Is writing that nessisary..with reading getting left behind
 

((sorry for the misspell in the name but I want to get ahead with this))

A.I am in 8th grade, last year I took the SAT (got 1120 without knowing that guessing counted against you) but that won't count for college. what I am getting at is the college board is planing to put writing in the SAT.

B. every year we have to do a auto biography of some kind
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the question to all of this is, is writing that nessesary? I mean after a point it only gets you ready for one kind of job; writer. I am not set up to write, I have a mathmatical brain. but math prepares you for many things, reading is needed at all non fast food restrant jobs, and world history helps if you want to travel; but when is it required to write an autobiographic narritive? or write a 5 paragraph essay?

Every single job requires you to write, whether it be for your actual role or even if you're writing your resignation. Writing is a basic skill that everybody should have the opportunity to learn and put into practice.

Yes writing is necessary! If you are in any job that needs a memo or a letter writing is needed. Also, if you want to get the highest degree (a Ph.D) then you need to write a HUGE ass paper to actually get it. And for many scientists (like I'm studying to be) you need to write to make lab reports and journals that other people actually read!

Edit: Ack! RaiRai got in front of me!

no I said writing after a point. before that point it is nessesary but is it nessesary to write a creative story about your life? because that is all you do in 8th grade.

So wait, the thread title isn't a joke? Yeesh, you need writing hard.

Yes. It helps you to think and also improves your basic writing abilities.

Necessary. Two S's.

All poking fun aside, when you think about it, better writing skills are more useful than higher math skills. Unless you get a cushy math job, and tell me when that comes around, you're boss is never gunna waltz in and go "Johnson, the boys upstairs need to know how our [blank] campaign is going, write me up a quick non-linear algebraic parralellogram that solves for x and y by Tuesday." No, he's gunna ask you to write up a report. Because lets face it, not that many people care about x. He's a variable for a reason, someone thought up a problem and just decided to be lazy at points.

And the creative writing thing is what you should be enjoying. It helps you hammer out the necessary ground work for when you progress into deadly expository land.

Ok, I messed up in making the thread.
Just...wow I screwed this up....um...first, I write with out much thought for grammer and spelling here because I am multitasking. Second I know that writing is emportant but I have writing disabilities and as I said before I am on track of getting a 1500 on the SATs in high school. So, if writing is put in there my score will drop say..400 points (this is because my writing is chicken scratch).

Also LA is both writing and reading, but every one assumes you can read (not talking about me but others) and my mom being a reading recovery teacher, she knows this as well.

How can you be in the 8th grade and not know how to spell necessary? You must have seen the word a thousand times by now, it's common. Quit being lazy.

Writing is ingrained in every aspect of our lives. If you came here looking for a legion of members to go "yea! omg lik writing sux, u no? evry1 sez its gr8 but their dumfaces" then you've most certainly come to the wrong place. I don't mean to get all assholish but for god's sake, you've gotta be 13, 14, maybe 15 right now. The fact that you are complaining about simple fun activities like creative writing and spelling like your head is lodged firmly in someone's ass is pathetic at the very very very best.

Ah, Its fun, when you can think of something worth writing about. (which isn't that often for me)

Writing stupid stuff like that is just to get you practicing the basics. I would rather do that while writing an autobiography than while doing some crappy reasearch paper (normally about something you could care less about). I'm not a fan of English classes, but I understand they are necessary. I just wish the ones in high school would focus more on reading literature, rather than the grammar basics. Normally, by high school, you're as good as you're going to get at that stuff.

writing also enables a clearer form of communication.....despite being often obfuscated by use of overextensive vocabulary in conversation.

Good writing can turn a fairly good RP post into a great one, and that's reason enough for me to continue paying attention in English class.

Depends on which high school you go to. My previous high school the reading and writing average was so low that they assigned books like 'Wayside school' as reading material...and enjoy the autobiography stuff while you can. Soon the reality of the 1000 word research paper will ruin your pleasant writing experiences....

Edit: Hey Dragonsbane, I love putting people in conundrums by creating lavishly convoluted passages......

