Literary Techniques

[click for higher resolution!] Whilst organising my hard drive, I found a document from English which covered lots of literary techniques. I always struggled remembering them so made this table and put it in my subject folder. I thought it might be nice to share this for those who also struggle with the specific meanings :-)

I also made a version which you can print, you can download it here.

Hope this helps! 

I  School Days 

1. Show up to class a little early. It’ll give you time to set up, read over some old notes, put your water bottle/thermos on your desk, fill out your planner if you couldn’t in the previous period(s), check your planner to see if you have something on that day etc.

2. Sit in the front or second row. I’m serious, you will definitely benefit. Write detailed class notes. Pick whatever system works for you. I usually write my titles in red pen, notes in black pen, underline points that are repeated/emphasised, highlight keywords at home

3. If you have time at school, do as much homework as you can. If you know you have commitments that day, please for the love of your education do your homework at lunch. I know you might feel awkward, but your friends will understand. 

4. When you get home, first list down all the homework received that day on a q card (cross off as you go). Then write the same tasks in your bullet journal, but as a daily spread. Use stayfocusd or self control for mac + leave phone in a different room. FINISH ALL OF YOUR HOMEWORK. If for some reason you couldn’t complete a homework task, write it on a sticky note and place it on your wall. After homework is done, write your revision notes (flashcard the info as well). Place the notes in your accordion folder/binder. If you have some loose sheets at any point, place them in a ‘To Be Filed’ box. Sort that out when you’re packing your bag for the next day.

5. Go through the flashcards made that day and the flashcards made on the previous days.  List out all assignments/assessments on another q card with their due dates. This will come in handy later.

6. Pack your bag the night before. Remember your accordion folder + make sure your ‘To Be Filed’ box is empty. Put water bottle in the fridge and make meals for the next day.

7. The next day, wake up early, complete any unfinished homework, go through flashcards again, read through revision notes, make lunch for the day, put laptop in bag, put food + water in bag, exercise (esp if you have commitments after school), shower, change, blah blah blah. Only do this if your schedule is packed, and in my case, this is a must.

II  Weekends

1. On Friday nights, first off, do homework. You will thank yourself for it. Whip out that list of assessments/assignments and allocate half days to knock off at least two of these little assholes. Work ahead, you will feel much better.

2. Do your readings. For English, knock off some wider reading novels, for HSIE, knock off some textbook unit readings (two units ahead), for science, knock off some more textbook readings. Write summaries of each page. Type these summaries. Print these summaries. Place in accordion folder/binder. Flashcard the info. Spend like half a day doing this lmao.

3. Spend 1-2 hours going through the flashcards you made that week for each subject. This counts as studying my friend. 

III Weekends When You Actually Have Assessments 

1. Due to your working ahead, homework completion and readings, you shouldn’t be panicking too much. Get those revision notes and slot in the textbook readings notes. Highlight, annotate, read aloud, go through flashcards and get someone to test you on the content. Make sure you know all terms, formulae, key concepts, vocabulary etc etc

2. As for assignments, again due to your working ahead just print them out and heavily edit those little asshats. Then type the edits into the doc. Repeat this process four times. Then get someone to read it. Make sure all your assignments are on your USB + email them to yourself because you never fucking know tbh. 

3. You’ll probs have to sacrifice your reading time but that’s chill because the teacher/prof will probably be focusing on prepping you for the actual assessment + you gotta do what you gotta do.

SUMMARY

“Thank you for this incredibly stressful 30 minutes that I have had to re-structure my entire day around and which will give me anxiety poos for the next 24 hours.”

I didn’t get the job.

However, a few weeks later, I was called in to interview with another editor in the same company, and I did get that job. I found out later from the initial editor (the one who didn’t hire me) that he had planned to offer me the job, but since I didn’t follow up with a thank you letter, he assumed I didn’t really want it. He offered the job to another contender–but when he got my letter in the mail shortly after the offer had already been made, he went to HR and gave me a glowing recommendation. It was based on that recommendation that I got called in for the second interview.

So: send an email thank you immediately (same day!) after the interview. If you’re feeling extra, go ahead and send a written one too. OR go immediately to a coffee shop, write the letter, and return to the office and give it to the secretary.

college advice part 7/7 : how to get over a bad semester

→ this took me a while because i wanted to make sure it was valid advice and it wasn’t just thrown together. here are some things i’ve tried/noticed/whatever in my time at school and in dealing with these kinds of situations.

take a break. take a one-week break, a two-week break, even a month if you need it. take that time to relax and get your head back in the game. overworking and over-stressing are not the way to get back on track. 

get a job. doing some work and making some money can really make you realize that you wanna get a degree so that you can get a better job make more money. doing some work can also get you on a schedule and make you realize that you do have responsibilities!! and this is key to being able to remember that school is one of your major responsibilities!!

get an ESA (emotional support animal). my partner and i got a cat when he started having trouble and it has helped immensely in giving him the ability to be able to realize that he has a responsibility to another living being. we have to take our cat to vet appointments, etc. and it’s reaLLY helpful to have to allot time and build a schedule!! it has also helped him in maintaining a schedule since he knows the cat can’t be alone for days at a time, so it’s made his class time very valuable and even more important since it’s good to keep a schedule!!

see a therapist, and maybe get on some medication if you need to. there’s a certain stigma around seeing a therapist and being on medication for mental illnesses. there’s a certain stigma around mental illnesses in general. these stigmas need to stop. i firmly believe that everyone should have someone professional that they can talk to about anything and everything that causes them stress, anxiety, depression, etc.

let your professors know what’s going on. oftentimes, professors are completely underutilized. if you let them know what’s going on, they will likely be very willing to help in any way they can. especially if they see you putting forth extra effort like going to their office hours to understand things if you missed class, writing them emails letting them know what’s going on, talking to them before/after classes if you need to, etc.

establish a link between the Dean of Students (or the equivalent at your school), yourself, your advisor/counselor, your psychiatrist/psychologist, and your professors. this will be very helpful when you’re having some severe stress or anxiety that causes you to miss class. alternatively, find out if your school has a Disability Resource Center or something similar and see if you can get accommodation, still keeping everyone in the loop!

remind yourself that you are worth it. read happy things everyday. here are some.

it’s okay to not be okay all the time

step by step guide on how to become extremely beautiful

quotes by esteé lauder, anonymus, nathan w. morris and diane von furstenberg.

rainbow reminders

things i tell myself

relax

i needed this so badly

you belong among wildflowers

i think you need a break

hey if ur ever feelin shitty use this

also, suicide hotline. do not hesitate to call it or any of the number here if you need to.

me: studying

friend: let’s gossip

me: 

04/10/2017