<p>You may or may not find this advice helpful, but I'm just offering what really made my life easier when it came to learning and memorizing SAT vocab words. Especially if you had an AP teacher who gives you quizzes over them every week. :P It sure paid off though...I got 800's on both critical reading and writing. I hope this can bring you closer to that miracle. ;)</p>
<p>What you need:
-1 Princeton Review: Cracking the SAT 2011 Edition (if you don't want to buy it, it would be great if your local library happens to have one for you to borrow)
-A bunch of flash cards...a whoooole bunch
-1 red pen or highlighter (writing in bright colors helped me to remember better than if I could've written in regular ink)
-Most importantly: your imagination</p>
<p>Imagination? That's the last thing you need to study for a college admissions test! On the contrary, it's pretty essential. Let me elaborate:</p>
<p>When you open the Princeton Review book to the "SAT Hit Parade," there's a whole chunk of the book dedicated to the most frequently used vocab words. The authors even went out their way to make up cute sentences for each word. But for me, it wasn't enough. It did me no good to stare at the definitions and following sentences for half an hour every night. I finally moved my lazy butt to buy flash cards at the store and tried a new method: copying the definition on the cards and writing my own sentences for them.</p>
<p>This method really helps if you have a love for pop culture...music, video games, TV, etc. And I played A LOT of video games. Who knew that the combo of SAT words and modern entertainment saved my life?</p>
<p>This is the format I used on the cards:
-part of speech at upper right hand corner of the card
-word, definition, paraphrase
-My own sentence</p>
<p>Here are some of my favorites: (I apologize if there are some pop culture stuff you don't recognize...particularly if you aren't into video games or anime...)</p>
<p>-extol: to praise highly
My sentence: "You have to be crazy to extol Uwe Boll!"</p>
<p>-palliative: relieving symptoms without actually effecting a cure (temporarily soothing)
My sentence: "Watching Hellsing Ultimate became a palliative for me; it was the only thing that kept me quiet."</p>
<p>-ambiguous: open to more than one interpretation
My sentence: "The ethnicity of most Final Fantasy characters is ambiguous: some fans say they're white, Asian, or a mix of both. The unusual hair colors make it even harder to tell."</p>
<p>-magnanimous: generously noble in mind and heart
My sentence: Out of all Houses, Gryffindor is the most magnanimous and courageous. (From Harry Potter)</p>
<p>-amalgam: combination of diverse elements
My sentence: "The Final Fantasy franchise is an amalgam of impressive visuals, engaging gameplay and memorable characters."</p>
<p>-chicanery: trickery
My sentence: Ed's alchemy is often feats of cheap and humorous chicanery. (From Fullmetal Alchemist)</p>
<p>-mar: to damage, especially in a disfiguring way
My sentence: Alucard's victims often end up marred, mutilated or humiliated. (From Hellsing)</p>
<p>-epitome: a representative, or example of a type (sort of like an exemplary figure, a role model) ((I see this word pop up a lot in SAT practice tests and the real thing))
My sentence: Colonel Radec is the epitome of a charismatic and ruthless Helghast leader. (From Killzone 2)</p>
<p>As you can tell, I LOVE Hellsing, Killzone 2 and Final Fantasy (especially 13.) From that point on, I was taking in at least 20 words each week, and acing nearly every quiz my teacher threw at me. Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, I aced the SAT verbal section with flying colors. If you'd like more examples and sentences, let me know, and I will reply on this thread. :)</p>