The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter (Classic Retelling)







Authors Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Product Description
HarperCollins UK Audio Classics presents abridged and unabridged readings of the world's favorite literary masterpieces. Among the distinguished readers are Christopher Lee, Derek Jacobi, Simon Callow, Linus Roache, Elizabeth McGovern, Terry Jones, Peter Firth, and Rufus Sewell. Each package of cassettes in the Audio Classics series is beautifully packaged and shrink-wrapped.

Product Details
# Hardcover: 128 pages
# Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) (January 2006)
# Language: English

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Reviews


After giving birth to a daughter she names Pearl , Hester is punished with the scarlet letter "A" which she must wear on her breast and marks her as an adulteress. The shame she bears is immense. The village looks upon her with scorn and ridicule. Her husband, Roger Chillingsworth, whom Hester had presumed dead at sea, sent her to Salem, Massachusetts two years previously to await his later arrival, but sent no word after. He appears unexpectedly as she is being publicly displayed upon the scaffolding in front of the church, which serves as a punishment for criminals.

We were uncomfortable enough to have our male English teacher address the topics of this book! All that aside, though, the book is a timeless classic and I hope that it is still on the high school curriculum reading lists across the country. It gives us all something to think about and it does teach us, indirectly perhaps, how to deal with the fall-out of our actions and choices. I have a feeling that a lot of the reviewers expressing negative opinions are malcontent high school students grumbling about a "stupid, boring book" assigned to them for class. I myself had to read it for my junior-year English class, but I am very glad I was forced to do so.

Dracula Book

Dracula (Townsend Library Edition)







Authors Bram Stoker

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Product Description
This Townsend Library classic has been carefully edited to be more accessible to today's students. It includes a background note about the book, an author's biography, and a lively afterword. Acclaimed by educators nationwide, the Townsend Library is helping millions of young adults discover the pleasure and power of reading.

Product Details
# Paperback: 428 pages
# Publisher: Townsend Press

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Reviews


The story itself is very powerful, but to modern readers it is often perceived as being dense and overcrowded with details. This is typical to Victorian novels, in which the women are always tender and caring and the men brave and intelligent. It seems that these conclusions have to be underlined on every page of the book. Still Bram Stoker succeeds in winning the attention of the reader by supplying an unprecedented richness to the story. The plot is filled with unexpected twists, remarkable action sequences and rather eerie -sometimes almost erotic- confrontations with evil entities. No situation is left unused to heighten the mystery.

It becomes almost a crash course in symbolism, to discover the events as they coincide with the gradual effects of Dracula's presence in London. What Stoker does is a lot similar--and far more effective in its respective medium--to what was achieved in the Blair Witch Project. We see subtle effects and character responses that all point to the villain, but the villain is always just beyond reach, never quite tangible, and more the frightening because of it. In this way, the novel instantly propels itself to one of the greatest horror novels of all time.

"Dracula" is the grandaddy is Lestat and Jean-Claude, but that isn't the sole reason why it is a classic. It's also incredibly atmospheric, and very well-written. Not only is it very freaky, in an ornate Victorian style, but it is also full of restrained, quiet horror and creepy eroticism. What's more, it's shaped the portrayal of vampires in movies and books, even to this day.

GRE 2012 Edition Graduate School Test Preparation

Cracking the New GRE with DVD, 2012 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation)







Authors Princeton Review

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Product Description
• Access to 4 full-length practice tests (2 online and 2 in the book)
• Practice questions with detailed explanations for every question
• Key strategies for solving Text Completions, Sentence Equivalents, Numeric Entry, Quantitative Comparisons, and more
• Thorough review of all GRE topics, including everything on the new GRE
• DVD supplement (completely overhauled in 2011!) with tutorials and helpful information from The Princeton Review’s top GRE course instructor

Product Details
# Paperback: 496 pages
# Publisher: Princeton Review; Pap/DVD Re edition (April 26, 2011)
# Language: English

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Reviews


Likewise for the Verbal section, you will learn techniques to identify the type of question, how to quickly deconstruct the question, and most importantly how to answer exactly what the examiners expect.

I also find the writing techniques to be very helpful to ensure at the essays will end up above average. The only way to score a "6" is to keep practicing and learn from good styles of writing.

The only downside was the DVD - video summarizing the preparation and examination experience, but nothing more than that. Get the version without DVD Cracking the New GRE, 2012 Edition (Graduate School Test Preparation) to save some money.

What I liked about it:
--The amount of explanation was perfect - concise enough that I could read the book cover to cover.
--I found that the test-taking strategies given for the verbal, math, and writing sections were all very helpful, and during the actual test I found myself using them several times.
--I thought the practice tests were about the same level of difficulty as the actual test.

The Princeton Review highly enough... Its methods and explanations are quicker, simpler, and significantly more helpful than Kaplan's. Note: I did read The Princeton Review first, which I'm sure colored my opinion. However, after studying the PR publication, I felt that Kaplan's instructions and advice were not only unhelpful, they actually made the test more complicated than it needed to be. Kaplan's book has more practice drills/tests, but P.R. has more than enough of these, and it uses its pages more effectively (in my opinion), explaining methods/instructions that make the test feel simple and doable.
So if you're considering one or the other, this would be my choice hands down; it does the job thoroughly and effectively, and (bonus) it's less expensive.

