November 18, 2009 – 8:14 PM
Tonight, Academic Approach is thinking of its students, its noble scions, illustrious alum, really, the entire reason why we’re in business.
There’s really no better confirmation of our mission than that moment when an alum writes to us to share one of his or her latest offerings at college, and we can see in that piece the evidence of critical thinking, logical analysis, sophisticated syntax, and perfect usage and mechanics. Well, actually, there is one slightly better confirmation, that is, when the piece also displays real intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm.
Here’s one for you below:
November 17, 2009 – 12:56 AM
I’m often struck by how my students focus on endings—“what happens in the end?”, “where is this story going?” or, more autobiographically, “I can’t wait ‘til high school’s over and I go to college!”
In short, we’re a teleological bunch, racing towards our finish lines frenetically.
In my mind, beginnings are often more interesting, especially literary ones.
November 13, 2009 – 12:33 AM
Somewhere between a coercive language immersion program, like Orwellian Newspeak (except it’s not known at all for its concision), and some odd naturalistic, linguistic emergence, like Nicaraguan deaf children signing their own language (except it’s much more obtrusive), lies academese, that esoteric idiom known only to that precious few meisters and apprentices that occupy the ivory tower of academia.
Now, as someone who is prefers the abstruse to the mundane, I hesitate to cast aspersions on my adoptive mother tongue, academese, yet, even the most foppish don has his limits.
November 11, 2009 – 5:47 PM
How shocking the vivid argot of young people today! Imagine our befuddlement when recently accosted by the indelicate language of the street corner in what was unfolding as an otherwise proper conversation with one of our well-bred and punctilious students. Though this would not be the first time we have been waylaid by the urban patois of our young charges, we were, nevertheless, sufficiently bemused that we paused to consider how we might intervene so as to take full advantage of the teachable moment that had presented itself. Here, after all, was one of our ambitious young students in the midst of a conversation about his summer employment with his SAT/ACT Grammar, Reading, and Essay instructor. As we have stated on previous occasions, our effort to expand the active vocabulary of America’s youth by shepherding them away from the slippery slopes of indolent locution is part and parcel of our ongoing quest to elevate and instruct these lexically challenged youths in the more subtle expressions found in the educated citizen’s vocabulary. Here is the expression that so took us aback:
October 14, 2009 – 8:54 AM
In working with young people, we often overhear the colorful patois of their generation. Though we are occasionally flummoxed by their exotic teen argot, we are sometimes nimble enough to discern and exploit such teachable moments when they present themselves. As part of our ongoing mission to encourage our students to expand their active vocabularies by renouncing their slothful locutions and supplanting them with the more nuanced phrasings afforded by sophisticated diction, we offer the following example from a conversation we recently overheard.
“My ACT tutor is one of the most brilliant educators I have ever met, but, when I saw him in the park the other day playing basketball, I realized that he’s really a ‘wack buster.’”
October 7, 2009 – 11:51 PM
Last week, Chicago found out that the 2016 Olympics will not be held within city limits. The games will be held outside of Chicago – and by “outside of Chicago” I mean “take a left, then another left, then go straight for five thousand miles.”
October 6, 2009 – 11:24 PM
If there’s an allegiance we pledge at Academic Approach—before political party, nation, or even deity—it’s to language, specifically the power of logic and rhetoric.
So perhaps with a touch of autumnal, academic nostalgia (i.e., fond thoughts of college freshmen cultivating a new knowledge of ancient texts) or a bit of current resentment against those Olympic judges who snubbed Chicago for Rio, our thoughts turn toward Athens—not for games, but for knowledge. Specifically, I’m thinking of the art of rhetoric, and one of my favorite rhetorical techniques, anaphora.
October 5, 2009 – 1:54 PM
As part of our ongoing effort to educate and elevate, we encourage our students to expand their active vocabularies by cultivating their own speech and, rather than unimaginatively following the herd, forsaking their teen argot with nuanced diction that will, no doubt, impress their friends and enemies alike.
September 16, 2009 – 6:33 AM
As I wrote in my last post, I am very much a sports fan – and a Chicago one at that. Though very much dispirited today after watching my Chicago Bears give away their game last night (gift wrapped, actually) to the Green Bay Packers – a team famous for its nearby dairy processing facilities more than anything else – I still think there’s value in using sports as a metaphor for some of the challenges you’ll face on standardized tests.
September 9, 2009 – 8:13 AM
With protesters a few blocks away holding signs that succinctly conveyed the spirit of their protest gathering— “Obamecation. It takes the Village Idiot; Obama-cation Dumbing Down Students; Mr. President, stay away from our kids”—President Obama addressed the nation’s school children in his back-to-school speech that urged his audience to embrace the quintessential American values of hard work, individual responsibility, and education as a path towards a better life: