Dissection of Microrna-30Ds Function Roles

Dissection of Microrna-30Ds Function Roles DISSECTION OF MICRORNA-30DS FUNCTION ROLES IN MAMMALIAN PANCREATIC-BETA CELLS By:  Yiping Mao   ABSTRACT MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small non-coding RNAs (about 21-22 nucleotides long) that fine tune target protein output through messenger RNA degradation or inhibition of its translation. Recent studies showing that miRNAs and their function components respond to cellular stress to maintain steady state physiology of the cells. Since there are thousands of microRNAs existing in all kind of cells, their functional characterization during the normal states or stress conditions is not fully addressed yet. In this thesis, important aspects of pancreatic ÃŽÂ ²-cell function under normal or stress condition such as apoptosis, proliferation, insulin production and release and their regulation by the miRNA were explored. Pancreatic ÃŽÂ ²-cell is a group of insulin producing cells and plays critical role in maintaining glucose hemostasis. By combining mouse and cell line genetic approaches, high-throughput deep sequencing, a list of cell assays and molecular techniques, we have shed light on the novel roles of miR-30d, one highly expressed miRNA when ÃŽÂ ²-cell responding to high glucose stimulus, in regulating ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass on the middle aged mice. We demonstrated that overexpress of miR-30d deteriorated glucose tolerance ability of the mice with or without high fat diet treatment by significantly reducing the ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass with less insulin production. Additionally, we demonstrated that the reduced ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass is because both apoptosis pathway and proliferation p athway have been effected by miR-30d by targeting variety of protein factors expression. BCL2 interacting protein 3 (BNIP3) and cyclin E2 (CCNE2) have been respectively confirmed as miR-30ds targets and the effect of their regulation by miR-30d in pancreatic ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation or apoptosis aspects have been addressed as well. Furthermore, we could show that silencing of miR-30d in MIN6 cell (ÃŽÂ ²-cell mimicking cell line) by CRISPR-CAS9 gene editing system promotes the insulin secretion, which is through potentiated expression of MAFA, an insulin transcription factor. These studies uncovered novel functional roles of the miR-30d pathway in mediating ÃŽÂ ²-cell function and fate. Further dissection of these pathways shall uncover several mechanisms by which the ÃŽÂ ²-cells undertake to maximize their efficiency during disease states such as T2D.   CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1.1 The Brief History of Diabetes and Research Long before terming diabetes, which means to pass through by Greek Apollonius of Memphis in 250 BCE and the re-discovery of honey-like-urine (glycosuria) by Thomas Willis, who included the term mellitus, Diabetes has discovered its first saying around 1500 B.C. in an Egyptian manuscript. It was perceived as a disease related with too great emptying of the urine (polyuria). Later, important discoveries includes Matthew Dobsons first proof of elevated urine and blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) in people with diabetes (Dobson, 1776). In 1889, Joseph von Mering and Oskar Minkowski were the first to give evidence that pancreas removal in dogs induced diabetes, proposing that pancreas functional related to glucose levels. Afterward, Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer proposed that diabetes could be brought on by losing a pancreatic chemical, which he named as insulin in 1910 (Polonsky, 2012). Taken together, diabetes is currently well recognized as a gathering of heterogeneous disorders cha racterized by hyperglycemia because of loss of insulin or its effectiveness. Current worldwide trends demonstrate a surprising 382 million individuals have diabetes and this is predicted to ascend to 592 million by the year 2035 (IDF Diabetes Atlas, 2013). The cases of diabetes complications, including diabetic retinopathy, cardiovascular disease and renal failure are constantly rising and the death rate because of those are worsen every year. Claude Bernards identification of liver as the major glucose production organ led to the first concept of homeostasis which has been termed and expanded by Walter Bradford in the mid-nineteenth century, to describe the maintaining of steady-state physiology of the cells (Robin, 1979). This gave the notion that actually the disturbed glucose homeostasis is one of the important events of the diabetes progression. Given the evidences of insulin is involved in maintaining the glucose homeostasis, Frederick Banting and Charles Best integrated a series of scientific approaches, and were able to purify the insulin from the pancreas. Moreover, they successfully treated the patients who suffer from the diabetes, with their purified insulin (Banting Best, 1922; Banting et al., 1922). This landmark finding set the stage for treating the severe diabetes with insulin. However, it has been almost a century now since the first time insulin was discovered and purified, diabetes remains the incurabl e disease, requires life-time attention and treatment because of its complexity. Diabetes has been classified as a couple different types nowadays, the major two types are known as the Type I Diabetes (T1D) or Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) and Type II Diabetes (T2D) or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM). Surprisingly, these two major types has been notified as early as 100-200 B.C by Indian physicians (Kahn, 1994). However, the first scientific evidence was brought by Wilhelm Falta and Harold Himsworth after they set the standardized glucose/insulin tolerance test in human to distinguish the insulin sensitive from non-sensitive patients (Himsworth, 1936). Insulin dependent T1D is featured in insufficient insulin production due to autoimmune response to the pancreatic beta-cells and it mostly affects young kids. T2D is more described as a metabolic syndrome with emergence of insulin resistance and obesity etc, and it is more common among adults (Moller, 2001). There is a complex network of several insulin responding tissues contributes to the maintenance of glucose homeostasis, and of course any abnormality in this network induces the progression of T2D. Besides the metabolic relevant tissues, the gene-interactions also play critical roles in the development of T2D and obesity such kind of metabolic diseases (Doria et al., 2008). 1.2 The Islet Architecture, ÃŽÂ ²-cell Fate determination The islets of Langerhans are specialized endocrine part of pancreas and are the only part producing the secreting hormones. They basically comprise of various cell sorts named ÃŽÂ ±, ÃŽÂ ², ÃŽÂ ´, PP, and ÃŽÂ µ that secret the islet hormones glucagon, insulin, somatostatin, polypeptide Y, and ghrelin individually, and these hormones are required to maintain the glucose homeostasis at normal or stress state. Furthermore, the islets are known to have dynamic and plastic architecture that is proposed to be adjusted over the time of development (Steiner et al., 2010). During the progression of insulin resistance, pregnancy or T2D, the islets extend in size to make up for expanded insulin requirement (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2004; Kim et al., 2009). But afterwards, there is a considerable loss of ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass because of environmental or genetic factors, inducing the serious hyperglycemia in cause of insulin deficiency. While islets count to just ~1-2% of the whole pancreas, the insulin producing ÃŽÂ ²-cells represent ~65-80% of the islet mass, constituting to roughly 2% of pancreatic weight. Furthermore, the rest other cell types are considered as non ÃŽÂ ²-cells of the islets (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2013). During the development, these distinctive cell types are known to emerge from a single progenitor cell that producing Neurogenin3 or Ngn3, a transcription factor that decides endocrine cell destiny (Edlund, 2002). Afterwards, other transcription factors, for example, Pdx1, Pax4, Nkx2.2, Nkx6.1, MafA, and Foxo1 help the ÃŽÂ ²-cell fate determination (Ziv et al., 2013). While it had been learned as that ÃŽÂ ²-cells proliferate by self-duplication from old ÃŽÂ ²-cells instead of differentiation from stem cell (Dor et al., 2004), some other study suggested that multipotent cells inside the pancreas could differentiate into ÃŽÂ ²-cells as well (Xu et al., 2008). The latter study is a lso confirmed by researches showing how expressing the ÃŽÂ ²-cell specific transcription factors in non ÃŽÂ ²-cell could trigger a ÃŽÂ ²-cell lineage in mice (Collombat et al., 2009; Al-Hasani et al., 2013). Recent studies additionally showing that non-ÃŽÂ ² cells, for example, ÃŽÂ ±-and ÃŽÂ ´-cells could experience transdifferentiation into ÃŽÂ ²-like cells when the mice is suffering from significant ÃŽÂ ²-cell loss (Thorel et al., 2010; Chera et al., 2014). On the other hand, a few researches demonstrate that the ÃŽÂ ²-cells can likewise lose their fate or dedifferentiate into non-ÃŽÂ ² or progenitor cells when losing any of the previously mentioned ÃŽÂ ²-cell particular transcription factor (Ziv et al., 2013). Moreover, a current study demonstrated that human ÃŽÂ ²-cells are capable of converting into ÃŽÂ ±-cells with no genetic modification (Spijker et al., 2013). Taken together, all these researches have showed that the dynamic plasticity of islet cells. 