Resisting the Heteronormative Timeline Japanese Womens...

Resisting the Heteronormative Timeline: Japanese Womens Media and Sexuality as Subcultural Capital This seminar took place in the Hall center and it was generally about the gay boom in Japan. The speaker Sho Ogawa talked about the 1991 Gay Renaissance† issue of a popular Japanese women’s magazine â€Å"Crea† which brought about a great rise in the representation of gay men in the japanese media phenomenon which is known as the â€Å"gay boom.† This boom affected how the Japanese media, in an amazing rush of films, nonfiction and fiction books, manga (Japanese comics), and television programs spreads information about gay male’s way of life and sexuality to hetrosexual consumers. He also talked about how the earlier media boom conflated†¦show more content†¦He then further explained how the gay boom brought a change not only in the exposure of the gay subculture or a shift from feminized images of homosexuality to masculine ones, but a change in the target audience for gay images. Also, he told us that there were actually gay male images that were produced for non-gay audiences prior to the gay boom in adolescent female teen culture (which is called the shojo culture) represented in teen magazines such as Olive or magazines such as June showing romantic relationships between adolescent boys. After about 30mins into the seminar, he talked about a movie Summer Vacation 1999 which was produced before the gay boom and it shows homosexual characters. However, unlike the films produced during the gay boom, the gay characters do not date or get married to homosexual women. Summer Vacation is an adaptation of the boys love manga â€Å"The Heart of Thomas† with young female actors acting as adolescent schoolboys who were romantically drawn to each other. In addition, he went ahead to show us a video clip from the movie and I noticed that the females playing the gay male characters were dressed like westerners and the movi e setting was western. This was because at that time in Japan, homosexuality was seen to have originated from the west and therefore was western. Due to this, homosexual men in Japan were seen as almost western since homosexuality was not present in

The Issue Of Gun Control - 1418 Words

Jon Reichfield Mr. Thidemann U.S. Government 12R 6 October 2014 Gun control has been a controversial issue in America for over a half-century. This issue has two sides. On one side, there are people who oppose gun control and believe that it is their right under the second amendment to own one or more assault weapons. Republicans such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Governor Rick Perry of Texas and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are against gun control. On the other side of the issue, there are people who favor gun control and believe that background checks should be given in order to keep these weapons out of the hands of people who are mentally ill. Democratic politicians such as House Majority Leader and Senator Harry Reid of†¦show more content†¦This law also required a person to register for a gun (Kim). Over the next thirty four years though, this issue worsened and more deaths occurred as a result of guns. These deaths included President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. As a result of these assass inations, The Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed and later signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. This act did not allow the sale of guns to drug users and the mentally ill, and it also required firearm dealers to get licenses and initiated interstate sale restrictions. The law also increased the age required in order to purchase a handgun to 21 (Kim). Not everybody was happy with this legislation though. The National Rifle Association, known as the NRA, founded in 1871, is a pro-gun organization that was unhappy with this act and with others. Once the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed, the NRA opposed it. This caused the gun lobby to establish a new lobbying branch known as the NRA Institute for Legislative Action. The goal of this branch was to invalidate the 1968 law. In 1986, congress passed the Firearm Owner’s Protection Act which was later signed by President Ronald Reagan. This law limited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from inspecting gun dealers more th an once a year, with other inspections allowed only if multiple violations are found. An amendment also passed banning ownership of machine guns manufactured after May 19, 1986. Weapons made and