Like I said, I screwed up the point of the thread. why is reading left behind when writing is taken to the extreme.

Today all spelling problems can be solved by word, and creative the creative writing is so scripted that you have to remember all of your life.

Example: thankfully in north carolina the writing test is only every three years, but during these three years you have writing half of every day. In fourth grade, I had to write a 45 page autobiography(seriously).

Math is used all the time when balancing check books, making buildings and physics.

edit:holy crap! I edit my post and half of it gets deleted

You're in 8th grade, and you're complaining about the amount you have to write now? Well then I will say good luck in highschool (unless 8th grade is highschool where you live... which then I'll have to say good luck in late highschool/university).
In university you will get a novel on monday, and they will expect you to read it, AND return a 5-page essay on Friday of the same week. That's just an average class assignment... not one of the major ones.

Anyways, YES it is all neccessary! I remember when I was in grade 8, and me and my friends always talked about how so many things in school were bullshit, and not needed. Some people kept that belief, and now dey are teh talking, typing liek i am at now. And they probably won't really take part in a deep discussion. While you and your friends can discuss theories on quantum physics, and the unexplored laws of deep space, some other guys will talk like "Yo dat was da schiznick, check out dat teacher's ass yo, i'll do her!" Trust me, if you're the first one, you'll get much farther in life.

And knowledge in school isn't just about how much money you will make in a career (though a lot of it is about that). But it's also just your day to day knowledge which upgrades your personality. We as mankind are striving ahead and searching for more and more knowledge. Because of our short lifespans, we must enlighten the new ones of our kind to keep up with man's hunt... otherwise every cycle of birth will be over and over again, trying to figure out the logic of how to cut stones and hunt deer. See what I'm saying?

EDIT: I saw your last post. Spelling errors cant bee solved buy programes like Word.
And if we rely on machines to do the thinking for us, we won't go very far as mankind. Sure we can build machines to make lives easier for us, but if we don't pass on our knowledge to our next of kin, they will rely completely on what we built for them. And things will turn into a mess.

Both are used just as much as the other. If we were missing one or the other, society would never have become what it is today, and we most certainly couldn't be talking to each other right now. Arguing that either is more important is an exercise in futility.

I haven't had to write a huge research paper like that yet(thank god), despite being a Junior. I hope I never have too. *shudder*
And while spell checker is useful, it doesn't catch everything.

HoP, do you have disgraphia? If you do and you can prove it, you can gain access to a computer to type up your essays rather than writing them by hand. I did this (my handwriting is hard to read under the best of conditions, and in any case concentrating on it detracts from the fluency of my writing) and scored a 730 on the writing SAT II. This also works for the AP tests.

Wait, what? on the same day? how is that possible? you only have a 45 minute period to do that.
but really will you have to write a 5 page essay in 45 in the real world

A. maybe 5page works in note form
////////////I. Like this
//////////////II. but really now

-bulets possibly?
-used to be spoken later?
-you usually would have a night to do that
-but you'd be more grown up and less ADD then
-I am just 13 and have not a taste of what you have to do later in life
-but my dad has a high up job in IBM and I never see him write
-he has like five conference calls per day
-but he takes frequent naps to

Some schools have different class systems...I had a block schedual that had only 4 classes a day, and they were 1 and 1/2 hours long.

yeah, my High School does fairly well on the reading/writing exams, so we get to do lots and lots of cool stuff. I was in Advanced English last year, so I got to experience first-hand the horrors of 1000 word research papers...

who doesn't? ;)