1.3 Glucose Stimulate Insulin Secretion One unique and significant feature of ÃŽÂ ²-cells is to detect the blood glucose changes and secrete insulin into extracellular milieu in response to keeping the glucose levels within the range of 4-8mM (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2013). This is primarily accomplished by the take-up of extracellular glucose by the glucose transporter 2 (Glut2; Bell et al., 1990) at the plasma membrane. Upon uptake, the intracellular glucose sensor, glucokinase (Gck), subjects glucose moieties to quick metabolism system by glycolysis (Matschinsky and Ellerman, 1968). This brings about the producing of three carbon products: pyruvate, which takes part in the tricarboxylic corrosive (TCA) cycle inside the mitochondrion to eventually create adenosine triphosphates (ATP) by means of the electron transport chain system. The ATP therefore leads to the increase of ATP/ADP proportion in the cytoplasm, activating the closure of the ATP sensitive potassium (KATP) channel. Vitally, mutation in the kir6.2 subunit o f this channel were demonstrated to induce neonatal diabetes in both mice and human because of loss of insulin secretion as a consequence of constitutively open KATP channel (Koster et al., 2000; Gloyn et al., 2004). It has long been realized that glucose stimulates the closure of these KATP channels thus leading the slow menbrane depolarization (Ashcroft et al., 1984). This promotes extracellular calcium influx by voltage dependent calcium channels and potentiates the releasing of insulin (Matschinsky et al., 1998). Insulin is secreted in an oscillatory manner because of the blood glucose level and triggers downstream insulin signaling cascade in insulin-responsive tissues for the taking up glucose. It has well been shown that islets can be entrained to small changes in glucose and thus the plasma insulin has high frequency of oscillation. However, this capacity of entrainment of the islets is disturbed in patients with T2D (Mao et al., 1999). It exhibits ÃŽÂ ²-cell malfunction because of loss of insulin secretion is a major issue during the clinical indication of T2D. 1.4 Compensatory Islet Expansion During Insulin Resistance During the state of insulin resistance or over-weight, elevated plasma insulin levels (named hyperinsulinemia) has been found in polygenic mouse models showing insulin resistance and human subjects because of increasing of insulin secretion (Yalow and Berson, 1960; Polonsky et al., 1988; Brà ¼ning et al., 1997). It has been suggested later that both in rodents and people, this improved insulin secretion is apparently because of an expansion in ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass by either ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation (Steil et al., 2001) or ÃŽÂ ²-cell hypertrophy (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2004). On the other hand, ÃŽÂ ²-cell failure because of different genetic or environmental variables, is known to cause declined plasma insulin levels in diabetics (Maclean and Ogilvie, 1955). It has been showed that lessened levels of insulin are frequently associated with a noteworthy loss of ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass because of ÃŽÂ ²-cell apoptosis (Butler et al., 2003; Rhodes, 2005). Other than the diabetes perspective, it has been demonstrated that matured ÃŽÂ ²-cells have long life-span and low proliferative rates at steady state. This is because of a potential limitation of the entry of matured ÃŽÂ ²-cells into cell cycle (Teta et al., 2005; Kushner, 2013). Other than this perception, later study suggested that adult ÃŽÂ ²-cells do have the ability to proliferate (Stolovich-Rain et al., 2012). In light of these findings on ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation, a few research groups have revealed various proteins essential for assisting ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation on knockout or transgenic mouse. Known cell cycle controllers including Cyclins D1 and D2, Cyclin subordinate kinase 4 (Cdk4), Cdk inhibitors (CKIs) such as Cip/Kip and INK4, transcription factors Retinoblastoma (Rb) and p53, have been proved on genetic mouse models as regulators of ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation and survival (Heit et al., 2006). Although transient high glucose has been considered as the result of insufficient insulin secretion or insulin resistance, it has also been revealed to promote the compensate ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass expansion (Bonner-Weir et al., 1989). This hypothesis was further supported recently by another observation, that it is the glucose metabolism, instead the glucose itself that triggers compensatory ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation in vivo (Porat et al., 2011). Some other attentions have been centered on the effect of activation of insulin/IRS2 pathway on driving ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation. The components of the pathway including IRS2 (Withers et al., 1998) and AKT (Bernal-Mizrachi et al., 2001) were demonstrated to be fundamental for ÃŽÂ ²-cell survival. Moreover, study has shown that the impact of insulin in ÃŽÂ ²-cell proliferation is even stronger when with hyperglycemia (Paris et al., 2003). It is notable that when in the state of severe insulin resistance, the pancreatic islets adjust t hemselves to meet the expanding requirement for producing and secretion more insulin by increasing their ÃŽÂ ²-cell mass (Weir and Bonner-Weir, 2004). Other than the involvement of protein coding genes, a few non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), mostly microRNAs and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), have been shown in the diabetogenes list, adding on to the complex genetic architecture of human diabetes. 2.1 The Brief History of MicroRNAs The most recent decade has seen huge attention regarding a new and special class of little ncRNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating the structure and function of ÃŽÂ ²-cells. With the first observation of a miRNA, lin-4 in C. elegans, researchers showed how a gene product encodes two little RNAs, instead of a protein. Besides, they demonstrated that these small RNAs binds to the compensatory sites at the 3 end of untranslated region (UTR) of lin-14, a development related heterochronic gene. This interaction is appeared to negatively regulate the expression of lin-14 by blocking its translation (Lee et al., 1993; Wightman et al., 1993), proposing miRNAs as negative regulators of gene expression. Even since the discovery of microRNAs, a lot of related research results have updated the mechanism of gene regulation to a novel level. miRNAs now are known as a group of small ncRNAs of ~21-22 nucleotides long that can complementary or non-complementary base-pairing the mRNA of protein coding genes, thus to regulate their expression at post-transcriptional level (Bartel, 2004 and 2009). Actually after the identification of lin-4, another miRNA called let-7 was revealed like lin-4 in both biogenesis and function level. Soon after, there starts a prevail in discovering new microRNASs mostly by high throughput sequencing technologies in research area and surprisingly, about 30,000 miRNA over about 200 species have been identified, which includes about 2,500 mature human miRNAs. (Kozomara and Griffiths-Jones, 2014). Many computational methods have also been produced to predict the potential targets of miRNAs based on the stable miRNA-target mRNA binding model (Lewis et al., 2003; Krek et al., 2005). 