A Panegyric on Vocabulary Lists

[osprey_archer]

I've signed up for the GRE, finally, and started studying for it only to be informed that the test has just been revised and they've gotten rid of the antonyms section. The antonyms! I was going to pick up SO MANY POINTS off the antonyms!

But then, the antonyms test measures mainly whether you were the type of child who spent so much time inside reading as to risk vitamin D deficiency, so it's probably just as well to be shut of it.

The GRE practice books take entirely the wrong approach to vocabulary acquisition, by the way. They treat it like a drear and dreaded task. But - but it's a chance to meet new friends! Maladroit, hinterland, minatory….I can reminisce with romantic exactness about where I met them all.

What I'm really worried about is the math section. But I've got a month to study.

Comments

[coraa.livejournal.com]

One of the great pleasures of long, unusual words is remembering where you learned them! I learned the word "taciturn" when I was about eleven, from reading the Elfquest graphic novels, and I can still remember the exact panel, and how I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom reading when I came across it, and how I stopped to look the word up. So now there's that little memory whenever I stumble across the word, and it makes me feel fond, like remembering the first time you met someone who would go on to become a great friend.

Good luck with your preparation!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. EXACTLY LIKE THAT.

And I love your Matilda icon.

[balloonhat.livejournal.com]

I felt similarly when the standardized tests in my high school district (if not state-wide) got rid of that SAME SECTION from the exam. Others cheered, but I was like, BUT IT WAS SO EASY I LOVE WORDS LUUUUUUV. So I'm not surprised that the GRE took a similar stance. I don't get the antonym/synonym hate on tests.

Good luck studying for the math section!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think people hate the antonym/synonym sections because they're basically impossible to fake. If you don't know the word, you are totally, totally sunk.

On the other hand, if you do know the words the whole section takes like three seconds. So I'm sad to see it go.

[anait.livejournal.com]

This post made me smile. You and your love for words! :D

Good luck with the studying. Are you taking the GRE with a specific goal in mind?

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Going to grad school in history. I spent most of yesterday investigating history departments. The Gilded Age is not getting much love in academia right now.

[anait.livejournal.com]

That sounds awesome! I had to wiki 'The Gilded Age' (my excuse is I'm Canadian!), and it sounds like a great time with tons of things going on. :)