Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the New SAT

Rating:
Summary: A good idea, but it has its hits and misses....
Review: I was required to read Tooth and Nail for my etymology class. The whole purpose of this class is to learn vocabulary for the SAT. While my verbal score did increase, it wasn't because of reading the book. The idea is a good one: using words in context is one of the best ways to learn words, in my opinion. But, as many reviews have already stated, it was extremely tedious having to flip through the back of the book just to see what the word means. I noticed that the longer I read, the less I flipped through the back.

The authors call Tooth & Nail a mystery novel, yet the "mystery" part only compromises the last 40% or so of the book. The preceding stuff is just garbage -- extremely slow exposition. There is even a chapter (the "radio chat" for those of you that have read this book) that serves ABSOLUTELY no purpose, other than to cram in words. That's fine and dandy, except one thing: the less interesting a book gets, the less likely you'll finish it. You can tell that the authors haven't visited a college campus for a while (yet, I think they put forth valiant effort trying to make it seem real.)

Indeed, I augmented my lexicon from taking etymology, but most of it was from a wordlist book. Contrary to what many people say, word-books are a good way to learn lists of words, so long as they provide exercises---this is what I recommend instead of (or at LEAST in addition to) this book.

Rating:
Summary: A good idea, but it has its hits and misses....
Review: I was required to read Tooth and Nail for my etymology class. The whole purpose of this class is to learn vocabulary for the SAT. While my verbal score did increase, it wasn't because of reading the book. The idea is a good one: using words in context is one of the best ways to learn words, in my opinion. But, as many reviews have already stated, it was extremely tedious having to flip through the back of the book just to see what the word means. I noticed that the longer I read, the less I flipped through the back.

The authors call Tooth & Nail a mystery novel, yet the "mystery" part only compromises the last 40% or so of the book. The preceding stuff is just garbage -- extremely slow exposition. There is even a chapter (the "radio chat" for those of you that have read this book) that serves ABSOLUTELY no purpose, other than to cram in words. That's fine and dandy, except one thing: the less interesting a book gets, the less likely you'll finish it. You can tell that the authors haven't visited a college campus for a while (yet, I think they put forth valiant effort trying to make it seem real.)

Indeed, I augmented my lexicon from taking etymology, but most of it was from a wordlist book. Contrary to what many people say, word-books are a good way to learn lists of words, so long as they provide exercises---this is what I recommend instead of (or at LEAST in addition to) this book.

Rating:
Summary: Wasn't too appealing
Review: I'm a freshman at my high school. for my Honors Humanities class, i had to read Tooth & Nail. For a freshman, i think reading tooth & nail was completely useless. It got really annoying seeing BOLD words everywhere you read. Also, there were parts that didnt need to be written. They were just written so they can add in SAT words. I didn't even like the story.

Rating:
Summary: Learning words in context is the best approach
Review: Learning words in context is a great idea. It's the only method that works. This book was released in 1994 and for several years was the only one of its kind. But there are three new additions in this format--from Barrons, Kaplan, and A. J. Cornell Publications. Some people have complained that with this book it's problematic to have all the words at the back, in a glossary--because you have to keep stopping to find them back there. I agree with that. At least one of the above-mentioned books--The Wizard of Oz Vocabulary Builder--places the definitions on the same page as the words, and it seems to work well. Perhaps the next edition of this book can be reformatted that way.

Rating:
Summary: Smart way to remeber VOC!
Review: The book is great, take a look at it then you'll know what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time / money
Review: The people who could learn the most from reading this book are not college bound students, but their parents. Anyone who is slaving away to pay college costs could benefit, even though it will be painful. It is important to know what the poor kids are going to encounter.

Good books with challenging vocabularies don't strain to use them, as this one necessarily does. It's forced and awkward. It's also frequently nasty. There is a class of people that are automatically treated with boorish disdain - even by the narrator!

Reading this book is not an efficient use of time. The best part of the book is found after the story, where there are practice questions and vocabulary definitions.

