LANGUAGE FOR LITERATURE: COURSE MATERIAL-1 (301) by Dr. Masud Mahmood

LANGUAGE FOR LITERATURE

301 COURSE PLAN

Part I
Word Attack: Context
1 / Word Attack
2 / Context and Context Clues
3 / Two Kinds of Context Clues
4 / More Context Clues
5 / Clues in Longer Contexts
6 / Using Your Common Sense
7 / Using Context in Reading

Word Attack: Structure / Sound
1 / Recognizing Word Structure
2 / Compound Words
3 / Recognizing Root Words
4 / Using Prefixes
5 / Negative Prefixes
6 / Other Common Prefixes
7 / Using Suffixes
8 / Review of Syllables
9 / Review of Accent
10 / Pronunciation Helps
11 / Using Structure for Pronunciation
12 / Syllabicating Unfamiliar Words
13 / Spelling Clues for Pronunciation
14 / Using Structure and Sound

Word Attack: Dictionary
1 / Why Use Dictionary?.
2/Using Guide Words
3/ Understanding an Entry
4 / Using the Pronunciation Key
5/ Choosing the Right Meaning
6/ Fitting Definitions to Context
7 / Finding Derivatives
8/ Finding Words You Can't Spell
9/ Using the Dictionary

Inferences
1 / Making Inferences
2 / Identifying Clues
3/ Inferences About Time and Place
4/ Inferences About Characters
5/ Inferences About Past and Present
6/ Inferences About Fantasy
7/ Using Inferences in Reading

Central Focus
1/ Finding the Central Focus
2/ Direct Statements of Central Focus
3/ Implied Central Focus
4/ Central Focus of an Article
5/ Central Focus of a Narrative
6 / Distinguishing Details
7/ Reading for Central Focus

Relationships
1 / Seeing Connections
2 / Thinking Patterns
3/ Time Order Relationships
4 / Cause-Effect Relationships
5 / Comparison-Contrast Relationships
6/ Simple Listing Relationships
7 / Using Relationships

Sentence Meaning
1 / Reading Punctuation
2 / Punctuation: Commas, Semicolons, Colons
3/ Punctuation: Dashes and Parentheses
4/ Punctuation: Quotation Marks
5 / Pronoun Reference
6/ Reading for Sentence Meaning

Judgments
1/ What Are Judgments?
2/ Fact and Opinion
3/ Mixed Fact and Opinion Statements
4 / Valid Opinions
5 / Loaded Words
6/ Appeals to the Crowd
7/ Appeals in Advertising
8 / Making Judgments
Figurative Language
1/ What Is Figurative Language?
2/ Making Sense of Figurative Language
3/ Comparisons in Figurative Language
4/ Figurative Language in Longer Selections
5/ Using Figurative Language



Imagery
1/ What Are Images?
2/ Sorting Out Images
3/ Visualizing What Happens
4/ Patterns of Imagery
5/ Setting the Scene
6 / Reading Imagery

Flexibility
1/ Reasons for Reading
2/ Adjusting to Purpose
3/ Adjusting to Vocabulary and Sentence Structure
4/ Adjusting to Content
5/ Making a Survey
6 / Intensive Reading
7 / Practicing Flexibility

Part II
Recognizing What is Said
Recognizing Some Common Faults in Thinking
Recognizing Assumptions and Implications
Recognizing Intent, Attitude, Tone, and Bias
Analyzing Argument












LANGUAGE FOR LITERATURE

COURSE MATERIAL-1 (301) by Dr. Masud Mahmood
In the sentences below, underline the words or phrases that give you clues to the meaning of the CAPITALIZED words:
A. Emory was an INDOLENT boy who didn't like work of any kind and who spent most of his time lying around the house.
B. Since he took up playing the drums, though, he shows a great deal of DILIGENCE by taking good care of them and practicing for long hours each day.

TACTIC 1. Use context clues to decide which of the definitions is best for each CAPITALIZED word. Circle that definition.