2.2 MicroRNA Induced Gene Silencing The intercellular gene silencing mechanism, termed as RNA silencing (RNAi) or post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) is currently well known to be led by a group of small RNAs, for example, short interfering RNA (siRNA), piwi interacting RNA (piRNA), or the miRNAs. Basically, their working mechanisms are similar and the difference exist mostly in their biogenesis inside the cells (Ender and Meister, 2010). Mature miRNA producing has been through several steps: transcribed from DNA by RNA polymerase II, primary miRNA (pri-miRNA) has much longer sequence. Once transcribed, the pri-miRNA is further processed to precursor miRNA (pre-miRNA) about 60 nucleotides long by enzyme Dorsa and DGCR8 protein complex (Lee et al., 2003). Once pre-miRNAs are produced inside the nucleus, it will be export out of the nucleus by protein Exportin 5 to the cytoplasm in a Ran-GTP dependent manner (Lund et al., 2004). Another important enzyme, which is also critical for mouse development, Dicer would re cognize the pre-miRNA and process it to about 22 nucleotides long mature miRNA duplex form (Bernstein et al.,2003). Only one of stands of the duplex will be transported to miRNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) by Dicer, and the other strand, termed miRNA* is usually degraded in the end (Schwarz et al., 2003; Ender Meister, 2010). There are several components on the RISC, and one key protein component is AGO family. There are four well characterized members of AGO family in human AGO1, AGO2, AGO3 and AGO4. And AGO2 is expressed more often than other forms (Su et al., 2009; Wang et al., 2012). All the AGO proteins have the ability to slice mRNA because of their PAZ and PIWI cleavage domains under the guidance of miRNA sequence. Each miRNA has an important seed region, typically from 2nd-7th nucleotides, that could fully or partially bind to the mRNA 3 UTR sequence. The base pairing condition between the miRNA and target mRNA determines the target recognition and binding of miRISC, but also the fate of the mRNA- to be cleaved or to be repressed in translation. In animal system, the miRNA does not fully complementary bind to the 3 UTR of the target mRNA, through blocking the translation machinery, miRNA silencing the gene expression, without interference of the target stability. However, recent studies on the miR NA mediated gene silencing in mammalian cells reveals that miRNA may act through two step modes: at first, repressing the translation, then deadenylation and destabilization of target mRNA [27qualifier]. The deadenylation has been suggested to induce mRNA degradation [48] and translation inhibition is probably the requisite of mRNA degradation in mammalian cells [49].

Counselling Interview skills Essay

I declare that this assessment is my own work, based on my own personal research/study . I also declare that this assessment, nor parts of it, has not been previously submitted for any other unit/module or course, and that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of another student and/or persons. I have read the ACAP Student Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct Policy and understand its implications. I also declare, if this is a practical skills assessment, that a Client/Interviewee Consent Form has been read and signed by both parties, and where applicable parental consent has been obtained. 1. Briefly explain how you would go about gathering information to assess Tim’s current developmental and mental health status. I would go about gathering information about Tim’s developmental and mental health status by using active listening skills. I would be paying attention to Tim’s body language and taking note of such things, as his difficulty in maintaining eye contact. I would be asking Tim open questions to help him talk in more detail about his mental health issues, an example of an open question I would ask is ‘can you tell me more about that?’, and ‘could you tell me about the time you overdosed on drugs?’, so that I can have a deeper understanding of the key points regarding Tim’s mental health. I would also be asking Tim some closed questions to obtain specific information regarding Tim’s current mental state, an example of this is ‘are you still on medication for depression?’, and ‘are you still feeling depressed?’, and depending on whether or not Tim’s overdose was an attempted suicide, I could also ask, ‘have you had any thoughts about taking your life?’, so that I know his current mental state. I would be paraphrasing during our session so that Tim knows that I understand what he is saying and how he is feeling. I would be taking notes in this session so that I can refer to key points. I would summarise what Tim’s key issues are, so that he has a chance to add any further information that may have been missed, and that may be important. 2. Identify and briefly describe two of Tim’s mental and/ or developmental health issues. Two of Tim’s developmental and mental health issues are, his past and or current state of depression and the fact that Tim may have attempted suicide. Although Tim spent six months in hospital as an in-patient and has now been home for three months, he may still be struggling with depression and suicidal ideation, if his drug overdose was an attempted suicide. Tim is experiencing moodiness and irregular sleep patterns, as well as a lack of focus and motivation, he also has trouble maintaining eye contact. These symptoms may be the result of his depression or suicidal ideation, or they could be a sign of a developmental problem brought about by Tim’s drug overdose. As Tim was given drugs for his depression, his symptoms could also be the result of side effects from the drugs he has been taking. 3. If you do not have the capability or authority to assess Tim’s current mental or developmental health status, briefly explain how you would consult the appropriate person.  If I did not have the capability or authority to assess Tim’s current mental or developmental health status, I could do two things. I could consult with my supervisor. I would ask Tim for his permission to discuss his concerns with my supervisor to gain advice from someone who has more experience than I do, so that his current mental health is assessed correctly. I could also consider referring Tim onto another health care professional such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. Another option would be to ask Tim for permission to contact Tim’s previous psychiatrist and request from them, either a letter of referral or Tim’s client records, pertaining to Tim’s current mental health status. 4. Describe what factors you would take into account that may have impacted on the appearance and behaviour of Tim in relation to counselling services to be delivered. The factors I would be taking into account regarding the appearance and behaviour of Tim in relation to counselling services to be delivered would be, the fact that Tim has suffered from depression in the past and may still be currently experiencing depression. Tim may have attempted suicide by overdosing on drugs or his drug overdose could have been accidental. Tim’s confidence has been shattered. This could explain why he has trouble maintaining eye contact or it could be the result of developmental delay due to Tim’s drug overdose. Or he could be experiencing side effects from his medication. 5. Briefly explain how you would clarify whether the counselling you can offer is suitable for Tim. I would have to evaluate my own level of experience and the area of counselling I am currently working in. Tim’s needs are the most important factor to consider. Tim has been hospitalised in the past and has seen a psychiatrist. While Tim was in hospital he was assigned milieu therapy, given drugs and also assigned to group therapy. I would be taking all of  these things into account when evaluating whether to refer Tim. I think I would like to work with Tim, as he has already had the above mentioned treatments and found them to be unhelpful. I think Tim may benefit from counselling that offers a client centred approach. I would explain to Tim how the client centred approach to counselling works, so that Tim can decide if this type of counselling approach would be something he feels comfortable pursuing. 