Official LSAT PrepTests

10 New Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests







Authors Wendy Margolis

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Product Description
This is a great book. But don't start here. Because this book has 10 very recent official LSATs, you want to take all these tests timed before you take the official test, but not before you take some older tests first. For example, I'd suggest getting The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests (Lsat Series), which has PrepTests 29-38, and take those. Also, get the individual PrepTests 39-51 (for example, The Official LSAT PrepTest 51). Basically, you want to take older tests before you take newer tests because the newer tests are harder. Learn the fundamentals on the old tests so you don't "waste" the newer ones until you're ready to take them.

Product Details
# Paperback: 366 pages
# Publisher: Law School Admission Council (March 4, 2012)
# Language: English

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Reviews


As a self-studier readying myself for the LSAT, saving $50 to $60 by purchasing this book as opposed to the individual preptests represents a significant boon. Now, I can put additional money towards other preparation essentials. Hopefully LSAC publishes a fifth "10" book at some point with some tougher-to-find tests to provide broke prospective law students with one less financial burden. I find that many LSAT books out there choose to make up their own questions rather than pay the licensing fee to the Law School Admissions Council to use real questions. However, this practice leaves students woefully unprepared. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to study from REAL LSAT questions, which are exactly what this book provides. I recommend these exams to all of my students.

GRE 2011 2012 Kaplan Gre Exam Premier

New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD-ROM (Kaplan Gre Exam Premier Live)







Authors Kaplan

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Product Description
The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is taken by college graduates looking to gain entrance to graduate school in business, the arts, sciences, and humanities. With an increasing number of graduate and business school applicants and an increasing number of GRE test-takers—now a complete test overhaul by the test-maker—a high GRE score is critical to set yourself apart from the competition.

New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD-ROM is a comprehensive package that includes a book, CD-ROM, and online companion with in-depth strategies, test information, and practice questions to help students score higher on the new GRE Revised General Test. New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD-ROM is fully updated and revised with 75 percent all-new content covering the revised and expanded Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing Assessment Test sections, including 50 percent new practice questions and brand new strategies for each of the new question types.

New GRE 2011-2012 Premier with CD-ROM features:

* 6 full-length practice tests (1 in the book, 5 online)
* 400 practice questions and answer explanations on the CD-ROM
* A detailed overview of the test changes
* Key strategies for all New GRE question types
* Details and practice sets for the Verbal and Quantitative sections
* Diagnostic tool in end-of-chapter practice sets for even more targeted practice
* Advice for the graduate school application process

Product Details
# Paperback: 588 pages
# Publisher: Kaplan Publishing; Pap/Cdr/Ps edition (April 26, 2011)
# Language: English

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Reviews


Right now, I'm very satisfied with the purchase. I've found the "Kaplan strategies" helpful and as I complete more practice sets, I get less wrong answers. This book also gives you lots of study tips for before taking the test and advice on actually taking the test.

In addition to the textbook, you get an online registration number which allows you to access 5 additional full-length practice tests (in addition to the full-length paper-based practice test) and the CD-ROM companion. The CD companion has 10 practice sets for each of the quantitative and verbal reasoning sections as well as 5 analytical essay prompts. After you finish a practice set (either on the book or the CD), you get an explanation for all the answers to clarify doubts. The explanations Kaplan gives are detailed, well-written, unlike the ones I've seen in the examples provided in the ETS website which don't always clarify the answers for me. With your Kaplan online companion account, in addition to the 5 practice tests, I've been able to get a couple more full-length practice tests for free, as well as access to free events and a GRE Live Online session.

Here is how I studied:
1. I chose this book as well as CliffsNotes Math Review for Standardized Tests (Cliffs Test Prep Math Review Standardized). I did not feel I needed extra prep materials for the verbal portion.
2. I worked through this book, including the practice test in the book, and all the in-book excercises.
3. I downloaded and took the free ETS test as a baseline. I also downloaded and studied their free math review materials.
4. Based on step one, I reviewed my options here on Amazon for supplemental study materials, and decided I wanted about two months to study. Any more than that, and I think you run the risk of overcompensating and second-guessing yourself too much.
5. I worked through the CD of included practice exercises with the Kaplan book. These were very helpful, although I must caution you to take answers and results with a grain of salt. I felt that they often contained typos, and also that the verbal questions were often ill-conceived or explained strangely. So think of them as "practice" and don't get too worked up if you get answers wrong when you felt they should be right. Based on my verbal score estimate, I feel I am justified in making this statement.
6. The day before the test, I took one final practice test from the online tests available when you purchase this book.
7. I worked through the Cliff's Notes book; due to my ineptitude at math I worked through the entire book but if you are good at math, that would of course be unnecessary.
8. I worked through these much more quickly than I expected, so I also purchased, after about three weeks of study, Barron's New GRE Flash Cards, 2nd Edition and Gruber's Complete GRE Guide 2012. They were both useful although I did spend more time with the Kaplan book and the Cliff's Notes book.
9. I took a practice exam every couple of weeks. This was more to get used to sitting a 4-hour exam than anything else, and that was helpful as an exercise in endurance.