How to Use a Bookmark

It can be so annoying to lose your place in a book. Even if you use a bookmark to mark your page, it can take some time to figure out exactly where you left off. But there is a method for finding your place in a book right away, every time you return to it.

The trick is using a small card, like a research note card, for a bookmark. The card should have writing on one side, so you could decorate it to suit your style.

When you stop reading, place the card on the line where you stopped reading--not at the top of the page. This way it will line up with the last line that you read.

If you left off on the odd-numbered page, always place your card front side up. If you left off on the even-numbered page, always place the card bottom side (blank side) up. Once you get used to using this trick, you'll never have to worry about finding your place in a book you're reading.

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Why So Many Writing Styles?

You may know that instructors from different disciplines will prefer different writing styles for your assignments. For example, your English teacher will most likely prefer that you write according to Modern Language Association (MLA) rules as you construct your essay, while your history teacher might prefer papers written in Turabian Style.

Another writing style is American Psychological Association (APA). This is the style that many instructors prefer when teaching in the social sciences, like psychology and social studies.

Teachers aren't being picky when they prefer different writing styles; there are reasons for the different types of paper styles. Turabian Style fits with history papers because it allows for footnotes, and history papers require the use of many explanatory footnotes or endnotes.

APA is appropriate for social sciences, because it is designed to allow for highly structured reports, and that is perfect for describing the experiments and results that you often find in this type of scholarship. APA papers contain specific sections and subsections, according to the process used in research.

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Study Partner

One great way to stay on target and earn better grades is to pair up with a study partner. A study partner will help you in several ways.

1. A study partner will help you remember a due date or the date of an exam. Never forget another test! Share calendars with your study partner and both of you will know when a big project or paper is due.
2. Your study partner can share flashcards with you and quiz you before a test. Create your paper cards and meet up to study or use online flashcards together.
3. Two heads are better than one, so your study partner may think of practice essay questions that you didn't think of.
4. Study partners can switch papers and pre-grade each other before assignments are turned in. Proofread together and share your thoughts and ideas.
5. A study partner can have your back if you get sick on the day when your paper is due. Arrange ahead of time to pick up and turn in papers for each other in the event of an emergency.
6. A study partner will understand some methods or problems that you don't. You will be able to explain some problems to your partner in return. It's a trade-off.
7. Your partner may be able to help you with your research skills. Meet your partner in the library and learn to use the resources together--then share what you know to help each other out. For example, one partner can learn to search databases while the other learns to find books on the shelves.
8. You can benefit from sharing your strengths. One may be better with grammar, while the other is better with numbers.
9. Study partners motivate each other and reduce the potential for procrastination.
10. Study partners can be there if you forget important tools--like a calculator, dictionary, colored pencils, or notebook paper.

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The Scarlet Letter

Title, Author and Publication

The Scarlet Letter is a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was first published in 1850 by Ticknor & Fields of Boston.

Setting

The Scarlet Letter is set in 17th century Boston which was then a small village populated mostly by Puritans.

Characters of The Scarlet Letter

• Hester Prynne: the protagonist of the novel, Hester is a young married woman who has an affair with the village minister. Her infidelity is revealed with the pregnancy that results and she is forced to wear a scarlet letter 'A' as the mark of her sin.
• Roger Chillingworth: the antagonist of the novel and Hester's husband. Chillingworth disguises himself as a doctor in order to discover Hester's partner in adultery.
• Arthur Dimmesdale: the village minister and Hester's lover. Dimmesdale's sin is protected by Hester, but his guilty conscience causes him significant physical ailments.
• Pearl: the illegitimate child of Hester and Dimmesdale.

Plot for The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter begins with Hester Prynne being taken from prison to be berated by the townspeople for both her adultery and for keeping her lover's name a secret. As the novel progresses, the reader realizes that Dimmesdale is Hester's lover and that Chillingworth is her husband in disguise bent on avenging his defamed honor. Hawthorne reveals the honest emotion that exists between Hester and Dimmesdale, but tempers it with the danger of their secret being revealed at the hand of Chillingworth. Dimmesdale's health deteriorates as his guilt eats away at him and eventually he reveals to the village that he is Hester's lover and Pearl's father.

Questions to Ponder: Consider the following questions as you read.

Examine the development of character through the novel.

• Why is Hester Prynne an admirable character?
• In what ways is Roger Chillingworth revealed as a warped or evil character?
• What does Pearl symbolize?
• What is the significance of Pearl not recognizing her mother without her 'A'?
• How do the names in the book reveal aspects of the characters' natures?

Examine the conflict between society and nature.

• How does the ethic of Puritanism conflict with human nature?
• What symbolic examples may be found in the text for man's domination over nature?
• What is Hawthorne trying to say about religion through the character of Arthur Dimmesdale?
• What is the significance of the many references to light and dark?

Possible First Sentences for The Scarlet Letter

• Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are like a 17th century Adam and Eve.
• The Scarlet Letter is a novel rich in symbolism.
• Nathaniel Hawthorne creates an allegory of man's domination over nature in The Scarlet Letter.
• The wildness of human nature is often in conflict with the rules that govern society.

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Point of View

The point of view of a book is the method and perspective an author uses for conveying the story.

