Illustration of tremulous series#

With this intention I made the camera the constant companion of my wanderings, and to it I am indebted for the faithful reproduction of the scenes I visited, and of the types of race with which I came into contact.

Illustration of tremulous series#

Marantz said with a laugh.MY design in the accompanying work is to present a series of pictures of China and its people, such as shall convey an accurate impression of the country I traversed as well as of the arts, usages, and manners which prevail in different provinces of the Empire. One of his early drafts included the word antepenultimate (third from the end, in case you didn’t know), which he had eagerly inserted-only to see Kaplan officials strike it. Marantz admits that he occasionally succumbed to literary overexuberance. “I think I have another SAT or GRE novel in me,” he said.įor his first effort, Mr. Marantz’s foray into test-prep fiction gave him ideas for future works, such as a possible “prequel” to The Ring. “Tenebrous” and “tempestuous,” likewise, aren’t among the novel’s boldface words.) (The well-worn “dark and stormy” construction, for instance, does not appear. In the end, 1,046 of them wound up in the book.įinding the right narrative style, he said, was tougher than squeezing the words in. The writer pored over the master list from time to time, hoping to absorb it so the words would flow in naturally. Kaplan officials gave him a list of 2,000 words that were likely to appear on the SAT, and he was asked to squeeze between 1,000 and 1,200 of them into the story. Marantz had plenty to think about besides plot. From there, the protagonist is lured further into a mystery encompassing the town’s most prominent benefactor, the late Algernon McAllister. The Ring of McAllister, his first novel, centers on 17-year-old Will Lassiter, whose life in the town of Red Fork becomes far more intriguing when his neighbor, Dr. Anderson, the vice president for publishing at Kaplan, who is managing the fiction venture for his company. “Different people learn in different ways, but the first step is getting people interested by entertaining them,” said Trent R. And it keeps the process fun, unlike memorization drills and other drudgery.

The approach allows students to learn the meaning of words in the context of a sentence or longer written passage-a skill that makes for easier memorization-and helps test-takers figure out terms they may not be sure of on the SAT.

Using fiction to build vocabulary has several advantages, test- preparation experts argue. released Simon’s Saga, a novel described on the back cover as a tale of “adventure, knowledge, romance, ideas, fun, laughter, and 820 essential words on the SAT I.” Spoonful of Sugar Last year, Barron’s Educational Series Inc. Marantz’s story is just the latest in a line of test-preparation materials that have used the fiction format.Īn early literary test-prep entry was Tooth and Nail, a mystery published in 1994 by Harcourt Inc. Test preparation comes in numerous forms, from basic test- prep guides with sample questions to workshops and camps. “I thought of it as a light entertainment,” said Mr. The SAT I vocabulary words appear in boldface throughout the text, with a glossary in the back.