*GASP* Finally, a forum that converses on topics that are somewhat relative to the outside world! MY WORLD IS NOW COMPLETE!! *Hugs all members of forums* Erhem, anyways, this kid is bitching about something completely practical and useful in everday life. Writing is relative to reading, whilst reading is relative to learning and learning=money, happiness, job, skills, babes and respect (well, maybe not the last two). Math is great and such, but math only covers the *bum bum bum* Mathematical universe. Sure, it's used in all sorts of jobs, but compared to the universe opened through writing, math is plain boring! This may be my opinion, but when was the last time you saw some dude bring a hot chick to a scenic view and while the sun sets and casts a euphoric glow upon her glorious features causing the man to run his hand through the strands of loveliness that cascade her neck and shoulders, saying: "Baby, my geometic figures require attention. Take y and relate to x for solution." This scenario results in nothing but the girl leaving, and the guy retiring to a lonely life of permanent masturbation. So please, give your hand a DIFFERENT hobby, learn to write. (Wow, that was rather long and quite unneccessary, but it sure looks cool.)
:fighter: <--Uh, Master Bashion? Is that like a dungeon boss?
:bmage: <--no, it's the closest you'll ever get to reproducing

If you do have a Writing Disabalitiy you can have a scribe present for your test (at least in ohio they do). Also check into you LD laws of you state. During High School I had every one of my wrighting assigments done on the computer (in all subjects). The object of a paper is that you know what the hell yout talkign about in a manner that others can understand (grammer is importatnt). Fuck spelling, cast off its Evil reigns and may it be damned to the deepest bowels of inner hell. (cause thats where it came form) .

In guam, I took a history college class from the U of Maryland and then entire grade was two essay papers writtin there in class. I though I was fucked, but the teacher (who was an english professor anyway) said he war here to grade history so the first paper i got a 100% even though it was barely ledgable, I had numbers inthe middle of worlds, I switched letters, I switched whole words and just generally broke every spelling rule in the book. (guys who know me here know what im talkgin about). anyway On to Real Life!

In real life fuckgin english and writing still follow you around, so sadly you must work thoughout highschool doing the crap ass writing drills so you can pass the class go on the college do even more wrighting then get a degree so you can work at wallmart as a greeter. (but hey pratice make perfict and youll be a wrighting wiz by then!!)

The King of teh typpoes has spoken!

*edit for above poster* reading and writing are not that much hand in hand. Ill read anything in english that you put in front of me, but tell me to write somthing and ill punch you in your face.

ohhh ohhh ohhhh I know a job that requires no skills! Chess!!
any way I live in Chapel Hill, which has by far the hardest public school system in America.

Reading is no problem for me, I read faster (while comprehending the book) than most of the litterate forum goers here. also I take latin and am aceing it, so it isn't that I am dumb or anything.

Also, about the language arts thing and how reading is assumed to be known, while writing is forced...

Duh.

Really, we all know that you can read. Unless you pay off the teachers, you haven't even gotten to 8th grade if you couldn't read. It's just a given that if they show you a page, you'll know to read from left to right, then go down a line.

The point of writing isn't meanness on the teachers part, its for conveyance of whatever the hell you want. Without writing, Einstein could never have explained his cuhrazy theories. Writing at your level is conveyance of yourself. Writing at higher school level is usually showing that you know what the topic is.

I hate math, because I know that at no point outside of school will somebody ask me to solve for x, but somebody will notice if I write like a hillbilly.

Also, just cuz your chicken scratch sucks, doesn't mean that you have to suck at writing.

Whoops sorry Highonpawns. I edited it.

I meant you get a novel on Monday, and you must read it and write a 5 page essay by Friday (of the same week). Sorry for the misunderstanding. To read a novel and write a 5 page essay in one hour would be just plain impossible.

sorry to brag, but that isn't hard at all.
read book day 1
brainstorm and write page 1 day 2
write page 2 and 3 day 3
write page 4 and 5 day five

that is 3 hours of reading on day one (from 11:00pm to 2:00am) and 30 min to an hour for the rest

3 hours of reading? Not if the book has 600-800 pages. And when it does... you can't just skim it. Otherwise you will miss the most important points of the book, and you will write a crappy essay.

I so have a new signature. Wow.

Lots of advice in this topic HoP, I hope you pay attention to it. You will need writing skills in the future. Also, if you like to RP (I believe I've seen you in the RP forum) then legible creative well-developed writing skills will benefit you to no end. Nobody likes to RP with a grammatical moron, after all.

