Improve your literacy at Hamilton College

The philosophy at Hamilton College is that reading should be a pleasurable activity. It could be suggested that students that read because they want to, progress faster academically and may do better in their examinations because:

• They read more.
• The constant assimilation of correct spelling and grammar helps them to improve upon their own vocabulary and makes it easier for them to automatically conjugate verbs correctly. The reason for this is that students that don’t read may constantly hear grammatical errors in speech. For instance, you may hear “you was wrong”. If you do not get a constant opportunity to witness the correct “you were wrong,” you may not realize that you are conjugating the verb “to be” incorrectly. (Although English teachers constantly try to teach their students not to make these mistakes, they appear to be common.) However, students that read regularly, will see the verb ‘to be’ constantly and adopt the correct usage.
• Reading texts on all subjects helps with the rest of the curriculum. For instance, a student at Hamilton College may be interested in the politics of Elizabeth I. In that situation, he or she will read everything that they can about that period of history. This will mean that they get more knowledge about history than if they were simply relying on what they were told in their History lessons.
• Reading makes you question what you have read. For instance, a student that reads Wuthering Heights may question the role of women in the 19th century. This may lead to the student wondering about the probability of three sisters in the West Riding of Yorkshire becoming literary icons. The more the student thinks about what they have read, the more questions he or she will ask. The ability to ask questions is a useful academic tool that will aid you throughout your education and onto your future career.

Originally, literacy consisted of reading and writing. However, it is now acknowledged that the ability to communicate through the spoken word is just as important. If you are studying for exams at Hamilton College, you may be asked to give a spoken presentation in front of the whole class. For some people, that is pure heaven. However, for others it is painful and embarrassing. In fact, it is easy to allow something like speaking in public to be on par with going to war or bathing an elephant that doesn’t want a wash. The good news is that if you make a plan and you are organized, you will relax more.

• Choose your subject carefully. Don’t do a makeup demonstration because you think it will please the girls in the class. If you are passionate about The English Civil War, talk about that. It is much easier to allow your knowledge and passion shine through if you think that Oliver Cromwell was a warty toad than if you don’t know your blusher from your foundation.
• Once you have chosen your topic, make a list of the points that you wish to cover.
• Write them all out as you wish to say them.
• Practice saying your text until you almost know it by heart. This may seem like a great waste of time but knowing your spiel backwards gives you confidence that you never knew existed.
• Put your points on cards to remind yourself where you are up to if you lose your place in your script. Keep the cards at the side of the script and do a sneaky tick as you cover each point. This will give you a sense of achievement after every point and will also help you to relax. Remember that the staff at Hamilton College want you succeed so you will be offered every opportunity to be the best that you can be.
• Make sure that you are not too hot on the day of your talk. Layer dress so that if you get too hot you can remove a garment. For some reason, public speaking makes the coolest person sweat.

If you are studying for exams at Hamilton College, you will probably be asked to provide a range of written work such as essays and pieces of persuasive writing. Being able to perform these skills competently and within the required time is necessary both for the passing of examinations and also for your future career. There are some helpful tips that will make easier to get your written work done.

• Discuss your essay questions with your friends.
• Read as much about your subject as you can find.
• Make a plan before you start writing.
• Don’t worry about making mistakes in your first draft. Just get down what you want to say.
• Make sure that you read your essay through to check for spelling errors and grammatical mistakes.