In
today's information-laden and time-constrained world we are required to
digest an increasing amount of written and printed material. Most
people, in their capacity as student, job seeker, employee or leisure
reader, want to be able to deal with their daily reading faster and
also recall it effectively. This book gives you the means to do just
that by: finding the techniques for improvement that work best for you;
providing methods for increasing retention and recall; promoting
flexibility - the key to reading efficiently; offering techniques for
developing skim-reading; and, highlighting problem areas and suggesting
ways of addressing them. The book contains exercises to facilitate your
development and assesses your results throughout, ensuring that you
come away reading faster and recalling more.
TTC - Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
What
pieces of a distant past drift before our mind's eye when ancient
Mesopotamia is mentioned?
Do we see the temples known as ziggurats, thrust toward the sky by
stepped platforms that would bring worshippers closer to the gods they
honored? Entire populations paralyzed by fear before a dreaded invader,
their dreams haunted by images of their own severed heads held aloft?
Priests making sacrifices to the gods who ruled over and protected
their city? Or the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon, their terraces as
shadowed by mystery as they are set alight by color?
Any of these, of course, may come to mind. Perhaps all of them. And
with the exception of Babylon's fabled gardens, whose existence has
never actually been confirmed, they are all true—each
a part of the legacy of a region from which our own culture has drawn
so many essential aspects, including writing, the first code of law,
the idea of cities, and even the first epic poem. All cultures lie in
the shadow of Mesopotamia.
What elevates Palahniuk's best novels (e.g., Fight Club) above their shocking premises is his ability to find humanity in deeply grotesque characters. But such generosity of spirit is not evident in his latest, which charts the trials of a group of aspiring writers brought together for a three-month writer's retreat in an abandoned theater. The novel intersperses the writers' poems and short stories with tales of the indignities they heap upon themselves after deciding to turn their lives into a "true-life horror story with a happy ending."
Maddy and her friend Cate are in Egypt on a school trip. They keep seeing a mysterious man in a black suit. Then they look in Cate's bag and are shocked at what they find. Should they tell somebody about their discovery? Why is the man in black following them?
Reading Between the Lines: Improve Your Scores on English and Social Studies Tests
Most students in middle schools and high schools will have to answer
document-based questions (DBQ’s) in their many challenging tests
including SATs, ACTs, and state assessment exams. Even teachers of high
school advanced placement classes expect their students to write
effective document-based essays. Reading Between the Lines is designed
to help students of any age understand, practice, and write effective
DBQs so that they can improve their scores on standardized tests and
become a more successful student. This workbook helps students practice
brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing with proven methods. It
also includes a glossary of essay terms and sample essays.
TTC - Between the Rivers: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia
