Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Get together with friends or classmates and discuss the reading. Think of open-ended questions to explore the reading. Mark important pages with post-it notes. Put yourself in the characters' shoes.

Answer: It's not cheating to discuss what you've read about before or after class. In fact, most teachers would probably be thrilled. Get your classmates reactions and compare them to your own. Again, try not to talk about whether or not it was "boring," but see if anyone has a good explanation of something you might've found difficult or confusing. Offer your own reading expertise to help your friends. Try talking to yourself out loud if you don’t have anyone to talk with. Just the act of speaking can help you learn. Write down some questions in your notebook that might make interesting discussion questions to bring up in class. Some teachers will make this an assignment, but it will help you to engage with your reading anyway. Don't ask questions that can be answered with a "yes" or a "no." Learning to ask "how" is a helpful way of coming up with big discussion questions. These encourage deeper thinking. If you have a question later, it can help if you've got the page you want to talk about or ask a question about marked already, rather than having to spend ten minutes trying to remember where Polonius' big line was. What would you have done if you were Juliet? Would you have liked Holden Caulfield if he was in your class? What would it have been like to be married to Odysseus? Talk about it with others who have read the same book. How do different people answer the same question? Learning to put yourself into the reading and interact with the text is a good way of experiencing it and understanding it. Think yourself into the book.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Choose a market. Visit recording studios in the area. Talk to venue managers. Talk to performers.

Answer: Knowing your market well is paramount to success.  Knowing your market means knowing its venues and its local talent. Immerse yourself in the "scene." A simple call to a studio can often get you a chance to attend a recording session. This will help you learn the recording process and the differences between different recording studios.  Find out their prices, their specific equipment, and which performers record there.  After visiting a few locations, you’ll know which is the preferred recording studio in the area with the most up-to-date technology.  If a professional producer is at the session, watch how they interact with the talent and the engineer. Being a producer usually involves mediating between the talent and the technicians. Good producers get results by making everyone comfortable so that they can do their best. Be sure to sell your ability to bring in quality talent that makes the venue profitable.  Let the venue manager know why you’d like to book their location.  There is a great variety of information you can glean from a venue manager.  Determine the cost to book.  You won't negotiate prices for your talent, but gathering information here is important.  Not only can you get the range of cost from the single location, but once you’ve been to a few venues, you’ll have a better understanding of which are overpriced and which are values. Ask about their saturation.  Find out whether or not they are consistently booked and you can not only find out whether you’re able to fit in, but also if they are a popular location. See what nights are their busiest nights.  Figuring when they are the busiest will give you a good idea of when you’d like to book your performer(s). Query if there are any showcase events coming up.  Maybe a festival or something similar?  See if you can get into an event like this and put your act as an opener for a big name. Ask about any specific policies for booking agents.  If they have any minute detail that needs to be followed, forms to be filled out, days to meet with ownership or management, you’ll need to know all the details. This may seem like an obvious step, but you can gain very helpful information by talking to multiple performers at multiple gigs.  Hand out business cards and ask a variety of questions.  Ask them about their pay for a gig.  After a few answers, you should have a decent gauge on the going rates in the area. Ask where they refuse to work.  Learn which venues are considered too dirty or unprofessional to work in. Find out which places have the best acoustics.  Ask the musicians which locations they like the best.  Ask which place really belts out the sound.  This will help you steer towards the right venues and venue managers.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Identify the person being investigated. See what's been written about the person. Gather information through public records. Look up the individual's employment history. Verify any licenses. Reach out to people associated with the individual.

Answer: If you work in journalism, you might be asked to compile a dossier on a person of interest in an ongoing investigation. The first step to the process is identifying the individual.  Make sure you have the correct spelling of the person's first, middle, and last time. Small spelling errors can make a big difference when seeking out information.  Try to find a date of birth, or at least a range of time in which the person was likely born. This makes finding certain documents easier down the road. If you're writing an article about an individual, you do not want to rehash information that's already out there. Search online and through newspapers, magazines, and tabloids for existing stories about the individual. Not only does this prevent you from publishing a redundant piece, it adds to the array of information you have on the individual. Use public records to your advantage to build your profile. Using a variety of outlets, scan public records for important information.  Local records are a good start, even if the individual isn't originally from your location. Go to city hall, the county clerk's office, and any local branch of state and federal offices. Look through permits, power of attorney, liens, building permits, deeds, licenses, driving records, and anything else that turns up.  Look through court records. Any history of court appearances can be found online, but you might have to go to the court house to actually view the records.  Check with local police and sheriff's offices for any past criminal activity. Also check local, state, and county jail records. Some information may be hard to find, depending on your state's open record laws. You should look into the individual's employment history to check for any surprises or inconsistencies.  Make direct phone calls to past and current employers. Ask for employment verification and if they ask why you're calling, simply tell them the truth. Usually, whoever you're speaking to will comply.  You can see if you can get a copy of the individual's resume through past and current employers. Oftentimes, the person you're investigating will be in a professional field that requires a license. He might be a dentist or a psychiatrist, for example. Try to verify that license to check for fraud. Also, investigate every claim on his resume, such as where he went to school, grants and awards he claims to have received, and any certificates he lists. Compile a list of friends, enemies, neighbors, spouses, family members, former lovers, and other people who've had contact with the individual. Contact them and ask questions relevant to your investigation.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Turn a rubber band into a covert cheat sheet. Print your notes on a water bottle label. Write down the answers to the test in invisible ink. Graffiti a bathroom stall with test answers.

Answer:
Loop a thick rubber band around a book and write on it while it’s stretched out. Your writing will just look like a random design once it returns to its original size. Wait until no one is looking, then give the rubber band a tug and watch your notes magically appear. Make sure you write your letters nice and small. That way, no one will be able to tell what they are until you stretch out the rubber band. Remove the label from a bottle of water and scan it onto your computer. Open the file in an image editor and replace all the visible text with crib notes. Once you’re done, print out the fake label and attach it to the bottle using a dab of glue.  If you don’t have a scanner or printer at your disposal, you can write on the inside of the label, then reattach it using a dab of glue.  To make the most of the space you have, try to cover as much of the label as possible, including the areas where the product slogan, serving info, and ingredients list would usually go. Either scrawl the answers directly onto your desktop (if you have an assigned seat) or put them on a “blank” sheet of paper and keep it out during the test. They’ll glow brightly when illuminated with UV keychain light, but will remain unseen to anyone passing by the rest of the time.  You can buy invisible ink online or at most craft stores for around $10 a bottle. Another option is to shop around for a set of invisible ink pens. These often come with handy UV mini-flashlights built in. Sometime before your test, make a list of any items you don’t understand and tag them on the wall of one of the stalls in the bathroom. If things go south during the exam, tell your teacher you urgently need to use the restroom and slip away to consult your secret treasure trove of knowledge.  Leave your answers in out-of-the-way places where someone will be unlikely to spot and erase them. It’s also a good idea to use pencil or washable marker to avoid getting in even more trouble if you happen to get busted.