Dissecting the Test: How do you write an essay on a topic that is NOT of interest?

Now that the class has completed the baseline assessment and handed it in, we took a look at the test itself.  You may not have like the passages, but even if you are not interested in the topic, how can you make sure you write a good essay?

The directions for this ELA Practice Regents include a statement about the essay topic.  In this case, the topic was "possessions."  What did each passage have to say about the significance of possessions in a person's life? 

Some Reading Strategies:
Always look at the title of each passage.  Titles can give you ideas for your essay, and provide hints about the overall topic of the passage.  We looked at the passages in detail to determine how they relate to the topic of "possessions."  We began to figure out how to write a good essay, despite finding the readings dry or uninteresting. 

It would be great if, in college or work, you would never have to read anything boring, but I can assure you that you will encounter texts that are less than fascinating.  Make the topic work for you.  Discover the underlying meaning of the text, and then write your interpretation into your essay.  

When reading any literary work, remember to use the strategies we have discussed to decipher words that you don't know.  Those strategies include breaking the word down into parts,  using contextual clues, and seeing if you know a similar word in another language (for instance, Spanish, which has Latin roots.  Many more complex English words have Latin roots).