6. Briefly describe how you would recognise and refer potentially serious issues for Tim in line with organisation requirements. I would be able to recognise and refer serious issues for Tim by familiarising myself with my organisations protocols, their referral procedures and referral lists. The type of organisation I worked for, and the type of counselling that is offered, would be a factor when deciding if Tim should be referred on to another organisation or professional. Things to consider would be Tim’s age, gender, the nature/and or seriousness of Tim’s issues. If Tim did intend to take his own life and still has suicidal thoughts he would need to be referred to a mental health facility or possibly referred back to the hospital that was treating Tim three months ago. If Tim was to be referred on, I would organise this as early as possible, so as not to make it harder on Tim to transfer to someone else. 7. Briefly describe the skills you would use with Tim to help clarify his problems and develop a counselling relationship. When meeting Tim for the first time, I would introduce myself, I would be open, friendly and informal. I would be trying to put Tim at ease so that he feels welcome and safe. I would have noticed that Tim has trouble maintaining eye contact, so I would be very casual in the first few minutes, allowing Tim to get familiar with his surroundings. After all the formalities have been explained to Tim and he has accepted them and decided to stay, I would say ‘what is it you would like to talk to me about today?’ I would then tune in to Tim and listen with interest. I would be using minimal responses, paraphrasing, and summarising skills to let Tim know that I am understanding him and caring about what he is saying. The first few sessions with Tim would be all about building rapport, and developing our  relationship. After this has been established, I would use zooming out skills to help Tim see that he is not alone and that he has people in his life that care about him, and are able to offer their support. I would be asking open and closed questions to determine Tim’s current mental state, an example would be ‘can you tell me a little more about the drug overdose’ so that I could clarify if it was accidental or an attempted suicide. I would work with Tim on developing a list of what he feels are the key issues he would like to work on. This will help Tim clarify for the both of us what the key issues are. 8. Briefly describe how you would consult with Tim’s parents or significant others to gather information, if the need presented itself. If the need presented itself I would introduce the idea of inviting Tim’s parents along to one of our counselling sessions to Tim. I would explain to Tim that ‘sometimes it can be helpful to ask those who are close to you to come along to counselling with you, so that we can have more insight into how the relationships at home have been affected by all that has happened, and so that we have another point of view of the situation’. I would only go ahead with this if Tim consented. 9. Briefly describe what records and notes you would record for this client. Notes on next page. Clients Name: Tim Clients Age: 25 Date of Session: 20/11/14 Session # 1 Session Duration: 60 minutes Others Present: Nil Status of Session: Kept Location: Office Information given by client: Tim is a 25 yr. old male. In final yr. of uni hospitalised for drug overdose during a bout of depression. In-patient at hospital 6 mths. Assigned milieu therapy, given drugs for depression, saw psychiatrist occasionally, also  assigned group therapy, which proved to be aimless. Been home for 3 mths. Living with parents, says they worry about his moodiness and irregular sleep patterns. Finds it hard to focus and lacks motivation to finish uni, but wants to one day. Feels confidence was shattered. Has trouble maintaining eye contact. Looking for part time work, avoids full-time work for fears of being asked about his past. Feels he has a terrible secret he has to keep form everyone. Summary of clients issues: Overdosed on drugs, during a bout of depression. May/may not have been attempt at suicide. Hospitalised and kept as an in-patient for 6 mths. Had milieu therapy and group therapy. Saw psychiatrist occasionally, prescribed drugs. Tim’s confidence is shattered. Parents worry about Tim’s moodiness/irregular sleep patterns. No motivation/focus to finish uni. Avoids full time work, fears talking about past (embarrassed). Feels he has to keep his past secret from everyone (ashamed). Notes of counsellor: I feel that Tim may benefit from a client centred approach to his counselling. The key issues for this client are outlined above.

Iago Essay

Karolis 12A H/W Iago is a character who is admired and loathed in the equal measure to what extent is he both a hero and villain of Tragedy? In the play Othello by William Shakespeare Iago gets introduced in act 1 scene 1 where he had been complaining to the audience and Roderigo that he had not been chosen to be the lieutenant but Cassio being chosen instead of him by the likes of Othello. Shakespeare from this scene had shown the audience that Iago will be the Stimulus in the play causing the tragedy in the play because we have seen that he has a motive which is to gain revenge over Othello. This will straight show the audience that he is a villain alike character in this play because of this negative motive he has, so in the beginning of Act 1 Scene 1 Iago will be most likely seen as the villain. But on the other hand the audience might sympathise with Iago because he had not been chosen to be the lieutenant and that his motive understandable but he will still not be seen as the hero but a character some people can relate with, especially in the context this play had been written, The reason are that most people watching this would have been peasants in their society and the only character they would have been able to relate with is Iago. Also that in the context of this play people might have been a racist and not have seen Othello as a hero but Iago being a victim of Othello because his colour and that they might believe that Othello does not deserve being a general. Iago would be most likely seen as a villain to the modern audience because of his mischievous motive and how out of proportion it is from his goal, the audience might feel sympathy for Iago but will most likely not agree what he is doing is a good enough reason to do his plan, but it is possible that the audience say he is a villain but really it is possible that the audience want him to prosper because of his cunning us of him and his plan. The reason for this is because most production of this genre will not be as good without a cunning villain for example in Shakespeare's production â€Å"Much ado about nothing† Don John had been the cunning villain in this play who is much a like to Iago because he had tried to sabotage someone's life who had trusted him with a motive which was out of proportion to his goal with a smart plan. So the modern audience would see Iago most likely as villain but might admire him for how mischievous he is and well thought out plan he had constructed and how in the play starting off in such a bad state he is the poppet master in retrospect Likewise the audience will also have their opinion to Iago's character but might see him differently as the modern audience would see him, at the context of the play there would be two types of audiences one is the peasants and the other will be the rich. The peasants and the rich might see him differently to the rich for example, the peasants might not understand why he wants the reputation but on the other hand the rich would see it differently to the peasants. But peasants with the rich might like him because in this play he is the only character to directly speak to the audience giving a feeling to of actually knowing and that we know he thoughts unlike any other character. So in extent Iago is seen both as a villain and hero to the audience in the Shakespearean times because of the audience differently sympathies with him so I believe he would be more of a villain at that time but they would admire him for the cunning us of his plan, like the modern audience would see him and that he did not let the fact that Othello did not make him the lieutenant drag and that he still tried to gain his reputation from Cassio and ruin the reputation of Othello doing so and since he had been trying to ruin Othello and in the context Othello might have been despised by the audience and might have believed that he should not be such a high ranking because of his colour. In conclusion both the modern audience would see Iago in a similar way but for different reasons, they would most likely see him as the villain but meaning they loaf him but they admire how well thought out his plan actually is and how good he is at lying while he also has become the character who runs t he show, to the extent that he would be loafed is certain but the audience who admire him is most likely to be a bigger proportion to the audience who don't. Furthermore I believe he would also be more seen as a villain because he does not suite the definition of a hero in anyway making him most likely the villain as the audience see him