New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Free Essays

Introduction Traditional market structure suggests that all market decisions should be based on utilitarian theory. We often witness market decisions which neglect other important aspects of the market activity. As a result, we appear under the impact of one-side unbalanced decisions which ultimately neglect the principles of morality and moral theology of the marketplace. We will write a custom essay sample on New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority or any similar topic only for you Order Now Rising fares and tolls by MTA â€Å"After an unusually vigorous and spirited debate, the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted to raise fares on subways, buses and commuter railroads and tolls on bridges and tunnels† (Chan, 2007a). Why is it so surprising that not all members of the MTA board wanted to turn into the proponents of fares and tolls’ increase? Does this mean that more and more political and business players realize the importance of morality in taking market decisions? Evidently, the situation is much worse than one may imagine. One may initially think that increasing the fares will lead to less traffic congestion, and will urge more people to use public transport; yet, the public transport fares are being raised, too. From the viewpoint of those who vote for raising fares and tolls in New York, this decision is the first step towards â€Å"fiscal responsibility. The authority had for long applied windfalls and real estate taxes hoping that someone would bail us out and turning a blind eye to our responsibility to put this MTA on a firm future monetary structure† (Chan, 2007a). Simultaneously, from the viewpoint of morality and theology of the marketplace, commercial activity is not limited by rational market decisions, but also â€Å"confronts us with the moral predicaments† (Gregg, 2004). The major concern within this situation is that the decision to raise fares has completely neglected the position of those whom we traditionally consider to be vulnerable populations. The representative of Working Families Party is confident that raising fares will seriously hit working people (Benjamin, 2007). â€Å"Today, once again middle class New Yorkers and those struggling to make it, are bearing the cost†, Rep. Anthony Weiner said (Benjamin, 2007). â€Å"A fare hike now is the wrong choice for New York. It would hit many people who are struggling hard to make ends meet and hurt the region’s economy. [†¦] This fare hike will hit 86 percent of the riding public who use fare discounts. These include pay-per-ride bonus MetroCards and 7- and 30-day unlimited-ride passes. It’s also a double whammy for most L.I.R.R. and Metro-North commuters whose railroad fares would go up!† (Chan, 2007b) The discussed fare hike will also cause the bonuses’ decrease for riders (from 20 to 15 percent), and the discounted fare will cost $1.74 instead of $1.67 (Chan, 2007b). The problem is that New Yorkers pay more than they have to for the transport they use. â€Å"In 2005, riders paid 55 percent of the costs of running the subways and buses† (Chan, 2007b). Objectively, this is much higher that the riders in other cities pay: those in Boston do not compensate more than 29 percent of the discussed costs, and those in Philadelphia pay no more than 37 percent (Chan, 2007b). As the M.T.A reports $140 million reductions, does this mean that they will make the riders pay this amount through higher fares and tolls? Doubtlessly, the suggested fares and tolls increase will help compensate the under-financing of the MTA by the state Government, but if the decision framework remains unchanged, this compensation will actually take place for the account of the already mentioned vulnerable populations. â€Å"To rely upon utilitarianism as the moral – philosophical foundation of the case for the market creates tremendous difficulties for Catholics† (Gregg, 2004). The utilitarian desire to find the greatest good and to satisfy the masses does not meet the ethical and moral criteria of religion. Those who were taking the decision to raise the fares and tolls in New York have neglected one essential aspect in their decision making: when one looks for the means to produce the greatest pleasure for the greatest number of people, one has to perform numerous calculations and to produce the decision which satisfies everyone. From the viewpoint of moral theology, such calculations in market decision-making are simply impossible. â€Å"No person can make such an assessment without admitting a tremendous degree of ignorance about all the possible effects that might proceed from a freely chosen act† (Gregg, 2004). The MTA governors have evidently gone beyond their reasonable abilities, trying to persuade us that that the future with raised fares and tolls for everyone was better than other possible alternatives. The MTA board members view the increased tolls and fares as the means to close the gaps in MTA’s budget and to provide safe and reliable system of transportation for the New York’s citizens. However, it is not the ultimate goal for those who use public transport and belong to vulnerable layers of the city population. Conclusion The moral theology of marketplace rejects any uniform measures in defining the goals of decision making. This is why the governors should have considered the financial opportunities of those who cannot afford paying more for using public transport. The diversified structure of prices would resolve all moral and ethical issues, and would not create serious obstacles on the way towards better functioning of the city’s transportation systems. References Chan, S. (2007a). Board approves subway and bus fare increase. The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2008 from https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/mta-board-approves-fare-and-toll-increases/ Chan, S. (2007b). Hundreds stranded online by botched M.T.A. â€Å"Webinar†. The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2008 from http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/mixed-reaction-to-new-mta-fare-plan/?hp Gregg, S. (2004). Ethics and the market economy: Insights from Catholic moral theology. IEA Economic Affairs, June, pp. 4-10. How to cite New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Essay examples