1. Many people think there is nothing more to playing the drums than pounding out a strong, regular CADENCE.
a) beat b) loudness c) melody
2. Emory will tell you, however, that in addition to having a good sense of rhythm, there are a lot of definite, SPECIFIC things you need to know in order to play the drums.
a) general b) exact c) hard to name
3. For instance, you have to know how to adjust the screws holding the drumhead stretched in place so that it has just the right amount of TENTION.
a) tightness b) depth c) sharpness
4. You also must be familiar with the sounds that different drums make, since each one has its own quality, or TIMBRE.
a) rhythm b) type of wood c) kind of sound
5. Weather affects the way a drum sounds, so you have to know how to COMPENSATE for changes of heat or humidity by tuning your drums to sound the way they should.
a) make up b) predict c) prevent
Two Kinds of Context Clues
A. Many people today are worried about the bad condition, or PLIGHT, of a large number of America's cities.
1. Circle the word or words in the sentence that tell you what PLIGHT means.
B. Speeches have been made, articles written, suggestions offered, and promises vowed- a great display of language emphasizing that something ought to be done. But all this RHETORIC hasn't accomplished much.
2. Which words in either sentence in example B
mean the same as RHETORIC? Circle them.
3. Several specific examples of RHETORIC are listed.
Underline them.
In examples A and B, the direct context clues tell you exactly what the CAPITALIZED words mean. Sometimes, however, it is more difficult to say exactly which words are the clues.
C. In Detroit, 23,000 teen-agers have decided to replace talk with TOIL, and have applied themselves to the job of picking up, raking, sweeping, and cleaning up their city themselves.
4. Think of a word (not in the sentence) that could be used to describe "the job of picking up, raking, sweeping, and cleaning up...."
TOIL means
D. Their name, KDB Teens for a Greater Detroit, is no MISNOMER, for they believe it is up to them to do what the initials KDB stand for: Keep Detroit Beautiful.
5. Does their name tell the truth about them? If so, their name is not a one.
MISNOMER means
In examples C and D, the words you wrote in the blanks were not words you found in the sentences, yet you were able to understand the meanings of the CAPITALIZED words from the indirect context clues. Sometimes clues-either direct or indirect-to an unfamiliar word can be found outside the sentence in which the word is used, as in example B, where there are four examples of RHETORIC as well as a synonym (a word meaning the same) that tells you what RHETORIC means.
E. KDB Teens work out of an office that is UNIQUE. It is painted with wild modern designs and the furniture is in bright pinks, yellows, and greens. It is filled with BUSTLE. Some young people are busy filing papers and making signs and posters, while others are enthusiastically planning new activities, or just chatting, and getting to know each other. "We didn't want it to be like any other office," one girl explained.

6. "We didn't want it to be like any other office," says one KDB Teen.
Does their office seem like other offices, or not?
7. a) Write a word or phrase of your own (not from the paragraph) which means not like anything else.
b) Which CAPITALIZED word must mean the same
thing?
8. a) The office is full of young people "busy filing papers and making signs and posters, while others are enthusiastically planning new activities. ..." Write a word or phrase of your own which means many things going on at the same time:
b) Which CAPITALIZED word must mean the same thing?
Context clues both in and outside the context sentence can help you understand the meanings of many words that may seem unfamiliar at first. By thinking carefully about the words and by asking yourself questions like questions 4 to 8 you can often find context clues even where you think there are none.
TACTIC 2. Use both direct and indirect context clues to figure out the meaning of each CAPITALIZED word in the sentences below. Write in the blank the letter of the best definition.
1. KDB Teens have a lively desire to make their city a good place to live, and this VERVE shows in the way they have thrown themselves into their project.
a) anger b) great effort c) enthusiasm
2. Every Saturday they pile into buses, carrying such cleaning IMPLEMENTS as brooms, buckets, rakes, and containers for trash.
a) shovels b) chemicals c) tools
3. They aren't satisfied doing a CURSORY job; instead they thoroughly search out every discarded cigarette pack, potato chip bag, pop can, and broken bottle.
a) complete b) hasty c) necessary
4. Over the years a great deal of garbage and litter can ACCUMULATE bit by bit.
a) pile up b) age c) look awful
5. The KDB workers who were not used to such labor got a lot of blisters on their hands before they learned how to WIELD their brooms and rakes properly.
a) choose b) make use of c) trade
6. Since the INCEPTION, or beginning, of their program several years ago, the KDB Teens have made great progress in their attack on the city's dirt and clutter.
a) advancement b) start c) idea
7. The program has had other benefits also. By working together, the group found themselves FRATERNIZING with others of differing backgrounds, whom they probably wouldn't have met otherwise.
a) associating b) arguing c) dancing
More Context Clues