I used to type with awful grammar and punctuation to confuse people in forums into thinking I was an idiot, then I realized I AM an idiot and had better switch back to normal typings, rightquick. so I did, thought I am still pretty lax with capital letters because I think they are retarded.

grammar and spelling and punctuation are things I've never ever had trouble with, so it's difficult for me to comprehend someone having difficulty with something as simple as spelling the word "necessary", but to me it looks like you could use the extra writing. might help you out, spelling/otherwise.

ok then 4 hours, be that way!

also the "I'm multitasking" was more of a joke than anything.

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I kind of would like to change the focus of the thread to what I ment it to be in the first place

reading and math get pushed aside for writing, so is writing so nessesary that if you can write well and bubble in multipal choice answers ok then you pass

edit: I didn't notice all the new posts. Shinny, I use to be a spammy, no grammar at all, kind of poster, but I did what little unicorn boy did (though I was stubborn about it at first)

If you can write well, you can convince people what you know things when you dont.

DUDE. Countless people have spelt necessary correctly by now. Get it right!

I'm sorry but jesus christ, pay some fucking attention! N E C E S S A R Y. All you have to do is scroll up to see it spelt correctly.

Writing is indeed necessary, standardized testing is by no means an accurate depiction of intelligence nor learning. It's a flawed system that can never portray how well someone has learned. Reading and math do not get pushed aside for writing, nor vice versa - in fact it's more that everything gets pushed aside for sports.

I don't see what your big hangup is about writing other than that you feel lazy and don't want to do it. We've already proven it's needed so your question was answered, to continue this just suggests to me that you merely don't want to do it and are looking for some sort of validation.

If you could ever find a job where you could get by with idiotic spelling, grammar mistakes, and still maintain enough of a paycheck to support a family, children and a car and house payments, then I'd be damn, damn surprised. Even sports stars, musicians, janitors, actors, gameshow hosts, bus drivers, telephone repairmen - even goddamn register monkeys - need to write. And you will fall, and fall hard, if you maintain this attitude that it sucx y shud we do it?

And yet you can still read it. a study by an english university says that the brain doesn't read every letter by its self.

but back on topic

It is true math and reading are being brushed off for writing and standerdized testing. My mom is a reading recovery teacher, and knows that it is true. Many teachers agree as well.

by the way I am not talking about me any more, but about the US.

Just because I can read it doesn't make it any less retarded. Is it so hard to spell it right? Come on.

But I do agree, the learning practices and standards in the US are shoddy. Expensive private schools are the only places where people can really learn without having to do it all on their own time. Public schools are forced to cater to the lowest common denominator, which is very, very low.

I'd hate to go into politics, but why is the gov trying to solve it by adding more standerdised tests.

another thing that is making it worse localy is they're getting rid of the middle classes, so that you are either in the 99 persentile in math or you are with the bottem kids

in 8th grade in chapel hill you are either in geometry or pre-al

Lol, i must say i am flattered.

:fighter: <--what are the chances of Jared getting quoted?
:bmage: <--the same chance of you living through this*stab*

I am going to intervene on HoP's behalf, shiney. My own spelling is... less than perfect. On a forum like this, as apposed to an essay for school, I could almost care less about my spelling. I am not submitting my comments for publication here, nor do I expect my posts to be scrutinized for such menial details. As HoP said, you can read it, then its good. I, also, could care less how other people spell just so long as it is instantly recognizeable as the word it is intended to be. I am not looking for errors when I read a post. I consider electronic communications of all forms to be an extention of the spoken word, wherein spelling is not a factor. I will freely admit that I do not understand the mindset of someone who sees such errors. I am not sure whether it takes effort (as it would for me, since I read, as I write, for content) or whether it comes naturally, but surely one need not make a fuss over such things.

Consider it a very decided pet peeve. It's not the initial misspelling as bad. I could live with that. But continuing after it being brought up several times just got to me.

Sorry, I know I overreacted. Just, grr snap crunch! Arr!