Oh, for a muse of ice! Essay Example For Students

Oh, for a muse of ice! Essay Oscar Wildes famous pronouncement that life imitates art far more than art imitates life was never better exemplified than last month when details of the Nancy Kerrigan assault case began to be known. Initial reports of the attack by a masked man with a club impressed listeners as merely another instance of the endemic violence of American life. As arrests were made, however, a tidy melodrama emerged: glamor and rivalry in ice skating circles, deluded misfit plotters, potential corporate sponsors waiting in the wings. The nation followed the unfolding revelations with a rapture usually reserved for the Superbowl in progress. From the moment the police shifted their attention to Portland, Ore., fief of Kerrigans principal competitor, Tonya Harding, the attack in Detroit took on the familiar aspect of sordid intrigue. Journalists and the public latched on to it like soap opera addicts. Many said it was fact triumphing over fiction, or worthy of the movies. Which leads one to wonder: If the Kerrigan case were a play, what would it have to offer? A Manichaean world view in which nice figure skaters wear Plae sequins and mean ones wear dark, in which supporting roles are shamelessly type-cast. Then theres the dialogue. Tonya Harding commenting on the attack: Nobody wanted to beat her worse than me. Add to this the hare-brained story of how the plot unraveled: the bodyguard unburdens himself to a 24-year-old minister who, insensitive to the secrets of confession, runs to tell a private eye. The minister and the private eye then go to the FBI together. Wheres the big confrontation? Wheres the blackmail? Wheres the poetry? That so trite and artless a tale is immediately likened to a work of dramatic fiction should be felt as a stinging rebuke by those who create theatre. Presented as kitchen-sink realism, it wouldnt play for a moment; as Grand Guignol it would be hooted off the stage. The best bet would be to play it as social satire and hope the audience laughs. If Wilde was right and life does indeed imitate art, one of our national priorities should be to find out why life is imitating art of such execrable quality. Art can inform every aspect of national life, including crime, but hooligans today have no contact with art. Nobody raised on Chekhov, Pinter and Shepard could plan or execute anything as depraved as the Kerrigan assaultaesthetically depraved, that is. This is the sort of crime committed by people who wallow in irreality, people who cant distinguish an episode of Mission Impossible from a PBS documentary. There is no better gauge of any nations popular imagination that the quality of its crimes. No wonder the Europeans are laughing at us. The current world champion figure skater, Surya Bonaly of France, snickered, I dont want to comment from such a distance. It certainly seems bizarre. The New York Times also quoted a British skating coach saying, It does seem to be the kind of strange story that one occasionally gets out of America. Look at the nations police blotters and try to find crimes worthy of Marlowes Tamburlaine or de Mussets Lorenzaccio. There arent any. DeQuincy considered murder an art form in itself; for Baudelaire and his admirers, including Genet, a life of crime did not exclude a sense of aesthetics. When Thomas Wainwright, the literary forger and assassin, was reproached for the murder of a woman, he replied, Yes, it was a dreadful thing to do, but she had very thick ankles. Great theatre and great crimes have always gone hand-in-hand. Is it any accident that the Earl of Essex prepared for his act of treason by commissioning a performance at the Globe? That the Marquis de Sade had seen all of Beaumarchaiss comedies? That Lincoln was shot by an actor? These were criminals of vision and daring, criminals who struck at the soul and conscience of the nation, not the kneecaps of its figure skaters. .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 , .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .postImageUrl , .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 , .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146:hover , .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146:visited , .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146:active { border:0!important; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146:active , .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146 .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u66ac66b703091fc4e2fadb151b03c146:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Rene Moreno: the actor that is EssayInstead of Shakespeare and Shaw, Americas criminals have grown up on Charles Bronson and Charlies Angels. The result is all too clear: When the representation of life is reduced to pablum and tripe, life itself responds in kind. A downward spiral begins which leads to convicted felons negotiating the movie rights to abominable crimes that owe much of their original inception to abominable movies. The only thing art has to teach is style, and style is at the heart of everything. Theatre doesnt make people moral; it tells stories. If the stories are well done, they allow the audience to imagine styles they do not currently command. Charity, discovery and enlightened public policy rely on a sense of style and so, ineluctably, does crime. Of necessity then, theatre and its allied arts refine and strengthen every aspect of the imaginative life of the country, from best to worst.

