"You're Gonna Need a Bigger Vocabulary . . ."

As the man once said, "You're gonna need a bigger vocabulary."

And how are you gonna get that bigger vocabulary?

Read! Read! Read!

Read op-ed pieces. Read sports columns. Read fiction. Read non- fiction.

Read science and psychology. Social studies and sociology.

"Wait, HepCat, sociology is social studies!"

And so it is, my friends, so it is!

So read book reviews. Few readings mimic the paired passages on the SAT more closely than good book reviews do. The author of the review has an attitude towards the book, its subject, and often its author. The book's author's attitudes are also reflected in the review. And if more than one book on the same subject is being reviewed . . .BINGO!


Point is: READ!

Back in the day, people read all the time.

Why?

Simple. They didn't have TV, and reading was actually considered entertainment. For some, it still is.

Public schools weren't available way back when either, so the only way to get education was to get a book, read it, and teach yourself.

That's what we call bookstrappin'. And how many smart people do you know that don't read books, newspapers, magazines and yes, BLOGS, regularly in order to learn more and new?

Point is, if you make reading one of your favorite forms of entertainment, you're virtually assured of growing your vocabulary to impressive lengths and widths. Not to mention taking charge of your education.

And who doesn't want that?

Comes in mighty handy when you're taking the SAT. Or any other test for that matter.

You simply can't have too big a vocabulary.

Remember, you don't have use all of it all the time. But like money, when you need it, nothing else comes close.