologna Process has not only improved the standard of education in EU nations, but it has set a very high bar for nations hoping to join the EU to hurdle. Belarus has already applied and been rejected due to concerns about its academic commitment. So we can see that quality education in Europe is not simply a lucky coincidence or the natural result of a long history of scholars, but rather an intentional reform initiative upon which major political decisions, such as the inclusion of countries into the European Union, are made."
What is that Belarus may have been approved to join the EU if it had shown more commitment to the quality of its education?
The tone of this text:
"When I go to a concert, there's a sort of energy in the air unlike any other. I don't mean just excitement, but it's like the excitement of everyone in the room, felt at once. I think that may be why it's so fun to meet people at shows. Once the band starts playing, I totally forget about everyone around me, and I'm just completely in the moment...By the end of the set, I'm completely exhausted, but still buzzing from that group enthusiasm."
What is Passionate?
The one word that can be added to fix this sentence:
"I have always hated exploring caves, I believe spelunking is a creepy hobby."
What is "because" after the comma?
To make this decision, you carefully read each argument so you can determine which argument is stronger for each consideration and then see which argument is typically stronger.
What is Choosing the Stronger Argument to Write About?
The literary device used in the third sentence:
"I have just returned from a visit to my landlord -- the solitary neighbor I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country. In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's heaven!"
What is a simile?
The evidence used to support the assertion that Soviet influence still remains in modern-day European higher education:
"We can see that quality education in Europe is not simply a lucky coincidence or the natural result of a long history of scholars, but rather is an intentional reform initiative upon which major political decisions, such as the inclusion of countries into the European Union, are made. Eastern European countries also had an especially difficult time transitioning to the new standards required of Bologna Process signatories since they were coming from the Soviet tradition of severely underfunded public schools and widespread bribery as a main criterion for university admission. The Soviet influence on the current state of tertiary education can clearly be seen by comparing Eastern and Western Germany. Before the implementation of the Bologna Process and the formation of the European Higher Education Area, many European countries modeled their higher education system on Germany's which separated students into academic or vocational training schools from the beginning of high school. This model fits with the Communist rationale of all jobs being of equal value and the obligation of adolescents to train for the job for which they were best suited in society rather than allowing them to choose a major at the university level."
What are the differences that can be seen between Western and Eastern German education?