Dear Everyone from our SAT Class - I just spent a day filled with anger and frustration at the way out best young minds THINK

However, some of my depression was erased after I got a few responses through mail. The following is one by Protik.


Dear Sir,... ... ...



I had given some thought to the events of today's class and the discussion we had regarding the recent tragic incident involving Professor Rumana Manzur. Today, I realised how a small class of some 15 students depicts the true image of our entire society. It was proven how foolish we actually are. We are ready to accept anything stated by one dominating figure (a role you acted so amazingly, Sir), without even trying to analyse if the reasons provided are valid! I am very ashamed of myself. I always thought I would be able to stand up for what is right even when I am powerfully influenced not to. Today, I was proven wrong. I am just another educated fool out there.

What her husband had done to Professor Manzur was absolutely wrong. Yes, he might have been provoked. Yes, he might have had his reasons. But whatever the reasons, he had no right to torture his wife to blindness like that! This is worse than murder! This should have struck my mind the moment you told us about the incident. I feel like an idiot now. If a lawyer ever fights the husband's case, and the judgement goes to his favour, I will be deeply shocked and saddened by the actions of the lawyer and the judge. However, I will also remind myself of how I was derailed to a similar judgement myself!

Thank you for making me realise so much today. I believe, in future, I will be able to use today's lesson to decide between what is right and what is wrong without getting carried away by the wrong reasons provided by an overshadowing figure.

Protik




ANOTHER POST BY ZARAT

Today's class was devastating-how easily we all agreed to be anti-feminists!  But let me congratulate you on your excellent acting abilities; I was completely taken in! You were very convincing.

 

I hadn't read the whole incident (Torture of Rumana Manzur by her husband), so on coming home, my first job was to hunt it down in the newspaper.I'll be very honest about what I felt and thought today when we were discussing this issue in class. When I had first heard about the incident roughly, I felt revolted at the husband for his misconduct. I'd entered class with strong hatred for her husband but at one point, (and I'm ashamed to admit this) actually thought the wife shared a part of his blame. To tell the truth, when you started with the 'provocation' theory, I told myself, "It's a trap." I honestly did. But then you started pushing it and everyone in the class seemed to agree, and I thought to myself, "Maybe he is right." This just goes to show how easily I can be tilted by other's thoughts and opinions, no matter how unjustified they are. Maybe this is a weakness of my character.

 

I was struggling with the thought; the fact that the husband is 100% guilty becoming the weaker arguement in my mind every moment. Akila trying to weakly defend herself and you putting her down didn't help either. And soon I was taken in by your confident opinion about 'provocation' being one of the causes. (I never really believed complete innocence of the husband).

 

I did not think once that 'violence is never justified'; although I have held this belief for a long time. But it was so fragile that it could be easily broken. Another thing that I didn't do was, simply put me in her position and think it through. If I was in her shoes, with such a prestigious job and the promise of a bright future, the husband and my child being dependent on me, I would have thrown the husband out if he had beat me up regularly. At least I'd tell my parents who are likely to do the same. I wouldn't have cared at all for the society which believes I should endure it. Being an educated, independent, earning woman I have a strong claim in respect from my husband, if not appreciation.

 

He should be worshipping her: she was providing for him and his child and doing such a respectable job, and most importantly, tolerating the fact that her husband is a good-for-nothing fellow with no job, and no ability to provide for his family!

 

I am truly ashamed indeed but I am ready to learn.

 

This email is longer than I had intended it to be. I had a lot more to say but it is not healthy for me to spend so much time on this 1 day before the exam. Hope you don't mind my 'rantings'.

 

Thank you.

Zarat.

SAT 2011 Classes to start in March 2nd

I am taking preparation for starting SAT - I classes from 2nd of March 2011. A few students from Mastermind, Academia, and Scholastica has already contacted me for the classes to begin.

Interested students are requested to send me mails at the following address:

shahidul_mamun@yahoo.com

Thank you.

Congratulations to Everyone

I take the opportunity to congratulate everyone for completing the SAT-I Exam today. You all know that most universities and colleges will have their deadlines closed from 30th December. The highest number of Colleges will close deadlines ON 15th January 2011.

Keeping these deadlines you should prepare your applications.

I will keep posting this or that items - but not as regularly. In the meantime if you have any question - please do not hesitate to mail me.

Confirmation of Thursday Class at 8 am

We shall go ahead with the class tomorrow Thursday at 8.00 am - Everyone should be present. This class will formally close our SAT December session.

Emergency Notice

No SAT-review class tomorrow on Wednesday. Instead the class shall take place on Thursday at 8.00 am. In the meantime you are requested to take a mock at 8.00 am at HOME.