And not caring about spelling leads to the bastardization of the language as a whole. I lament the loss of real english due to lethargy. It's like an affront to my sensibilities. :\

Spelling mistakes bug me a lot. It's one of my pet peeves. Sometimes, with certain people's lack of spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc., it makes me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

And also, you'll sound more intelligent if you type with correct spelling and punctuation. You won't just sound like you're making stuff up trying to sound intelligent. All I have to say is, "Chapel Hill, oh no. Looks like they produced another moron who can't spell and doesn't know the value of good writing. They're starting a horrible downward spiral."

I understand completely. As my mother would say, a little levin spoils the whole loaf. Once you allow simple grammatical idiosyncrisies to creap in, you start to slide more and more. In retrospect, however, E. E. Cummings published all of his poems without capitalization, strange font and page alignment and such, yet he is considered one of the greatest American poets of our time. Then again, he WAS a poet, and poets get all that legal tender that us prose fans don't.

:bmage: <--Cummings, hehehe
:wmage: *whack*

Well, I am one of the oppinion that such phrases as "Bastardization of the language" are meaningless, since all languages are fluid entities. I agree that there is a place for formal english and a place for conversational english. However I have had no problem keeping the two seperated. I will agree with you so far as form and grammar, though. I try to punctuate and capatalize everything and am at least pretty good with the former. And improper sentense structure not only offends the grammar nazis, but also makes a post difficult to discipher.

It also depends on what you are writing for. If you want to write to your friends, then you can use whatever lingo you want. If you are writing for an important thing, like a paper, you should use proper English(assuming you are writing in English). Some other things fall in between, like this forum. Though in my opinion, if you are posting something up for other people to read, then you should write it properly.

I make all these amazing comments, yet I feel so ignored. :(
Woe is me. (except shiny) :p

I've been noting them and remaining silent.

Welcome to the Internet -- perhaps you haven't been here before.
What's compounding it is that this is a forum. People tend to scan or "speed-read" through things, often jumping over posts or portions of posts.

And it's not because anyone's trying to be mean/rude. It just happens. Excluding, of course, those who are just lazy.

Sympathy for HoP: 0.

You can survive as a shitty writer. It will be hard, but it can be done. Everyone here is discouraging you because we are almost all writers. Our skills are posessed by a very small percentage of the popluace, and thus are becoming less and less valuable. Spelling, grammar, punctuation are becoming obsolete due to Word and other processors. Companies will settle for shoddy reports because they know they can't get better.

So don't be discouraged HoP. But for the love of God change the name of the thread.

Bad spelling, the death of language? I don't think so... Like someone (too lazy to check) said, language is a fluid thing, and it's a rigid attitude towards it that blocks a language. However that attitude manifests itself, from bad spelling and first level vocabulary to the academician thought that currently has the french language in a death-grip, it's a lack of opening to different types of expression. I feel they are related, anyway, and one can spell wrong and know how to spell right.

I know I do.

Seriously, though, if you think reading the kind of books you're required to read in college will take only 4 hours, you're nuts. I have about 200 pages of reading required for today and it's taken me almost all day. Why? Because this isn't simple reading. This is stuff you need to take your time with and analyze. You can't blow through this and get right to writing a paper.

I can agree with you on this: many school seem to ignore reading more and more in place of writing. This is definitely a shame and something I wish would be ammended. Schools should place more emphasis on reading for several reasons: it teaches them to read more when they're older, helps them understand more complex thought, and, perhaps most importantly, IT TEACHES WRITING.

Anyways: everyone here is telling the truth. Writing is going to be come more and more important as you go up in grade/age. Especially if you plan on going to college. Get used to it and make sure you know how.