If you simply cannot sit down and study words - if you can't even make yourself some note cards, well, there are dedicated vocabulary builders, both written and on audiocassette, that will make better use of your time and test-prep dollars.

When you sit down to read, find some books worth reading. I don't put this work in that category, except maybe for those non-students wondering about the deterioration of the liberal arts campus in recent years.

Rating:
Summary: Tooth and Nail High school Student Review
Review: The SAT preparation book, Tooth and Nail by Charles Harrington Elster and Joseph Elliot, gives you a wide variety of new vocabulary in everyday life and on the nation wide SAT test. My personal thoughts on the novel were that it was a fantastic way to teach students and adults new words and there meanings, but the plot of the book wasn't the best I have ever read.

Charles Harrington Elster and Joseph Elliot main point of writing Tooth and Nail was to educate students and adults of new vocabulary words. The novel uses vocabulary words that show up on the SAT. When I read Tooth and Nail for my honors English class, I myself, learned a new assortment or words and new meanings to other words I prior knew before reading the novel. Though, the words in the book were repeated a number of times I guess for reinforcement of the words meanings and different ways to insert into sentences. One thing I did notice that I thought was a brilliant idea was that the vocabulary words were in bold face and could be found in the back of the books glossary. The glossary gave the words part of speech, definition, and the page numbers the word id found on. On some words it also gave some synonyms to the word.

This book proves to have a lot of benefits, but an educated high school student should know eighty-five percent of the words presented in Tooth and Nail anyways. One of the major benefits I got from the novel was words that have similar meanings. Most of the words had synonyms that were also in the book. You have to like synonyms to enjoy this book because let me tell you there is a lot of them. The book could be very beneficial to a student that will be taking the SAT test. Even if the student knew all the words they should still read it as a reinforcement activity to bring back all the prior knowledge that might have been forgotten.

The basic plot of the novel is two new freshman students go to college leaving their families behind. Catlin, one of the freshman students, wants to make name for herself and decides to join the Holyfield Newspaper. She enjoys her first few assignments and makes some new friends, but she's finding herself interviewing victims and almost becoming a detective of some sort in the mystery, searching for a very, very, important item that will change history forever. The two freshmen meet new friends and professors that come into play throughout the books mystery. The two students meet and come upon strange things that are going around the college campus. They have a breathtaking quest to figure out a mystery that has something to do with the great play writer Shakespeare and one of his plays. Throughout the book new clues and suspects suddenly appear without any notice. The book provides mysterious clues and suspenseful plots. You have to read it to believe this book is suspenseful and mysterious.

I would give this book three and a half stars out of a total of a five star rating. I think personally if they would of came up with a little more interesting storyline this book would of got five stars. One thing I did enjoy about the book it used good description words for its characters and places. I think it went extremely in depth in describing certain subjects in the books, making the book a lot more enjoyable and understandable. The narrative voice in the book was Catlin and Phil switching back and forth throughout the story. I think the authors should come out with another book with more challenging, wider variety of vocabulary words, and a more interesting plot I would be the first one in the store to buy copies. If I would give advice to a friend about buying this book I would say yes, only because it a vocabulary builder.

Rating:
Summary: TRULY A NOVEL APPROACH THAT WORKS!
Review: This book is definitely among the easiest ways for students to augment their vocabulary. During sophomore year, it is an especially daunting task to memorize so many words from those tediously long word lists offered by SAT preparatory books. This book allows you to enjoy an exciting story, while increasing your vocabulary and ultimately, raising your SAT score.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Review
Review: This book is the bomb. Studying for the SAT hasn't been easier

Rating:
Summary: Best SAT Prep yet!
Review: This book was a huge help in preparing for the SAT! I liked the story a lot, so as I read it several times many of the words unconsciously became fixed in my vocabulary! I use many of them daily to describe the amorphous heap of stuff on my desk, how dilapidated the school bathrooms are, or how tedious social studies assignments are. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in augmenting their vocabulary for any purpose, especially the SAT.