  

No classes tomorrow Sunday

As I will be finalizing a few of the documents - I need a working day and therefore there will be no class/MOCK on Sunday.

However, there will be another MOCK on Monday at 8.00 am - if you want to take the MOCK, you MUST mail me to confirm your presence.

Please check for important blogpost tomorrow.

MOCK on Saturday

We will have mock on Saturday at 10.00 - do attend.

What do we have tomorrow - Friday?``

I was thinking that we shall have a MOCK on Friday - but NO! I have my Theatre Schedule and therefore we shall have our MOCK on Saturday.

In the meantime please keep working on the critical reading from many point of views - Vocabulary, Reading Items, Previous mails to me, and lots of Essay readings from the NET.

SAT II Scores

I have informed of the SAT-II scores by most of you. Please send me individual mails where you will state the breakdown of Critical-Writing-Math score from the October exam and then the breakdown of your SAT-II scores.

May I also request you to make necessary preparations for December SAT-I exam? We will have a few classes starting from coming Thursday. All the classes will be in the morning. I also intend to take class on Saturday at 10.

I also need to finalize 3 more MOCK days which we can settle after I meet you.

Well, I am sure everything is going fine.

Of Moral Actions and Reasoning

Like the previous year this year too had seen some of the finest and the toughest essays based on the Templeton Foundation's Big Question - Does moral action depend on reasoning? I just went through big-tall essays by Noor, Huma, Shahriar, Anik and others. Thank you all for braving this very fundamental philosophical question in the best AnglophileS tradition.

I will try to put selected parts of these numerous essays on the blog in the next few days. Remember, if you are not articulate - you are nobody!

Very Important Notice

Check out the other blog immediately.

We have MOCK on Tuesday

We will have MOCK on Tuesday. Please bring the NEW set of Real SAT papers that I gave some of you. I want to remind that these booklets shall cost you 200 TK each. Those who do not have these Real SAT Past Papers Booklet - please place on order through email. It will take around 2 hours to make a copy on a working day.

Please post all sorts of queries regarding SAT and Application [whether you have been accepted into the Program or not].

Everyone is working crazy - so don't fall behind. Forget that you have a body that is subject to rest-sleep-dream-leisure-hunger-physical pain. Only when you are gone crazy - there is some sort of light at the end of the abysmal gorge. 

Today Friday

Today, I will be working from here in my study. I have already invited some of you to come and see me. If you want to come - just let me know through an e-mail.

And - get back to work.

Get Back to Work

Sorry for not posting anything in the last 5 days.

I was busy over checking a large number of drafts. I am sure that everyone is now well set on working on their application while not forgetting the DUE attention for the upcoming SAT-I exam.

I will appreciate if you send me mails regarding your level of preparation. I will be in my study-room tomorrow from 8.00 till 12.00 in the morning. If you want to meet please request through an email.

The other blog has been posted too. Please check.

Prioritize your Tasks

As you are all busy over the SAT-I preparations - DO NOT forget that your prime reason for doing SAT is that you would apply to US colleges/universities. So, set aside the festival happenings and concentrate on your task at hand. Use the holiday [which shall last for 5 to 8 days at best] to finalize many of your principal papers.

Please do not hesitate to mail me in the event of need.

Read and review the following.

1. Vocabulary: Word Smarts, 430 List, 100 Words, Princeton Hit Parade [downloadable]
2. Granta, LRB, Red Room Essays.
3. Critical Reading Sections from 10 Real SAT, and Princeton.
4. Check the following Concepts [all VERY important] on the Net:

Behaviourism/Neuroscience/Evolutionary Science/Plant & Animal Biology, Feminism [Mary Wollstonecraft, Simon de’ Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf, Aurora Leigh], Art Movements [Surrealism, Expressionism, Impressionism, Cubism] [Gothic, Rococo], Immigrants’ Issues [Identity Crises, Memory of the Lost Homeland, Traditions and Rituals], European Infiltration on the American Soil [Euro-centrism, Local Govt. of Native Americans, Destruction of Native American Art], Historiography – Lefevbre, Carr, Trevelyan, Braudell, Herodotus [re-writing Native American History],

Medieval Europe [Government, Arts, Town/Village], Philosophy [Perception of the External World – Epistemology], Modern Physics [Black Holes, String Theory, Master Theory], Genetic Engineering, Political Science, Political Figures and Political Ideology [Black Leaders in the 19^th century, Democracy, Radicalism, Machiavelli, Medieval Politics in Italy and England]

Convenient short Summaries of a few Granta Essays - courtesy Prianka

Interested readers could try their hand directly with the full texts - I would say, you must do that.