The 12 Hardest SAT Writing Questions Ever

The 12 Hardest SAT Writing Questions Ever SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You’ve been studying hard, and now the time has come to really test what you have mastered! Are you ready to try out 12 of the toughest questions to grace the new SAT Writing and Language section? I've combed all the official practicetests to find the absolute hardest SAT Writing questions. If you get all of these right, you're truly a master of this section. Why Should I Care About the Hardest Questions? Knowing what to do when you hit tough questions is a key part of your test-taking strategy that you should work out ahead of time. Your target scores will help you determine what to do. 700 - 800 scorers Are you looking to score between a 700 and 800 on Reading and Writing? If so, these are the sorts of questions that you'll have to master in order to get your score where you want it to be. 500 - 600 scorers In contrast, if you are looking to score in the 500 – 600 range on Reading and Writing, you don't have to answer every question correctly on SAT Writing to hit your target score. So, if you're taking the test and run across a question as confusing as the ones listed below, you officially have permission to guess! Either way, good study strategies are your best bet for getting the score you want. Not sure how to start? Check out our guide to studying for the new SAT, and then read our complete explanation of all the grammar rules that the SAT Writing section will test. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it seems. Which Questions Are the Hardest? As a quick refresher, the SAT Writing and Language section asks multiple choice questions based on long reading passages. The questions test your understanding of grammar, punctuation, word choiceand idioms, and writing logic.For a full overview of all the grammar testedon the Writing SAT, see our guide. The College Board used to rank SAT questions according to difficulty, but they no longer do this. So how did I pick out the hardest questions? And what makes some questions harder than others? Even though the revised SAT no longer features trick questions, there are still many times when several of the answerchoices seem to be valid. Sometimes,this is because questions test several skills at the same time: apunctuation detailcombined with your ability to understand the logic of a passage, for instance, or a grammar rule combined with correct idiom usage. Other times, this is because questions make you simultaneously focus on a small sentence-level issue and a larger problem involving several paragraphs. Don’t worry, there are really only 12. Spoiler Alert Before I show you the hardest SAT Writing questions, I have towritea littlespoiler alert. These are real questions taken from the official full-length practice SAT tests.If you’re likely to remember them and their answers forever, then it's probably best for you to read the rest of this article after you’ve taken all the practice SATs. On to the Questions! These questionsrepresent a variety of concepts the SAT thinks students will struggle with the most. Remember: all of these questions come from long passages, since the entire Writing and Language section of the SAT is passage-based. Try them out and see how you do - if you really want to challenge yourself, limit your timing for each question to 40 seconds. Each question is followed by the answer and an explanation. Question 1 [1] The main environmental problem caused by the production of Greek yogurt is the creation of acid whey as a by-product. [2] Because it requires up to four times more milk to make than conventional yogurt does, Greek yogurt produces larger amounts of acid whey, which is difficult to dispose of. [3] To address the problem of disposal, farmers have found a number of uses for acid whey. [4] They can add it to livestock feed as a protein supplement, and people can make their own Greek-style yogurt at home by straining regular yogurt. [5] If it is improperly introduced into the environment, acid-whey runoff can pollute waterways, depleting the oxygen content of streams and rivers as it decomposes. [6] Yogurt manufacturers, food scientists; and government officials are also working together to develop additional solutions for reusing whey. To make this paragraph most logical, sentence 5 should be placed A) where it is now.B) after sentence 1.C) after sentence 2.D) after sentence 3. The Challenge The main goal of this question is to see if you can figure out how a paragraph should flow logically. What makes it hardisthat two of the answers (B and C) seem equally logically plausible. Answer C Explanation In a paragraph, each sentence should introduce a little bit of new information, using what previous sentences said to push the point of the passage a little bit further. Leaving the sentence where it is (answer A), or putting it after Sentence 3 (answer D) would make the paragraph sequence illogical. You’d suddenly be back to talking about acid whey in the environment after you’ve already explained how it can be disposed of properly. It’s very tempting to put Sentence 5 after Sentence 1 (answer B). It seems plausible because Sentence 1 lays out the idea that acid whey is a problem, so ostensibly Sentence 5 could come next and spell out what the problem with acid whey actually is. Butthis is not thebest place. You have to firstexplainthat there is an overabundance of acid whey, and that it's difficult to dispose of it. Only then is it an ideal timeto introduce the concept of â€Å"acid whey runoff.† So, putting Sentence 5 after Sentence 2 (correct answer C) usesinformation introduced in Sentence 2 and sets up what follows in Sentence 3, yielding this logical sequence: Sentence 2 explains why acid whey is a bigger problem for Greek yogurt. Sentence 5 explainshow damaging acid whey can be if it’s allowed to enter the environment Sentence 3 sets up the different ways of disposing of acid whey. Yogurt: delicious in parfaits, apparently deadly for the environment. Question 2 Typically, the ice sheet begins to show evidence of thawing in late summer, following several weeks of higher temperatures. For example, in the summer of 2012, virtually the entire Greenland Ice Sheet underwent thawing at or near its surface by mid-July, the earliest date on record. A) NO CHANGEB) However,C) As such,D) Moreover, The Challenge This question is checking whether you understand how to use conjunctive adverbs, which are words that show how two sentences or two parts of one sentence connect to one another. It’s very hard to seethe two sentences actually relate when reading them througha potentially wrong conjunction. Answer B Explanation One trick is just to cover up the conjunction that’s been put there, and read the two sentences without it. This way you can focus on the information that’s being presented and make up your own mind about how to make sense of the logical flow of this information. In this case, we first get a sentence that explains what happens most of the time: usually snow melts in late summer.Then we get a sentence that contradicts the earlier one: in 2012, snow melted veryearly on. This means we need to find a conjunctive adverb that shows that the second sentence is an exception to the rule. â€Å"For example† (answer A) means that what follows will demonstrate the rule, rather than break it. That’s not what’s happening here, so this is not the right choice. â€Å"As such† (answer C) has to do with defining what just came previously. "As such" means, â€Å"given the definition of the thing just mentioned, here is an associated property of that thing.