A "first person" point of view uses "I" and sounds a little bit like reading a journal. The narrator witnesses events first hand and expresses how it looks and feels through his or her experience. From Huckleberry Finn:

"Tom's most well now, and got his bullet around his neck on a watch-guard for a watch, and is always seeing what time it is, and so there ain't nothing more to write about, and I am rotten glad of it, because if I'd a knowed what a trouble it was to make a book I wouldn't a tackled it, and ain't a-going to no more."

A second person point of view is seldom used, which makes sense if you think about it. In second person, the writer speaks directly to the reader. This would be awkward and confusing in a novel!

The third person is the most common type of narration. Of this type, two varieties are used in most of the novels you read.

Omniscient narration provides an insight to the thoughts, feelings, and impressions of all the characters and events. We receive information from an all-knowing vantage point—and we even know what’s going on when nobody is around to experience it.

In an objective or dramatic point of view, we are told events and allowed to react and have feelings as an observer. We are not provided the emotions, we experience emotions, based on the events we read about. While this may sound impersonal, it is just the opposite. This is much like observing a film or a play—and we know how powerful that can be!

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Resolutions for Students

There are a number of steps you could take to really improve your performance in school, so this is a perfect time to pick one or two great study habits and resolve to work on them. You'll find that you don't have to change your whole personality or your whole life to improve your grades; one or two small changes in your habits will make a huge difference.

• Resolve to read your assignments. Many students choose to skip this step and rely on teacher lectures. Most of the time you can get away with this to maintain an average GPA. But is that really your goal?
• Resolve to record every assignment and due date in your planner. This action, alone, will improve your performance.
• Resolve to read classic literature outside your assignments. This will increase your vocabulary and expand your mind.
• Resolve to be on time every day. Tardiness can lead to many more problems.
• Keep a journal. Journal writing is good for your brain, good for your emotional health, and good for your writing skills.

Can you think of another resolution that will improve your grades?

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Position Paper

In a position paper, you will choose a side on a particular controversial topic and build up a case for your opinion or position. Once you state your position, you will use facts, opinion, statistics and other forms of evidence to convince your reader that your position is the best one.

As you collect research for your position paper and begin to craft an outline, you must remember that the teacher will be looking for a well-constructed argument. This means that the subject matter and your topic is not as important as your ability to make a case. You topic could be simple or complex—but your argument must be sound and logical.

Select a Topic

Your position paper is going to center around a personal belief that is supported by research, so you have an opportunity to tap into your own strong feelings in this assignment. Take advantage of this opportunity! Find a topic that is near and dear to your heart, and you’ll put more of your heart into your work. That always leads to a better outcome.

Conduct Preliminary Research

Preliminary research is necessary to determine whether evidence is available to back up your stance. You don’t want to get to attached to a topic that falls apart under a challenge.

Search a few reputable sites, like educations sites and government sites, to find professional studies and statistics. If you come up with nothing after an hour of searching, or if you find that your position doesn’t stand up to the findings on reputable sites, you might want to find another topic.

Challenge Your Own Topic

This is a very important step! You must know the opposite view as well as you know your own stance when you take a position. You must know all the possible challenges that you might face as you support your view. Your position paper must present the opposing view and chip away at it with counter evidence.

For this reason, you must find arguments for the other side of your position, address those arguments, and state why they are not sound.

Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper and list your points on one side and list opposing points on the other side. Which argument is really better?

Continue to Collect Supporting Evidence

Once you’ve determined that your position is supportable and the opposite position is (in your opinion) weaker than your own, you are ready to branch out with your research. Go to a library and conduct a search, or ask the reference librarian to help you find more sources.

Try to collect a variety of sources, to include an expert’s opinion (doctor, lawyer, or professor, for example) and personal experience (from a friend or family member) that can add an emotional appeal to your topic.

Create an Outline

A position paper might be arranged in the following format:

1. Introduce your topic with a little background information. Build up to your thesis sentence, which asserts your position. Sample points:

• For decades, the FDA has required that warning labels should be placed on certain products that pose a threat to public health.
• Fast food restaurants are bad for our health.
• Fast food packages should contain warning labels.

2. List possible objections to your position. Sample points:

• Such labels would affect profits of major corporations.
• Many people would see this as overreaching government control.
• Whose job is it to determine which restaurants are bad? Who draws the line?
• The program would be costly.

3. Support and acknowledgement of the opposing points. Sample points:

• It would be difficult and expensive for any entity to determine which restaurants should adhere to the policy.
• Nobody wants to see the government overstepping its boundaries.
• Funding would fall onto the shoulders of taxpayers.

4. Explain that your position is still the best one, despite the strength of counter arguments. Sample points:

• The cost would be countered by the improvement of public health.
• Restaurants might improve the standards of food if warning labels were put into place.
• One role of the government is to keep citizens safe.
• The government already does this with drugs and cigarettes.

5. Summarize your argument and restate your position.

Get Attitude When you write a position paper, you should write with confidence. In this paper you want to state your opinion with authority. After all, your goal is to demonstrate that your position is the correct one. Be assertive, but don't be cocky. State your points and back them up with evidence.

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