The way a picture shows an object can give you clues to what that object is. Similarly, the way a sentence is written can give you clues to the meaning of a word.
A. The old couple's barn, badly in need of paint, was leaning to one side and had holes in the root, but their house was even more DILAPIDATED.
1. What words describe the barn? Underline them.
2. The sentence says the house was "even more" so. Circle the best meaning for DILAPIDATED:
a) run down b) newly built c) old-fashioned
B. Unlike her sister, who sat quietly and paid attention to the movie, the smaller girl was quite UNRULY.
3. How did the sister behave? Underline the words. 4. Circle the best meaning for UNRULY.
a) well-behaved b) noisy and disorderly c) intelligent
C. The company my mother works for is going to AMALGAMAT with two other companies to form one large business.
5. How do you make three things into one? Circle the best meaning for AMALGAMAT:
a) work b) complete c) combine
In each of the previous examples, the way the sentence was written gives you clues to the meaning of the CAPITALIZED word. Such clues may tell you that an unfamiliar word means about the same as another word or the opposite of another word, as in sentences A and B. Sometimes the fact that one thing causes something else to happen also gives you a clue, as in sentence C. And some sentences-like sentence D following-may contain more than one clue:
D. The lake was smooth and calm when we set out in our boat, but when we were halfway out a strong wind came up and the water became very TURBULENT.
6. What word tells you that TURBULENT means something different from the way the water was at the beginning? Underline it.
7. What effect does a strong wind usually have upon water?


8. Circle the best meaning for TURBULENT:
a) smooth and calm b) beautiful c) rough and choppy

TACTIC 3. Use whatever clues there are to figure out the meaning of each CAPITALIZED word. Use words from the sentence or use your own words to write a definition in the blank.
1. Louella was pleased and satisfied with all her birthday presents, and yet the gift that GRATIFIED her most was a little mouselike animal called a gerbil.
GRATIFIED means
2. The turtle she had before had remained INERT most of the time, but her new pet was lively and active.
INERT means
3. Louella read that gerbils like to dig holes and tunnels, so she put straw and wood chips in their cage for them to BURROW in.
BURROW means
4. Gerbils do not like to be SOLITARY; instead, they are happiest living in pairs or groups.
SOLITARY means
5. Because gerbils usually take only one mate for life, they are said to be MONOGAMOUS.
MONOGAMOUS means

Clues in Longer Contexts

A. The whole school will LIONIZE Graciela when she gets back from Washington, D.C., next week. Imagine someone from our own school winning second prize in a national contest! We're having a special assembly-to which the whole Cabrera family has been invited-so she can tell about her experiences and read her prizewinning essay. The Student Council has already voted to put her picture up in our "Hall of Fame," and is even talking about giving a scholarship in her name. About the only way Graciela could be more popular around here would be if they dismissed school a day in her honor!
1. If there are any good clues to the meaning of LIONIZE in the first sentence, the sentence in which it appears, underline them.
2. In which other sentence or sentences do you find clues to its meaning?