Strategic Spatial Development Planning

The Best SAT Prep Websites You Should Be Using

The Best SAT Prep Websites You Should Be Using SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The SAT has been around in one form or another since 1901. Through all its changes, probably the most helpful one for you is the rise of free online practice questions and guides covering every aspect of the test. Rather than having to carry around 400-page practice books like the students of yesteryear (i.e., the 90s), you can use these online resources to prep from anywhere with the Internet. To help you discern high-quality resources from low-quality ones, this guide will break down the SAT prep websites you can use to review content, learn strategies, and find practice questions. Disclaimer: Free SAT Resources at PrepScholar This article is one of many detailed guides offered (for free!) by PrepScholar. By exploring our other articles, you'll find in-depth information and analyses of all aspects of the SAT and ACT, from suggested study schedules to how to read passages to how to choose your test dates. Plus, we like to keep on top of those high-profile cheating scandals that often result in SAT score cancellations across the globe. I personally think PrepScholar offers the most insightful, high-level guidance around every step of the testing process. Our customized online test prep program tracks your progress and does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. That's why I'll link to our various guides when appropriate in order to give you a sense of the different areas we cover and continue to add to every day. At the same time, there are several other sites with highly useful information for your SAT prep. Rather than listing them in a row, I'll organize them by the testing steps you're looking for, starting with test registration and followed by guides for scheduling, test-taking strategies, and practice questions. Official SAT Website: The College Board If you've heard of the SAT, then you've probably heard of the College Board. This group administers the SAT and sends your score reports to colleges. To register for the SAT, you must create an account on the College Board website and upload a picture of yourself. You can then use this site to register for the SAT, learn about AP tests, and research colleges across the country. But this isn't all the College Board does. For one, it breaks down the SAT's overall format and skills: you can go "inside the test" to see what concepts are tested on the Reading, Math, Writing, and Essay sections. Some descriptions are a bit wordy and confusing, so you'll have to look elsewhere if you want to learn about the test in more accessible language. This website also offers free prep material, including SAT practice questions and ten full-length practice tests. SAT questions from the test makers are the gold standard when it comes to test prep. You can access dozens of sample questions for Reading, Writing, and Math, and you'll get to see all correct answers and answer explanations. For the Essay, the College Board gives test takers two sample essay prompts, and each section of the sample essay is scored from 1 to 4. Because the full-length tests are the same as those in The Official SAT Study Guide, I advise printing them out on your own rather than buying the book. Make sure to time yourself as you take the practice tests, and spend ample time correcting your answers with the answer keys provided. Best SAT Websites for Content and Strategy What concepts are tested on the SAT? What are the different skill sets you need for Writing and Reading? What kinds of tricks can you use to keep yourself from running out of time? One key part of your SAT prep that you won't find much of on the official SAT website is strategy. The College Board doesn't want you to know that questions follow certain standardized templates, or that you'll usually find the same kinds of wrong answers on Reading questions meant to distract you from the correct one. Nor will it give you strategies for reading passages quickly and efficiently or managing your time on tricky math questions. So what resources should you use instead? The following SAT websites are the most useful for learning the content and format of the SAT and getting down critical test-taking strategies. PrepScholar Informational and Strategy SAT Guides Our SAT blog offers in-depth coverage of each section of the test. Read about what's tested on each of the four sections, learn every detail of the SAT structure, and get a comprehensive look at the most recent SAT data, including average scores and percentiles. Unlike the College Board, whose SAT-ACT comparison charts clearly favor the SAT, our breakdown of the two tests has no agenda for you to choose one college admissions test over the other! Some of our best guides to help you understand the content and format of the SAT are as follows: What's Tested on the SAT Math Section? What's Actually Tested on the SAT Reading Section? What's Tested on the SAT Writing Section? SAT Essay Prompts: The Complete List Complete Comparison Charts: SAT vs ACT I also suggest exploring our General Info articles for information on topics such as test dates; Score Choice; scoring, sending, and receiving scores; and the best books for SAT prep. Although learning about the content and format of the SAT is relatively straightforward, finding effective strategies for answering questions and saving time on it are fewer and further between. The following list contains 10 of our most useful and popular SAT strategy guides. You can find more under the SAT Strategy category as well: How Long Should I Study for the SAT? 6 Step Guide Should You Guess on the SAT? 6 Guessing Strategies The 28 Critical SAT Math Formulas You MUST Know How to Get an 800 on SAT Reading: 11 Strategies by a Perfect Scorer The Complete Guide to SAT Grammar Rules How to Write an SAT Essay, Step by Step The Best Way to Review Your Mistakes for the SAT Choose Your SAT Test Dates: When's a Good Time For You? How to Study for the New SAT in 2016 How to Get a Perfect 1600 SAT Score, by a 2400 Expert Full Score This is just a small sampling of the SAT strategy guides we offer. In addition to these, we've written tons of guides specific to Math, Reading, and Writing for students in grades 9 through 12, and for middle schoolers who are starting prep early or taking the SAT to qualify for talent competitions. Finally, we strive to keep up with trends and events in the world of the SAT, as you can see in our articles on SAT Essay length and the SAT curve. Erica Meltzer's The Critical Reader Erica Meltzer's blog is extremely useful for prepping for the SAT Reading, Writing, and Essay sections. Over the years, Meltzer's blog has evolved from covering standardized testing to addressing many issues facing students today. That means you will probably have to dig through the site's extensive archives to find SAT prep articles. Many of those posts cover general topics, like learning vocabulary in context and comma usage. Additionally, some of her SAT Reading tips have been merged with ACT Reading tips since the tests are so similar these days. That said, Meltzer offers several useful posts and will most likely continue to add to them. Here are some of her posts that are definitely worth checking out: Using the introduction to get the big picture General vs. specific in Critical Reading answer choices Finding the point The importance of transitions What parts of speech can be subjects? I suggest exploring the blog for more tips for the verbal sections. Although her posts are engaging, Meltzer ultimately leaves it up to you to seek out examples and sample questions when trying out her advice. Erik the Red While Meltzer's blog focuses on verbal skills, Erik the Red is all about SAT Math. This website lets you download PDFs containing critical math