† But, we are not defining, but are showing how a pattern has been broken, so this is the wrong choice. â€Å"Moreover† (answer D) means â€Å"in addition to, and potentially more convincingly,† and is used to add emphasis to an example or an argument. We aren’t doing that here, so this answer is incorrect. â€Å"However† (correct answer C) is a conjunctive adverb that introduces a statement/idea that contradicts what has just been said, which is exactly what we need to do in this case. At this rate, our only source of polar ice will be old stock photographs. Question 3 Also, studies have found that those students who major in philosophy often do better than students from other majors in both verbal reasoning and analytical writing. These results can be measured by standardized test scores. Which choice most effectively combines the sentences at the underlined portion? A) writing asB) writing, and these results can beC) writing, which can also beD) writing when the results are The Challenge This question is testing your editing skills.In particular, it’s checking your ability to know when cutting something out is actually better than leaving more information in. The challenge here is that because the wordâ€Å"results† occurs both in the original textandin two of the answer choices, it seems like a key piece of the sentence. Instead, it's a red herring. Answer A Explanation The secret to good editing is understanding the context. Here, we need to reread the two sentences to see what information we actually have. In this case, there areno results mentioned in the first of these twosentences. What we do have is information about studies that show philosophy students performing better. But this better performanceis not a â€Å"result† – it isn't a goal reached after a specific course of action. In other words, although philosophy students perform better, they didn't study philosophy in order to get better test scores. This means answers B and D are out. Answer C is wrong because of the word â€Å"also.† This word seems to point to the testing being an additional example or piece of evidence – but there is nothing for it to be in addition to. So, the right answer A is also the most economical, the one that removes everything that clouds the sentence’s meaning. Plato and Socrates recommend at least tenyears of philosophy grad school for optimal standardized test performance. Question 4 The share of library materials that is in nonprint formats [1] is increasing steadily; in 2010, at least 18.5 million e-books were available for circulation. At point [1], the writer is considering adding the following information. - e-books, audio and video materials, and online journals- Should the writer make this addition here? A) Yes, because it provides specific examples of the materials discussed in the sentence.B) Yes, because it illustrates the reason for the increase mentioned later in the sentence.C) No, because it interrupts the flow of the sentence by supplying irrelevant information.D) No, because it weakens the focus of the passage by discussing a subject other than librarians. The Challenge The SAT is full of these decision-tree editing questions, which ask you not only about correctly identifying editing changing, but also about justifying your answer. This question is hard because two of the answers (answers A and B) seem plausible, since putting a list in dashes can either put an explanation or a set of examples into a sentence. Answer A Explanation Answer C is wrong becausethere’s nothing irrelevant about the added text. The sentence and the addition are both talking about the kinds of materials available at the library. Answer D is also wrong – the passage as a whole is not specifically about librarians, so there is no reason that this insertion would have to be. To eliminate answer B, we have to realize that the added text doesn’t give areason. Providing a list of types of materials doesn't explain why there are so many e-Books. Instead, the added textsupplies a definition for thenon-obvious term â€Å"nonprint formats,† by giving a list of examples that fall under this nonprint category. This means answer A iscorrect. Nonprint, huh. How long until we no longer think of bookshelves when we say the word "library"? Question 5 The first time I visited the Art Institute of Chicago, I expected to be impressed by its famous large paintings. For example, I couldn’t wait to view painter, Georges Seurat’s, 10-foot-wide A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte in its full size. A) NO CHANGEB) painter, Georges Seurat’sC) painter Georges Seurat’s,D) painter Georges Seurat’s The Challenge To get this one right, you have to knowhow to punctuate modifiers.A modifier is a piece of a sentence that is used to explain, define, or clarify some other part of the sentence. What makes this one hard is figuring out whether this modifier is necessary to the sentence or not. Answer D Explanation Modifiers come in two flavors. Some are so necessary to the sentence that it would lose its meaning without them; these don't get set off by commas. Others are not crucial for the sentence to make sense; theydo get surrounded by commas. In this case, the modifier is â€Å"George Seurat.† Now ask yourself – is this piece of information necessary to make the sentence work? One trick is to read the sentence without the modifier to see if the sentence still makes sense. Here,we’d just be left with the strange formulation â€Å"I couldn’t wait to view painter’s 10-foot-wide A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.†That is clearly not correct, since you need the name George Seurat to make the word "painter" have any meaning.This means that the modifier "George Seurat" is crucial. Since answers B and C neither surround the modifier with commas nor take them all out, they both are incorrect. Crucial modifiers don’t get set off by commas, so the right answer is D, the one that leaves the commas out. Here is what that giant painting looks like, by the way. Question 6 It has long been known that the sea otters living along the West Coast of North America help keep kelp forests in their habitat healthy and vital. They do this by feeding on sea urchins and other herbivorous invertebrates that graze voraciously on kelp. With sea otters to keep the population of sea urchins in check, kelp forests can flourish. In fact, even two years or less of sea otter presence can reduce the sea urchin threat in a coastal area. Without sea otters present, however, kelp forests run the danger of becoming barren stretches of coastal wasteland known as urchin barrens. What was less well-known, until recently at least, was how this relationship among sea otters, sea urchins, and kelp forests might help fight global warming. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased 40 percent. A recent study by two professors at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Chris Wilmers and James Estes, suggests that kelp forests protected by sea otters can absorb as much as twelve times the amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as those where sea urchins are allowed to devour the kelp. A) NO CHANGEB) dispatchC) overindulge onD) dispose of The Challenge Words that seem similar but have crucial differences in meaning are at the heart of this tricky question.From the context, it’s clear that the word has to have something to do with making less of something – but since all of the word choice options carry this connotation, it’s challenging to figure out which one fits best. Answer A Explanation â€Å"Dispatch† means to send away, or to deal with efficiently. The kelp is certainly going away, but the sea urchins aren’t sending it anywhere, so this (answer B) is not the right word. â€Å"Overindulge on† can mean overeat. The sea urchins are certainly eating the kelp, so answer Cis a tempting choice. However, â€Å"overindulge† carries a moral judgment with – it’s describing an action that is being done despite the knowledge that doing so much of it is wrong. The sea urchins aren’t equipped to deal with right and wrong – and they also aren’t overeating the kelp. They are eating as much as is in their nature to eat. So, scratch that answer. â€Å"Dispose of† is another tempting word choice. It means â€Å"to get rid of,† which is definitely what is happening to the kelp at the hands of the sea urchins. Answer Dcould arguably fit into the sentence without a problem, except that we have a word that is even better. â€Å"Devour† means to eat copious amounts of in a short time.This exactly describes what the sea urchins do, so answer A is undoubtedly the best choicein this context. Not only does it mean just what the passage needs it to mean, but it also echoes a piece of the previous paragraph, where the sea urchins were described as â€Å"invertebrates that graze voraciously on kelp.