3. Write a word or a few words to complete this definition: To LIONIZE someone means to treat
that person


B. George stuck his head out of his room and looked up and down the hallway. He slipped through the door and closed it carefully, then moved down the hall sideways, stepping lightly and constantly looking back over his shoulder. Very slowly, he started down the stairs, one step at a time. Once he thought he heard a noise and he froze in his position for a long while. Then, finally satisfied there was no one there, he continued down the stairs. If anyone had been watching, he would certainly have been puzzled to see George acting in such A STEALTHY WAY.
4. In which sentence or sentences are there clues to the meaning of STEALTHY?


5. Complete this definition: To act in A STEALTHY WAY is to-_


When the sentence in which a word appears doesn't contain enough context clues to tell you the meaning of the word, look for clues either in the material before that sentence or in the material following it. Although there are no direct context clues for LIONIZE, the whole paragraph, except for the first sentence, describes how the people will act when they lionize Graciela Cabrera. There are no direct context clues for stealthy, either, but the whole paragraph describes George's "stealthy way" of acting.
If you don't know what the next CAPITALIZED word means the first time you see it in the following paragraph, you should have a pretty good idea of its meaning when you see it again.
C. For your next party or get-together, try serving FONDUE. In a double boiler, melt 4 pound of butter or margarine with 1 pound of processed American cheese. Add a dash of steak sauce, g teaspoon of onion salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder. As the mixture melts, add; cup of milk, stirring constantly until it is smooth. Put in a serving pot over a warming candle. With it, serve small, precooked meatballs or chunks of bread for your guests to spear on their forks, dip into the FONDUE, and eat.
6. What is the chief ingredient in fondue?
7. What is fondue and what is it used for?


Instead of simply asking, "What is it?" or "What does it mean?" about an unfamiliar word, you can sometimes understand it better if you look for answers to questions like these: How is it made? How is it done? What is it used for? Why is it important? What does it look like? What does it describe? What kind of action does it suggest?

TACTIC 4. All of the italic words in the following article have some kind of context clues. After you have read the article, match the words with their definitions. Keep in mind that clues to the meanings of words might be found anywhere in the article.
How would you like to have a comet as your namesake? All you have to do is what Mark Whitaker, a teen-ager from Bishop, Texas, did --find a new one. Astronomy had been a hobby of Mark's since he was a small boy, but when he fashioned his own four-inch telescope from parts he got in a kit, he was able to take his avocation more seriously.
He had been watching the stars for three nights when he saw a heavenly body with a starlike center and a tail of light. "When I first saw this faint blur of light," Mark said, "I thought it was some other celestial body. However, I observed it carefully for three more nights and was sure it was a comet." Mark telephoned the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts and gave them the DATA he had collected on the comet's position, direction, and MAGNITUDE, or degree of brightness. The astronomers checked through their much larger telescope and called him back to CONFIRM his findings: he had discovered a new comet, and it was to be named after him!
News of his discovery was quickly BRUITED all over the world. "Overnight, I apparently became A CELEBRITY," said Mark. "I was interviewed several times and received letters from as far away as India and New Zealand. It was the most exciting experience I ever had."

Write the letter of the best definition in the blank in front of the word. You will not use all the definitions.


a ) hobby                                               1. astronomy
b) in current style                                2. avocation
c) something called the same             3. bruited
d) facts; information                            4. celebrity
e) study of the stars                            5. celestial
f ) watched                                            6. confirm
g) famous person                                 7. data
h) amount of light                                8. fashioned
i ) prove true                                        9. magnitude
j) having to do with the sky               10. namesake
k) spread
1 ) put together


Sometimes you can get the meaning of a word by a process of elimination. When you think carefully about the explanations, you will see that some don't make sense at all. Nancy says she "didn't realize we had a SPELUNKER in our midst," but she is obviously referring to Kiyo, not to the cave or to any of the rock formations they are looking at. The stalactite is described as "alive," but the quotes tell you this is a special meaning of the word. It is not alive as an animal is alive. And since Nancy talks about stalagmites and stalactites separately, you can tell from details in her speech that the words do not refer to just "any kind" of formations, but ones with specific characteristics.

