Every month Open Minds honours a writer whose creative work has been valuable to the world in some essential way.  This month spotlights Harper Lee.  July 11, 2010 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic read by millions. Born April 28, 1926, Harper Lee grew up in the small southern town of Monroeville, Alabama.  Her best friend as a child was Truman Capote.  After attending Huntingdon College, a women’s college in Montgomery, she pursued a law degree before moving to New York City, where she worked as an airlines reservations clerk. In New York Lee began to write.  She lived frugally, traveling between New York and her hometown to care for her father.  In 1956 friends gave her a Christmas gift of wages for a year to write; the result was To Kill a Mockingbird, the only book she ever wrote.  It was an instant bestseller.  The Hollywood film version two years later was similarly popular.  Lee, however, has spoken little about herself or the book since 1964.  When Monroeville decided to celebrate the anniversary this past summer, she declared she would not attend. Lee’s silence keeps us focused on the book — which more than speaks for itself.  It’s a testament to the book’s quality that Lee garnered acclaim normally reserved for authors with a much larger body of work. Much of the plot is conveyed through Scout, a young girl.  Scout’s father Atticus Finch, a white lawyer and widower, agrees to defend their reclusive neighbour Boo Radley, a black man accused of raping a young white woman in their small southern town.  The novel exposes and criticizes how much racism and a lack of compassion structure society — strong content for a book today, let alone in the segregated southern United States of 1960. If you haven’t read it yet and it shows up in your English class, skip the numerous cheat sheets on it.  You won’t need them, not with such a powerful author.  Don’t miss the chance to discover its subtle gifts of language, character, and storytelling. When in my first English class in high school I saw that To Kill a Mockingbird had been assigned, I groaned.  An “old” book about racism in the American south?  A novel about a law trial?  Bor-ing. At age 14 I hated reading — novels, plays, newspapers, letters, whatever.  Facebook and Twitter hadn’t shown up yet, but if they had, then I probably would’ve gotten impatient reading status updates.  I loved movies and television and music — all of which told stories, too, but I didn’t think much about that. Begrudgingly I picked up the book the day before it was due.  I read the first page.  Then the first chapter.  Then five more.  Even though we were only supposed to read the first three chapters, I stayed up half the night and finished it.  I had to find out what happened.  Despite so little sleep, I was wide awake in class the next day because I wanted to talk about it. That was the first time I fell in love with a book — and with reading.  It set a high standard.  It also taught me the value of striving past prejudices in all their forms.  Too often people only enjoy stories about people who look or think like them.  To Kill a Mockingbird may not always move past the racism it indicts — black readers historically have responded with some ambivalence.  Still, to have emerged with its message in 1960, the book does suggest that we can and should learn from our differences, that we must look beyond ourselves as much as within. “You never know someone,” Atticus tells Scout, “until you step inside their skin and walk around a little.” Maybe that’s why the book has garnered such a strong worldwide following— and been banned at times from classrooms and libraries.  Its call for compassion and tolerance inspires many, but threatens some still to this day. This summer’s fiftieth-anniversary celebrations and panel discussions all over North America marked the classic’s ongoing relevance.  You can join an ongoing conversation about the book.  Go to its publisher’s website.  See what people are saying.  Offer your own thoughts.  Click on the image below for details: In conclusion, watch this clip from a documentary made on the book’s fiftieth anniversary.  As James Patterson shows, the “page-turner” continues to resonate with many different writers.  If you haven’t read it, pick it up.  If you have, re-read it.  See what insights you glean from a second glance.  Either way, you will be moved and perhaps surprised by what unfolds.

Some of you have avoided thinking about them all summer.  They have strange acronyms like “SAT” or “GRE” and are administered by a mysterious organization called ETS.  Now it’s September.  That means it’s time to get serious about applying to universities and graduate programs.  It’s not too late to plan for these tests.  Whether you’re about to take the SAT or GRE, Open Minds can help.

Start by determining the universities to which you’ll be applying.  Look at the dates when applications are due.  Do they say you must take the test?  Some universities don’t require you to take the SAT or GRE, but many do — especially competitive programs in the United States.

If you need to take the test, then do so well before the university deadline.  Universities must receive your test scores from the company administering the test.  Your word, no matter how honest, won’t count.  Some universities base decisions on financial aid packages partly on these test scores.

Next, head to the test company website (see list in the sidebar).  These sites explain — or try to explain — what the tests are about, on what dates they’ll be held and where, how much they will cost, and other logistics.  They will also give you an idea of when scores will be sent after the test and the date by which you’ll need to take the test.

When deciding the date for your test, backtrack at least one full month to allow yourself ample time to study.  Allow more time if you can.

Starting to study for these tests can be daunting at first.  You may see phrases to describe a section like “Analytical Comprehension.”  You know you are pretty good at comprehending and analyzing, but what does that phrase mean exactly?  How do you study for it?  Maybe you try a practice test and get a low or mid-range score.  Then you panic.

Don’t worry, don’t be overwhelmed, and above all don’t procrastinate!  You cannot cram for these tests.  Even experienced test-takers stumble without prep.  They are expensive to take or worse, retake.  Retaking them for higher scores only prolongs stress.  You want to prepare well for taking the test the first time so that you only need to enter that stuffy little examination room once.

In one month you will improve your scores by:

• varying your study time to examine all parts
• looking at each part of the test for short periods of time every day

How do you start studying?  First, break down each part of the test. What are each section’s main components?  What areas do you see as harder or easier?  Be careful — study for every section.  Sometimes areas you think you know have tricks and surprises.

Next, make a schedule for yourself.  Stick to it as if it were a required class.  Squeeze in extra studying whenever you have some time, like when traveling between places.  For example, carry a deck of index or flash cards so you can practice key vocabulary terms on the bus or in the car after soccer.

Piece by piece, section by section, word by word — if you study every day for at least a full month, then by the time you’re taking your test, you will know what to do.  You will be less overwhelmed and more knowledgeable even when under stress.

Open Minds can help you with those parts that might appear “fuzzy” at first — the reading, essay writing, or analysis sections that on first glance don’t seem to have obvious “right” answers.  Working with a tutor can answer some common questions:

• how do you interpret a passage of literature when you haven’t read the book?
• how do you write a strong essay under time pressure?
• how do you remember, let alone recognize, all those literary terms?
• how can you learn to think like the people who write these tests so that you get a good score?
• how do you not panic when you don’t know an answer on first glance?  Hint: breathe.

Knowing deadlines, checking websites, lugging test-prep books and taking practice tests are all good, but getting one-on-one help from Open Minds on your specific questions, especially those your books can’t answer, will give you even more of an advantage — especially if you’ve delayed preparing until the last minute.

Take heart and remember — if you do it right the first time, you’ll never need to do it again!