facts, formulas, strategies, and vocabulary. The resources here are useful for both the SAT Math section and the SAT Math Level I and Level II Subject Tests. However, it's important to note that this website is even less updated for the SAT than Meltzer's blog is. The math resources here have remained unchanged since the old SAT and thus don't reflect the current SAT format, question types, and skills tested. I decided to keep this website on this list because many of the math concepts explained here- especially the algebraic ones- are essential to your performance on SAT Math. The PDFs Erik the Red has are still useful review for content areas like linear equations, nonlinear equations, functions, quadratic equations, and graphs. You could use them as review, but be sure to focus on the skills that will actually appear on the SAT (and leave out the ones that are less important). For instance, you don't have to focus too much on geometry since it'll only show up in about 3-5% of SAT Math questions. Ask the Dean on College Confidential If you have general questions about the form or content of the SAT that aren't answered in the resources above, try College Confidential. This website offers several student and parent discussion threads about the SAT, which you can peruse or even comment on. The Ask the Dean forum in particular has some helpful advice about how many times to take the SAT. It suggests three- that's more than what the College Board says to do and about the same as what we recommend doing (depending on your circumstances and goals). If you have questions about the logistics of the SAT, read up on the test on College Confidential before signing up for a test date. Best Websites for Free SAT Practice Questions The College Board isn't the only website that offers an assortment of free, high-quality SAT practice questions. Below are our top three picks for the best online resources for practice questions for the Reading, Writing, Math, and Essay sections. Some of them even offer full-length tests! Khan Academy Khan Academy has designed a scaffolded SAT prep program that diagnoses your level and takes you through practice questions, step by step. It was developed in collaboration with the College Board, so all of its practice questions are official and realistic. Its combination of video and written explanations will also appeal to different learning styles. On Khan Academy's interactive site, you can set up an account and take diagnostic tests on each section of the SAT. Then, Khan Academy will suggest what level you should focus on and, much like our own customized approach, present you with targeted question types to help you improve. The site breaks down each section into subtopics and gives you helpful tips on how to structure your prep schedule. Because it keeps track of your progress, you can log in from anywhere to pick up where you left off. In addition to SAT practice questions, Khan Academy offers resources that explain the structure of the SAT. At present, there are six articles and corresponding videos that describe the format and content of each section (including the Essay) and how they're scored. The website also contains a helpful glossary of SAT terms that go over what terms like "percentile" and "raw score" mean. If you're tired of reading about the SAT and prefer to watch explanatory videos, then Khan Academy is your best source for video explanations of what's on the SAT. Though its SAT material is thorough, the limited number of practice questions and lack of test strategy mean that Khan Academy, while incredibly useful, shouldn't be your only source of practice problems. PrepScholar Collection of Old and New Official SAT Practice Tests We've compiled PDFs for all ten official SAT practice tests, which you can download, print, and take on your own. In addition, we've collected four old SAT practice tests (using the 2400 system) and four very old SAT practice tests (using the old 1600 system). While these tests use old versions of the SAT, they can still be useful for your prep as long as you focus on relevant question types and skip the ones no longer tested (such as Sentence Completion). You'll have to score these tests on your own as well as take the time to understand your mistakes and analyze your answer choices. You can also try out a 5-day free trial of PrepScholar's online test prep program. For these 5 days, you'll have access to the entire program and can try out whether this approach to test prep works for you. PrepScholar helps break down your SAT prep into manageable goals, tracks your progress, and customizes your studying so you're focusing on the practice problems where you need the most improvement. If you enjoy this approach to test prep, then you can continue on with the entire program. If not, then you can call it quits after your 5-day trial. CrackSAT.net Like PrepScholar, CrackSAT.net offers free, official, old SAT practice tests (with answer keys) that you can download for free as PDFs. While the site does have some resources for the New SAT, there aren't very many. Having said that, even old SAT practice tests are great resources for practicing test-taking strategies to maximize your time...and your score. Like some of the other resources we've mentioned, you'll have to score these practice tests yourself. Be sure to set aside time to understand and analyze any mistakes you made. Also, this website is a bit tough to navigate, but once you wind your way through it, you'll have access to plenty of SAT practice questions. Altogether, this collection of websites and blogs can give you a ton of information about the SAT, from its content and form to strategies and official practice questions. Read on to learn the steps you should take to best use these online SAT resources in your prep. How to Use SAT Websites Effectively In order to get the most out of the websites listed above, you'll need to know how to approach and use SAT websites effectively. For both the College Board and Khan Academy, you'll want to make an account and keep track of your usernames and passwords. To post on College Confidential, you'll also need to register on the site to connect with community of students and parents going through the same college application process as you. For our own SAT strategy guides and Erica Meltzer's blog, you can just read through the different articles to answer any questions you might have or to learn new tips. You can then try out the various strategies you've learned on official SAT practice tests. Although the College Board is the official site for all things SAT, I recommend against taking all of its advice as definitive. The College Board's resources don't focus on test-taking strategies, which are the key to making sure you're scoring as high as possible. In the end, your best shot is to search for high-quality strategies and insights into the SAT on these other websites, and then try them out on official practice questions or during our free, five-day SAT prep program trial. By combining strategy and content readiness with official SAT practice questions, you'll be able to improve your score a great deal across all dates you take the SAT! What's Next? I gave you links to some of our most popular SAT articles- but these aren't our only SAT strategy guides. Browse our blog to get more tips on the Math, Reading, and Writing sections of the SAT. Many of our articles cover crucial test-taking approaches like managing your time, guessing effectively, and using the process of elimination. For more information about the college admissions process, check out our complete guide to applying to college. We also have individual guides on how to get into the best colleges in the nation, including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? We have the industry's leading SAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Check out our 5-day free trial today:

Best Candidate to be U.S. President Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Best Candidate to be U.S. President - Essay Example He has continued to make such significant and deep speeches and has even been combined it with solid character. One cannot ignore such an aspect of leadership because no matter how good a president's policies are, at the end of the day, he/she needs to communicate them to the public and convince them why those policies should be implemented. History has shown how leaders like Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler were able to move crowds to action. Presidents with good oratory skills may motivate their citizens to work harder and contribute towards the development of their economy. (Somerset, 2008) Some of Obama's rivals have claimed that this is something that should not be considered since they feel that greater precedence should be given to policies. However, this argument holds no water because Obama has both aspects; oratory skills and concrete ideas. One of the most outspoken candidates and rivals to Obama; Clinton keep on claiming that Senator Obama has no experience in politics generally and in the United States parliament specifically. However this is very invalid statement because of the following reasons; First of all, Senator Obama has served for seven years as Illinois Senator. When one compares this to what President George W. Bush had before his election, this exceeds Bush's years by five. Even his main democratic rival has nothing on him. If voted into office, he will have three years more experience than her. It should also be note that the issue of experience has only been considered as a point by Hillary Clinton. No other presidential candidate has highlighted the issue of lack of experience aside from her. Racial issues Some stereotypes have argued that American citizens will never accept an African American for president. But this is a far cry from where the American State has emerged. Gone are the days when African Americans were considered as subordinate to the 'white' American. Those issues were addressed adequately in the 1964 Civil rights movements that saw the elimination of all discriminative issues. While one must not ignore the fact that race is still an issue in the US, it is highly unlikely that this will the main issue driving the election. Polls have shown that the racial issue carries a very small percentage among priority lists for voters. (Hutcherson, 2008) It should also be noted that there are also other issues in other presidential candidates that would cause potential sources of bias. For example, Hillary Clinton is also not your 'typical candidate' simply because she is a woman. The New Mexico Governor was happens to be a Latin American and still stood for the presidential race. Therefore proponents of this argument would eliminate almost all presidential candidates since there is something about them that renders them unconventional. The United States electorate is more interested in the best and most qualified person for the job and not how they look like. Such biases are more of side shows than the real deal. Bi partisanship Senator Barrack Obama is one leader who has the ability to reconcile two major differing parties or issues. The nature of the American State is that most individuals are quite opinionated yet democratic at the same time. There is no room for imposition of rules or policies without consultation and