If you wanna see some amazing writing, go to http://www.fanfiction.net/u/408430/ and check out some of my work. Dead Fox is a good read, as well as DF2, Quest For Glory Story, Outlaw Tango, etc. The Metal Gear Outtakes are just for shits and giggles, so you can ignore those. Noble Cause is a FF7 fic I'm in the process of writing, so it only has one chapter. Maybe someday everone will be able to write like me. :D

Stay on target, wandering, that post was essentially irrellevant to the conversation, like breaking into a conversation on the chemistry of paints to talk about how good your latest painting was.

no I am serious, there is only one book(after elementry school) that it took more than a day (I read 5 hours at most out of the day)to read and that book is Romance of the Three Kingdoms. that was because I didn't buy the book, I got a online version, and my parents never let me on the computer in extended periods of time.

Post some original fiction and I promise I'll look. Fanfiction makes my head hurt.

On a more relevant note, HoP, however much of a genius you think you are, you CANNOT read a book, like, say the Iliad, in 4 hours. I too am a very good reader. VERY GOOD. But I have no delusions about my abilities. If you think you can finish college reading even in a day, you're in for a nasty surprise.

I completely agree with Ih8. I'm a Comparative Literature major, and I get a rediculous amount of reading to do. Even if I only have 30 pages or so, the language in which they are written hinders my time. No only that, but when you reach College, you won't be able to just read the book for shits and then write some report about the plot. You'll be going through each page with a hi-lighter underlining quotes and passages you can use in your papers. You will be forced to slow down. I used to and still am a rediculously fast reader, but for school it takes me an extreme amount of time to go through my readings because I want to get the most out of them possible so I can write a conscise and informative paper.

As for writing, I'm sorry HoP, but it's a part of life that you're going to have to get used to. You'll have to write papers in College and although some Professors won't care about your writing, you will eventually have to take a Composition class for writing credit and then you'll actually have to write papers with proper grammar and spelling. Professors expect you to be able to write a legible and grammatically correct paper and won't bother giving you another chance to write it; they'll just lower your grade.

Incidently, I don't doubt that you're smart and such HoP, but I can't take your argument about writing when your spelling is like it is and your lack of punctuation. I understand that people don't pay attention to how they write in the forums, but you should really pay more attention to how you write, it can get irritating to read one long sentence as an entire post.

Ih8: Amazing that you brought up the Iliad cause that's what I was going to bring up.

HoP: I'm an English/Poli-Sci major. I've been a very strong reader all my life and writing is my life, so it's not like I'm a dumbass or a slow reader. I'm currently reading "The Iliad" for Intro to Lit and "The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents" for Intro to U.S. History as well as "Frankenstein" for my first-year seminar.

I'm sure you've read TONS of 'tough' books in the two years you've been out of elementary school. Nevertheless: none of these compare to the amount and density of things you'll be reading in college, should you go to college. None of what we're saying is to scare you or make you afraid of college; we're simply informing you that you shouldn't expect it to be a breeze, cause a breeze it ain't. You will need to put a LOT of time and work into college classes, and writing will almost definitely be a big part of this. It does depend on your major of course, but no matter what major you have you'll likely have to do some writing and you'll almost definitely have to take a composition or college writing course like Batgirl said.

So, out of curiosity, do you have any idea what you plan to major in at this point? Or areas you're at least interested in?

Edit: Wandering Actor: My writing's better than yours and it's original! ;) BAM! Actually, your link didn't work. But still. CLICK MY LINK AND YOU WILL SEE.

(highonpawns you don't need to quote an entire post every time you reply, it clutters and lengthens a topic consierably)

If you can read "Great Expectations" (the non-abridged version) in 4 hours.... something is seriously wrong with you. (And I'm pretty sure most people have to read it sometime in their school careers.

And I agree that writing is essential, and fun most of the time. ^^ If you don't know how to write well, (at least at a high-school level) then you're going to come off as "unschooled" to other people when you've graduated and into the real world. And all of those creative writing exercises they make you do keeps you refreshed with your writing skills, if nothing else.

If I might add another thing: You mentioned a talent for mathematics. If you should go to university or college and enter a scientific field, you will almost certainly end up having to read papers or theses. The language used in these slows down the reading of them considerably, and if you have a number to read and then review it can take quite a long time.

