{"id":1279360,"date":"2022-12-01T09:47:36","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T14:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.sparknotes.com\/?p=1279360"},"modified":"2022-12-01T09:47:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T14:47:37","slug":"how-to-make-studying-fun-okay-maybe-not-fun-but-tolerable-at-least","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/how-to-make-studying-fun-okay-maybe-not-fun-but-tolerable-at-least\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Studying Fun! (Okay, Maybe Not Fun, But Tolerable, At Least)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"701\" height=\"394\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/bannedbooks2021_MAIN.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1448216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/bannedbooks2021_MAIN.jpg 701w, https:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/bannedbooks2021_MAIN-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 701px) 100vw, 701px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Why is studying so tediously torturous? Why hasn&#8217;t anybody invented some sort of technology that will insert the knowledge directly into our brains for easy access? I have confidence that this will happen one day, but until then, here are some tips to help make the minutes seem less like agonizing hours of hellish torment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When your teacher tells you to read pages 34 through 9,450\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/strong> \u00a0read them aloud in your favorite accent. There&#8217;s just something about British accents that makes reading the textbook feel like an adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Make funny songs!<\/strong>&nbsp;When I had to memorize the periodic table of the elements, I made them into a song that went to the tune of \u201cBennie and the Jets.\u201d (I can&#8217;t remember it, but it definitely went something like, \u201cB-b-b-bromine and tellurium.\u201d) That song was one of the most revolutionary undertakings of my sophomore year, and I would have done great things with it if I hadn&#8217;t misplaced the Burger King napkin I wrote it on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Try to explain the material to somebody else.<\/strong>&nbsp;Trying to teach the material&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/ideas.time.com\/2011\/11\/30\/the-protege-effect\/\">will trigger those memory mechanisms in your brain<\/a>, so round up your best friend, your little sister, your mailman, and your friendly neighborhood taxidermist. Take hostages if you have to, then force them to memorize mathematical formulas. You&#8217;ll be ready for your math test, and they&#8217;ll unwillingly have learned that sine equals opposite over hypotenuse. Everybody wins!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Make acronyms.<\/strong>&nbsp;For instance, HOMES is a great way to remember the Great Lakes. It&#8217;s also a great way to remember \u201chairy old men eat sausages.\u201d You&#8217;re welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Make associations<\/strong>. Example: in my psychology class, I had to know that the cerebellum portion of the brain has to do with balance. I associated the word \u201ccerebellum\u201d with a certain character from a certain vampire novel who couldn&#8217;t so much as take a stroll through the woods without falling over. And three years later, I still remember it. (I also somehow made an association using \u201cthe hypothalamus\u201d and \u201chippos,\u201d but that one didn&#8217;t stick.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eat Swiss Cake Rolls. They&#8217;ll help.<\/strong>&nbsp;There&#8217;s no scientific basis to support this, but they&#8217;re so mouthwateringly delicious they have to be good for&nbsp;<em>something.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is studying so tediously torturous? Why hasn&#8217;t anybody invented some sort of technology that will insert the knowledge directly into our brains for easy access? I have confidence that this will happen one day,   <a class=\"continue-reading\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"continue-text\">continue reading<\/span><svg class=\"continue-icon\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" alt=\"\">\n    <path fill=\"#007acd\" fill-rule=\"nonzero\" d=\"M13.442 5.558L19.885 12l-6.443 6.442-.884-.884 4.934-4.934L4 12.625v-1.25l13.492-.001-4.934-4.932.884-.884z\"><\/path>\n  <\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,5],"tags":[533,647],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279360"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1279360"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1449624,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279360\/revisions\/1449624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1279360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1279360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1279360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}