† Graze voraciously = devour. If the only other option is picking these horrific-looking things up by hand, I say let the sea otters have at them. Question 7 Circadian rhythms, which are controlled by the bodies biological clocks, influence body temperature, hormone release, cycles of sleep and wakefulness, and other bodily functions. A) NO CHANGEB) bodies’ biological clocks’,C) body’s biological clocks,D) body’s biological clock’s, The Challenge At the heart of this question is knowing how to properly make nouns into plurals and possessives, and when to use one or the other.What makes this sentence doubly confusingis that when you say the sentence out loud, clearly both nouns - "body" and "clock" - need to end in anâ€Å"s† sound. Answer C Explanation To figure outwhether nouns should be plural, possessive, or both, you have to understandthe context of a passage. Here, thesentence is explaining how circadian rhythms affect the human body. Because we are speaking in general terms, the word â€Å"body† should be singular.That means that the original wording (answer A) is wrong: â€Å"bodies† is the plural form of â€Å"body.† Answers B iswrong for the same reason: â€Å"bodies’ † is the plural possessive of â€Å"bodies,† meaning â€Å"belonging to several bodies.† So, what belongs to the human body in the sentence? Several timing mechanisms called biological clocks.Does anything belong to these clocks? No. Thus, answer D is wrong: â€Å"clock’s† the possessive form of â€Å"clock,† meaning â€Å"belong to a clock.† The right answer C uses the singular possessive form of the word â€Å"body† and the regular plural form of the word â€Å"clock†: "body’s biological clocks," meaning "the clocks that belong to a generic human body." Some adorable circadian rhythms at work. Question 8 In 1883, he placed an advertisement seeking educated, well-mannered, articulate young women between the ages of 18 and 30. Response to the advertisement was overwhelming, even tremendous, and Harvey soon replaced the male servers at his restaurants with women. A) NO CHANGEB) Response to the advertisement was overwhelming,C) Overwhelming, even tremendous, was the response to the advertisement,D) There was an overwhelming, even tremendous, response to the advertisement, The Challenge One of the things that the SAT tests is your understanding of redundancy, wherethe same piece of information or description is needlessly repeated. What makes this question complicated is the way the original passage is punctuated, and the fact that three of the answer choices contain both original adjectives, making it seem like these adjectives are important to the sentence. Answer B Explanation Setting off the word â€Å"tremendous† with commas, and modifying it with the intensifier "even,† makes it sound as if the word â€Å"overwhelming† doesn’t fullyconvey the enthusiasm of the women answering the ad. This can lead you to think that you need the phrase â€Å"even tremendous† to really sell how gung ho women were to work for Harvey. In reality, â€Å"overwhelming† and â€Å"tremendous† both mean â€Å"surprisingly large and robust,† so using both is repetitive. Thus, the correct answer is B, which is the only choice that deletes the repeating (redundant) adjective. Harvey House: basically the Hooters of 19th century America. Question 9 The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, one of Russia’s greatest art museums, has long had a productive partnership with a much loved animal: the cat. For centuries, cats have guarded this famous museum, ridding it of mice, rats, and other rodents that could damage the art, not to mention scared off visitors. A) NO CHANGEB) scaringC) scareD) have scared The Challenge Here, the challenge comes in two parts.First, you have to be able to recognize the grammar of parallel structures.And second, you have to know how to match verb tenses inside a sentence. Answer C Explanation There are many different verbs in the sentence, so the first thing to do is the figure out who is doing the action of the verb in question – the cats or the rodents. Who or what is doing the scaring? The cats heredo two things: they guard the museum, and they rid it of pests.This means that it’s the mice and rats that scare visitors. After realizing this, we can see that the phrase â€Å"not to mention† sets up our parallel construction: rodents could do (verb 1) one thing, not to mention do (verb 2) another thing.This means that verbs 1 and 2 have to be in the same tense and form. Verb 1 is in the present tense: â€Å"damage.† So the matching version of verb 2 has to be answerC, â€Å"scare.† Then they'll have to get dogs to catchthe cats, then goats to catch the dogs, then cows to catch the goats... all in the museumthat Catherine the Great built. Question 10 At the same time, a social and civil rights movement for Mexican Americans was working to raise awareness of Mexican American cultural identity. Artists associated with this began to rediscover and promote the work of the Mexican muralists, particularly Siqueiros. A) NO CHANGEB) itC) themD) this movement The Challenge To get this question right, you have to have a solid grasp of pronouns and their antecedents, the nouns that pronouns stand in for. This question is hard because the problem with this pronoun isn't agreement (the usual pronoun/antecedent issue), but instead clarity. Answer D Explanation If there are too many nouns that could be a particular pronoun’s antecedent, then that pronoun needs to be replaced with a noun for clarity. That is the problem with this passage: in theory, the pronounâ€Å"this† could refer to: â€Å"cultural identity,† â€Å"awareness,† or â€Å"social and civil rights movement.† So leaving it as is (answer A) doesn't fix the problem. Replacing â€Å"this† with â€Å"it† (answer B) isn't a good solution– like the original "this," the pronoun â€Å"it† could also haveany one of those nouns as its antecedent. Replacing â€Å"this† with â€Å"them† (answer C) creates a logical problem. The antecedent of "them" would be "Mexican Americans," which would mean that the artists being discussed were associated with themselves. The right choice, answer D, is simply to add a clarifying noun to the confusing pronoun. Writing that the artists were associated with â€Å"this movement† simplifies the sentence and allows the passage to flow. One ofSiqueiros's murals,"El Pueblo a la Universidad, la Universidad al Pueblo." Question 11 The designer envisions the game’s fundamental elements: the settings, characters, and plots that make each game unique, and is thus a primary creative force behind a video game. A) NO CHANGEB) elements: the settings, characters, and plots that make each game unique- C) elements- the settings, characters, and plots that make each game unique- D) elements; the settings, characters, and plots that make each game unique; The Challenge One of the things the SAT tests is how to punctuate explanations.This question is hard because it mixes up twodifferent kinds of explanatory punctuation styles: dashes and colons. Answer C Explanation Different kinds of explanations are punctuated in different ways. In this case, the structure of the sentence is: designer makes game elements + list of game elements + this means the designer is the game creator When we lay it out this way, we can see that the bit in the middle (the list of game elements) is an explanatory modifierfor the vague term â€Å"game’s fundamental elements.† This modifiernot crucial to the sentence, since the sentence will make perfect sense without it. Instead, it's a parenthetical aside that clarifies something. The original punctuation (answer A) and the punctuation in answer B focus on the list aspect of the modifier. You can tell because each suggests introducing the set of game elements with a colon. This would work fine if the list ended with a period, but since it doesn’t, these options are out. Answer D suggests using semi-colons to set off the examples. However, semi-colons are either for separating lists where a single list item has commas in it (not the case here), or for separating independent clauses (also not the case here). So answer D is wrong. Answer C fixes the sentence by setting off the set of examples with dashes, which are basically like parentheses you can wrap around a piece of a sentence that interrupts the main train of thought. The brilliant minimalist design of Minecraft makes every player the creative force behind the game. Question 12 Some people buy organic food because they believe organically grown crops are more nutritious and safer for consumption than the people who purchase their conventionally grown counterparts, which are usually produced with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. A) NO CHANGEB) the purchase ofC) purchasingD) DELETE the underlined portion. The Challenge This question is checking to see whether you can spot an illogical comparison. However, the answer choices make it seem as though this is actually a question about the correct form of the word "purchase." Answer D Explanation One trick to remember is that the word "than" announces that a comparison is about to happen. This is your cue to check whether the sentence is setting up an illogical comparison. In this case, the sentence is trying tocompareorganic and conventional food, which means that conventional food has to immediately follow the wordâ€Å"than.