My online storage system has recently allowed for the sharing of files publicly, so I’m testing it out with an electronic copy of the CD that was handed out at the KWCHEA conference earlier this year. You can now download one big zip file at the following link:
Download of KWCHEA CD package

The file will have to be unzipped or decompressed using any standard program. Then you should see 6 folders which all contain a bunch of pdf files:

- Articles Written by Sarah
- Ontario Ministry of Education High School Resources
- Ontario University Admission Policies 2010 (all were updated as of spring 2010 for admission in fall 2010)
- Open Universities (information about Canada’s open universities available to Ontario Students)
- OUAC e-info information on all universities and programs (Ontario institutions)
- Standardized Tests for University Admission (including SAT, AP, CLEP and ACT)

Let me reiterate: this is not leisure reading. It’s boring. It’s not particularly pretty. But, if you are applying to university in Ontario as a homeschooler without a traditional high school diploma, I can’t think of any information you need (before you get to the point of speaking with individual universities) that’s not included here.

I also want to be perfectly clear: everything except the articles written by me is freely available online. I’m not claiming to have authored this material; I only compiled it because frankly, some of it is pretty darn difficult to find on your own. You’d be amazed at some of the navigation paths, file names and various educational jargon that industry professionals think makes sense. There’s some information here that even I had to pull my hair out to find online, so my goal was simply to put it all in one place for those who have neither the time nor the inclination to track down the information for themselves.

As this information is available freely online, there is no copyright infringement by providing it to you. Some of what’s included are simply screen shots from websites, and in that case, it’s enough to provide you the basics of what you need to know, but also provides you with the website address and how to get there yourself to get more information if you need more than the basics. And, since this information is freely available online, I have not sold nor are you allowed to sell the contents of this file. I was not financially compensated from KWCHEA in any way for this project. (They offered to reimburse me for my time, but I insisted that any money they had should go towards creating as many CDs as possible for free distribution.)

By downloading this file, you acknowledge that this file may not be sold and agree not to sell this file. It simply hasn’t been created in such a way to make that legal, as it was never my intent to receive compensation for this work. But, I hope you’ll share it freely.

I believe the contents are extremely accurate, but of course, mistakes happen. Please do let me know either by email or in a comment below if you find an error. Also feel free to let me know how you’re using the information, or if there’s anything I haven’t included that you think would be helpful, and I can consider that for version 2.0.

Depending on your browser, the link above may initiate a download automatically, so be prepared for that. The file is safe to download, but if you experience any problems please do let me know and I’ll take immediate action.

One of the people on this list is George Orwell, the British journalist, essayist and novelist. Unlike many students, my first encounter with Orwell wasn’t through 1984 or Animal Farm. Before I’d read any of Orwell’s novels, I read his classic essay Politics and the English Language as an English major in university. That’s when I fell for George. And, I’m not the only one.

This essay has such an academic following that this week in New York a public conference (which will also be webcast live for those of us outside the thriving metropolis) will be held:

There You Go Again: Orwell Comes to America invites historians, linguists, cognitive experts, journalists, government officials, and political consultants to assess the current state of public discourse — and journalism’s response to it — one year before a hotly contested presidential election. The panels explore the past, present, and future of deceptive political speech, and assess what can be done to bring more realism and honesty into the conduct of America’s public affairs.What Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics, an anthology featuring twenty prominent writers and thinkers, will be released at the time of conference.

For those unfamiliar with the essay, one author featured in the upcoming book put it quite simply:

Politics and the English Language begins as a lesson, and quite a good one, in how to write well (delivered in the form of an attack on people who write badly) and ends with the hope that better writing can engender a better society.

And exactly how is an impressionable young language student not expected to fall in love after reading this?

The title isn’t sensational, and it may scare away those fearing that the essay is highly (and dryly) political in nature. No doubt it is political in nature; the examples given to support his claims tend to come from historical political propaganda. But, Orwell would have argued (as we can still argue today) that all language is political. Today we have school politics, office politics, neighbourhood politics, family politics, political correctness . . . the vast majority of our language is used in some political context, and politics isn’t solely the concern of those in political office. I have yet to hear a student assigned this text complain that its content is inaccessible or irrelevant because it’s “all about politics.”

You can see a preview of four essays from the new book on the L.A. Times website. Each commentary focuses on a different aspect of this multi-dimensional essay: rewriting history; the misuse of words (especially the word “democracy”); the political use of language to “defend the indefensible” and the fear that sloppy writing will lead to sloppy thinking, just to name a few.This is not only a how-to lesson in writing. It’s a how-to lesson in thinking and it’s a reasonable yet challenging text for high school seniors. More than that, though, it’s a rare piece of writing that says, “Here’s how to use language properly, and here’s why it’s so important that you learn this.” Every student I’ve worked through this essay with has been fascinated at both the content and the relevance to their own lives. In a society bombarded by media and deceptive language, every student who reads this piece sees it for what it is: a personal tool of defense against the “lazy thinking” that politicians, advertisers and authority figures would prefer we demonstrate so that their message (and therefore their power) goes unchallenged.

Everyone studying for the SAT or ACT should include Politics and the English Language in their study material. The full text is freely available online, and is also included in the appendix of the anthology What Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics.

If you like the preview on the L.A. Times, then consider purchasing the whole anthology which deconstructs the text in a variety of essays relating to language, politics, war and media. You can purchase from Amazon.ca using the link below. It’s the same price as ordering directly, but about fifty cents of your purchase price will go to me instead of Amazon. If enough of you do it, I’ll be able to enjoy a nice coffee while I read my own copy in my bean bag chair!

You may also be interested in supporting my reading/coffee/bean bag chair habit educating your family with:

Fiction and Study Guides:

Essays:

. . . or visit our new Questions and Answers page to help you find the information you seek using the power of the internet!