Never Raise Your Hand (Granta essay)

The writer here tells about the corporeal punishments which he had experience in his childhood while he was in a missionary school. The school followed strict discipline and anyone who disobeyed the rules implemented were punished severely. the teacher whom he remembered the most for her strict discipline and cruelty was Sister Margaret. The seven year olds were not allowed to ask questions in her classroom and once she even cause one of his classmate’s nose to bleed for making wise cracks in her class. Her discipline made a barrier between the students and herself which prevented them from learning anything. To have an effective education, it is vital that there is a good teacher student relationship, not the type of relationship that the writer and Sister Margaret had with each other.

Where to Begin (Granta essay)

First a character in a story is portrayed as a human being  and later  he is given  the identity of where he comes from and his surroundings and according to Nadeem Islam it is due to this fact why fiction writer fails as there is always be the truth after the first four pages. A writer observes and sees everything that goes on around him and later when he writes a book, the environment around him unconsciously pours down into his writing. The writer, Nadeem Islam believes that his writings are an exploration of his own life and it is only possible to connect with his readers only after he shares his views of life with them. A writer can awaken the ordinary people and make then question and think of the surrounding in which they live in. It is astounding how mere writings of thoughts on pieces of papers and awaken people from their sleep and this is the reason why politicians fear writers so much and even cause some to fled their countries like Qurratulain Hyder.A writer’s perception of his own culture and mother tongue acts as the basis of what he writes about; it is the identity of where he comes from and are the inspirations of what he writes about.

Going Back (Granta essay)

The writer looked back  when she used to be young and was used to enjoy the surroundings around her. Her children reminded her of the days she used to enjoy. Hough they are in the same place, things changed and the environment is not that same as it used to be. Temperature has risen due to global warming and this lead to the change that we see today. Our surroundings  changed  because of the deeds of our ancestors and its preventing the new generation from enjoying what their parents used to do when they were of the same age.

The Ribbon of Valour (Granta essay)

After years of using the typewriter, Hal Crowther has to stop using his beloved machine due to technological advances. Our lives are changing due to the constant advances due to technology  and preventing us from going to the past. But are these technological advances good for the human kind? According to Hal the typewriter made the typist think thoroughly before writing anything  as making a mistake would cause them to type the whole thing again but with the computer a writer can delete his writing easily and because of this there are not that many  good writers around. Technology is making our lives easier but is it for the good or for the worse? It has both its cons and pros and it depends on us to make the decision of  how we want to use technology.

A Voice from the Vault (Granta Essay)

Mark Twain forbade his autobiography to be published within hundred years of his death. But there have been many editions before he decided on the final one. This is mostly due to the fact that Mark twain dictated rather than put them with his own hands. This caused the writer to do a lot of revisions. Because of the huge bulk of different materials for his autobiography, there can be a lot of interpretations. To understand his autobiography it is necessary that we know all that is available.

Writer’s Writer and Writer’s Writer’s Writer (London review of books)

Translating a piece of work from one language to another is a very hard job indeed as it is very difficult to present the same literary meaning which the original language provide. There is also the possibility of not interpret ting the true meaning  that writer wants to tell the reader. In translating a work, we miss out the true meaning. The difficulty of translation has been shown here with the example of Madame Bovary. There has been many translations of this famous piece of work as it depends on the translator how much he wants to keep up with the  writer or write what he comprehended from reading the writing.

Socialism (London review of book)

Most of the countries  follow capitalism rather than socialism. Capitalism lead to immense profit of the owners by cheating the consumers and it also forms big gad between classes. Socialism on the other hand aims for equality of class and prevents exploitation of consumers. The essay is a review of the book Politics of  Socialism.To the writer the book seems to lack focus and it was not clear in saying its messages aloud to the readers.

I will be in my Room tomorrow

There will not be any class tomorrow. However, I will be in the class from 8.00 am till 1.00. I will be expecting a good number of students to come and talk to me in person. I could not make any specific appointments - so anyone is free to come.

This is going to be an important day - so, make necessary preparations before you seek audience.

No classes tomorrow

No classes tomorrow as I will be staying home. Please look for mails and further posts by tomorrow morning. I am going to finalize the colleges for the app process by Monday.

IN the meantime if there is anything you need to talk about - dont hesitate to mail. I have already asked Abreshmi Maisha to mail me her specific plans.

The others are also requested to send me their plans for the entire week.

The app-processing students are requested to visit the other blog for further instructions.

App Processing Students

All the application processing students have been sent an important mail. Please respond immediately. Those of you who do not have e-mail account with gmail with your full name - please create one tonight. Make sure you do not use any code name that hides your identity.

No MOCK tomorrow Friday

I am very sorry to say that there will not be any mock tomorrow that we planned earlier. We shall have MOCK on Saturday at 10.15 am. We shall use Real SAT question paper. Please look for more post tonight.