† The original text(answer A) is worded so that it incorrectly compares â€Å"organically grown crops† with â€Å"people who purchase.† This doesn't make sense, so the sentence can't be left as is. Answers B and C change the comparison, but stillends up comparing â€Å"organic crops† with â€Å"the purchase† or the act of "purchasing." You can compare crops with a purchase, sothese answers are out. Correct answer D, however, eliminates the problem and fixes the sentence so that like is compared with like: â€Å"organically grown crops are more nutritious and safer for consumption than their conventionally grown counterparts.† Conventional, organic - once you throw them on the grill, it's all good. The Bottom Line The hardest questions on the SAT Writing and Language section are challenging because they: test several grammar, editing, or punctuation skills at once have two or more very plausible answer choices have answer choices that make it look like the question is testing one concept, when it's really testing something totally different Oneway to work through these difficult parts of the test is to cover up the answer choices (including the original text), and read the parts of the passage that aren't in question. This way, you can form your own uninfluenced opinion about: the logical progression of the passage's argument the way the different sentences, or the different parts of one sentence, relate to one another how you would fill in the missing piece Then, you can find the answer choice that most closely matches your own thoughts, rather than being led astray by working backwards from the answer choices. What’s Next? Did you make any mistakes?If so, you can use these problems to help pinpoint the areas you struggle with and focus your studying to get a great score on SAT Writing. Want to learn other strategies for SAT Writing?Check out our articles on improving your score, getting a perfect score, and how best to study. Want to improve your overall SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice SAT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score.Check out our 5-day free trial:

Internet Identity essays

Internet Identity essays It is certain that the Internet impacts a persons sense of identity. As humans, we are live by language, and as an Internet user, one submits himself to an existence that is pure language: written, audio, and visual language. This reality, distilled down to pure language, is appealing to most people. There is no violence online. There are no social expression norms. A person can be, say, or do precisely as he chooses. More than 131 million people populate the Internet. Why is VR so attractive? When a person is born, many things are decided for him. No one is asked if their name or visage adequately describes his person or psyche. His genetic makeup is created from that already contained in his parents, and they dress and feed him with things they personally enjoy. It is many years later before he can begin to make decisions about who he is, and by then, so much has been laid down as factual evidence to the content of his character. The Internet has now permeated our society. Someone can decide who they are at the beginning of a new life, to be reborn in cyberspace. There is the issue of naming oneself, to feel inside and find what makes someone himself. When one signs up with any Internet Service Provider, the first thing it will ask is for his new name. In *1*The Matrix*1* Mr. Anderson named himself Neo: "New" and also an anagram for the "One" he truly was. There is now also the ability to visualize the image of self and present that as an avatar in a visual virtual environment, a step up from nomenclature and font color self-expression. Deciding what one looks like as an imaginary character is also interesting, and like naming oneself it can be good psychotherapy. These are used in elaborate chat rooms where participants immerse themselves in whole new worlds, and where identity is defined by images and one's own character description. As in a story, dialogue will also define a character, virtual or otherwise ...

The Napoleon Bonaparte Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Napoleon Bonaparte - Term Paper Example This military uniform, or popularly called the ‘Marengo uniform’, is presently a valuable piece of Paris’s Musà ©e des Invalides (O’Brien 2006). The saber held by Napoleon is also kept by the Invalides. The sabre and the uniform were specially asked for by Jacques-Louis David (Bietoletti 2009). This depiction of the successful Marengo general was in the collected works of the eldest brother of Napoleon, Joseph Bonaparte. When in 1814 the Empire collapsed, he transferred to the United States and his remarkable anthology was dispatched to New Jersey, where he lived (Bietoletti 2009). Andrea Appiani was the official painter of Napoleon in Italy. He applauded the successes of the Emperor in a series of sheets in Milan’s Palazzo Reale (Cronin 1972). As the number of themes increased, his pictographic expression became more and more complicated. He employed strong chiaroscuro effects in the Caravaggio form (Cronin 1972). The King of Italy, in this wall painting, hailed by the Victories and by the Eagle, is enthroned by the Hours (Bordes 2007). This essay will analyze and discuss Appiani’s visual rendering of Napoleon in the context of history painting. If the coronation is a bird’s eye view of the intellectual mayhem of the Napoleonic cosmos, Appiani’s painting celebrating the enthronement looks like the expected preference with which to answer the major question of this essay: how to depict Napoleon in an artistic way, within the wide-ranging terms of the political representation disorder? Appiani tested a variety of answers to the abovementioned question, in a planned fulfillment of the demands of his new master. For instance, Napoleon disliked all of the answers, discarding entirely, another of Appiani’s regal works of art (Bordes 2007). The reactions of Napoleon, interpreted as aesthetic opinions (O’Brien 2006), fully validate the idea that his artists were not best positioned in the area

Adrenoleukodystrophy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Adrenoleukodystrophy - Research Paper Example However, promptly managed and cared for, this disorder is somewhat bearable for the individual who has it. But there is no treatment for ALD, only alternative medications that could delay the progression of the disorder. This paper discusses and analyzes childhood cerebral ALD in a patient case study format. An 8 year old boy from Alabama, New York was admitted at the East Alabama Medical Center with issue of continuous darkening of the entire body for 4 years already, continuing deterioration of vision, abnormal behavior and hearing difficulty observed for the last 2 months. At the age of five he began going to school, but was forced to stop because of visual deficiency and low level of attention. Progressively he also began experiencing hearing difficulties. He had one incident of seizure 2 months ago. While confined in the hospital he also exhibited signs of mental illness and experienced vertigo. His previous medical history was average. He was not taking any medications before his hospitalization. There was also nothing unusual in his family background. Test results showed generalized hyper-pigmentation of skin, as well as pigmentation of tongue, gum, and oral mucosa. His blood pressure was stable, and has scattered loss of hair. He has testicular atrophy according to genital tests. Audiometry reports deterioration of sensory-neural hearing in both ears; ophthalmological and neurological tests show bilateral primary optic atrophy. All regular examinations showed normal results, but one test showed high protein, with no alteration in microbiological, glucose, and cell count results (Rosenkilde et al., 1995). The diagnosis of adrenoleukodystrophy was firmly substantiated by the radiological and biochemical results, and medical history. Afterwards, treatment was initiated with prednisolone and antipsychotic (Rosenkilde et al., 1995). He is currently monitored on a regular basis. The medical