As to spelling and grammar in writing: Everyone else has pretty much covered the topic. The only thing that I can add is that for myself very bad grammar and spelling is an issue. It significantly slows reading, and if I encounter writing (including forum posts) with very bad grammar or spelling I tend to skim it, and thus do not take in the author's points very well.

I must admit, my spelling (and probably my grammar) is far from perfect, although I do try. I'm not saying that perfect spelling and grammar is necessary, but the better it is the more effective your writing becomes.

As to the balance between reading and writing in schooling: You make a good point of the severity of the imbalance, but I suspect that some imbalance is best. While reading certainly aids writing, the opposite is also true. On the other hand, poor writing is more serious than poor reading, and good writing is more difficult than good reading.

As to the word "necessary": This can be a problem word for me; I have to consciously think about it. For some reason I often find myself wanting to insert another 'c'.

I'll be frank, HoP, your writing here makes you look like an idiot. And if you're going to be typing CVs, or processing memos, or doing any kind of computer-related paperwork at all, that sort of writing is only going to give yourself trouble.

That said, I agree that more emphasis should be placed on reading. Reading *is* a form of practice for writing, after all, and it adds knowledge. Still, you can't neglect writing - all that knowledge is useless if you can't express it.

Hey, just because I use a created universe, dosen't mean the work isn't original. I make sure to include at least ONE original character, which is usually the main character. But anyways, to get back on topic:
I think we should stab to the heart of the matter. HoP, you seemed upset that the writing on an SAT would lower your score. Take this into effect then: the collegeboard is also going to take away analogies to try to balance the test. Everyone knows that analogies are usually the hardest part of the verbal test, so your scores should stay in the range you want them to, considering you just practice your writing. In most college writing, i.e. application essays, your going to get asked a question like: "Explain a difficult situation in your life and how you handled it." The Collegeboard dosen't give a flying fuck about your life or how you handled it. They just want to see how good you can write by checking for content, structure, grammer etc. Also, they were supposed to make the math problems harder, but seeing as how your such a math :bmage: you should have nothing to worry about. :D

Dante, there are people here with FAR worse spelling and grammar than him...unless you meant he looked like in idiot for posting this thread, in which case he's just guilty of youthful naivete.

There are some people on these forums who use NO punctuation, lousy grammar, and don't even attempt correct spelling. I very much want to hurt these people, because they come off sounding like complete idiots, and because their posts are SO FUGGIN' HARD TO READ!!!

I know EXACTLY what Shiney meant earlier...it annoys me too >_<

Dante, your point about reading is a highly valid one, though the schools would doubtless screw it up somehow. I prefer reading, and I think it is very necesary for proper education, if only my school wasn't more interested in teaching us what different literary terms are....

My feeling on increasing reading are mixed. On one hand, I'd probably ace whatever assignment they give. I'm not saying I'm a master writer, or I can read [Blank] in thirty minutes flat, but reading just comes naturally, so easy A right there.

But how would you grade reading? Show me a way to effectively grade reading that doesn't involve an essay or multilple guessing choice test, and then I'll admit that reading needs to be worked at harder.

If they forced reading more, they'd prolly need to expand their reading list, which would piss off certain groups that feel that they would be getting shafted, so then nobody would win.

I like the current system, where they pick out classical literature that everyone can agree is worth reading, then just see if you know what you read through writing.

(Also, if you're finishing major novels in under 4 hours, you're just missing out on the actual reading experience. Do you just speed-skim through the description and dialouge? Don't you ever just place the book down and think about the characters, or the setting?)

Like it or not, if you're headed to college you will have to prove you can argue logically in a paper. Not to mention that you cannot take most upperdivision classes without passing freshman and sophmore english (aka "Composition" and "Critical Thinking"). At least in California (and I'm almost positive in other states as well) all upperdivision classes have a writing requirement of a 10-12 pg term paper.

Besides, you're only in 8th grade. I assume somewhere between the ages of 13 and 14? Rebel all you want, my little friend, but in the end you'll have to suck it up and deal with it like the rest of us.

And with that, post limit is exceeded, and the topic becomes closed.