By applying your common sense to what may look like context clues, you can figure out which clues will lead you to the correct meaning.

TACTIC 5. Circle the letter of the best explanation for TERRARIUM. Then

check the box next to the picture that shows one.


The first step in making a TERRARIUM is to pick an attractive glass container-one that the light can shine through. It can be a fish bowl, an old aquarium, a big bottle... even a goblet or a mayonnaise jar. Wash it thoroughly so there's less chance of disease and insects getting into your little garden. In the bottom put about an inch of crushed barbecue charcoal. Next, add 1 to 1; inches of prepared garden soil. Build up the soil a little higher on one side for a landscaped look. If there's room, add a bit of moss, a pretty stone or two, or a piece of driftwood. Your plants should be the small, slow-growing kind: small-leafed ivy, arrowhead, small table fern and baby tears, philodendron. Use plants from 2-inch pots or unrooted cuttings.



A. Since you can use a fish bowl or an old aquarium, A TERRARIUM must be some kind of container for things that swim.

B. Because small growing things are planted in a container, A TERRARIUM must be a little garden enclosed in glass.

C. It is necessary to choose small, slow-growing things for the glass container, so A TERRARIUM must be a kind of plant.


Using Context in Reading

Read the entire article; then use whatever context clues there are to figure out the meaning of each CAPITALIZED word. Write the letter of the correct definition in the blank. Remember, context clues may be found anywhere in the article.
The earth's oceans are COLOSSAL, so much bigger than the land area that they cover 70% of the surface of the earth. They give us food and minerals and are a major CONSTITUENT in the formation of our weather. The extremes of temperature on the earth would be much greater, and many places would be too hot or too cold for humans without the oceans to act as the earth's THERMOSTAT.
In some ways, we know more about the stars millions of miles away than we know about the CONTIGUOUS sea. Why? Partly because OCEANOGRAPHY is a comparatively new science, even though the oceans have been fished and traveled by people for thousands of years. Only since World War II have scientists begun carefully to PROBE the deep parts of the sea to find out what is there.
As our supply of fresh water becomes more and more scarce, we have naturally looked to the oceans, the greatest source of water on earth. But there is so much salt in sea water that it is not fit for human CONSUMPTION. Scientists have been trying to find ways to turn this SALINE water into fresh water. Machines for the CONVERSION of water are already at work in certain parts of the world, but their cost is still EXORBITANT. Science will have to find much cheaper ways to do the job.
Possibilities for food ABOUND in the ocean. In addition to the hundreds of varieties of fish, some kinds of seaweed can be eaten. Or PLANKTON could easily be NURTURED and harvested as a crop. So far, though, this floating mass of microscopic plants and animals is considered pretty much INEDIBLE. It's nutritious enough, containing many proteins, vitamins, and minerals that humans need for survival, but so far no one has been able to figure out how to disguise its awful taste.
1. colossal
a) interesting b) huge
c) important d) useful
2. constituent
a) single cause b) false clue
c) important part d) extreme
3. thermostat
a) cooling system b) heater
c) regulating device d) fuel supply
4. contiguous
a) far-off b) deep blue
c) stormy d) nearby
5. oceanography
a) water safety program b) study of the sea
c) formation of waterways d) method of getting power
6. probe
a) dream about b) describe
c) examine d) bomb
7. consumption
a) medicine b) use
c) study d) waste
8. saline
a) salty b) dirty
c) very cold d) unneeded
9. conversion
a) use b) change
c) drying up d) manufacture
10. exorbitant
a) cheap b) unknown
c) sensible d) much too high
11. abound
a) are few b) do not exist
c) are many d) are destroyed
12. plankton
a) tiny sea life b) wood-like plant
c) game fish d) kind of mineral
13. nurtured
a) discovered b) raised
c) examined d) washed
14. inedible
a) not fit to eat b) nourishing
c) popular d) hard to grow