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May 7th
CONSTITUENT STRUCTURE
TREE DIAGRAMPlease watch this PPP about the Sentences analysis we were practicing the last class.
For next class construct a sentence in English that has the following structure: S>art., adj, N, V, prep, art., N and represent the structure of your sentence in a tree diagram.
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May 4th
SEMANTIC EXERCISE FEEDBACK
You all did great with your Semantic topic homework! Read the following information, it's interesting!
LINGUIST SEMANTICS is the study of meaning that is used by humans to express themselves through language.
Linguistics devised the term Lexeme to denote an ítem of vocabulary with a single referent, whether it consists of one word or more than one word.
TYPES OF MEANING: CONNOTATIVE: A lexeme may be more appropiate in a particular style. We don’t always express ourselves in the same way, even we can mean the same thing…
“THE CONNOTATIVE POWER OF WORDS”
"A writer needs an 'ear' as much as a musician does," wrote Sydney J. Harris. "And without this ear, he is lost and groping in a forest of words, where all the trees look much alike."
Harris himself had an ear for words. From the 1940s to the 1980s, his column "Strictly Personal" ran five days a week in hundreds of American newspapers. Harris's short essays were playfully erudite and--in his "antics with semantics"--often concerned with the connotative power of words.
Unfortunately, he said, "most persons--and this includes aspiring writers--simply fail to recognize that there are very few true synonyms in the language, no matter what the dictionary may insist."
A dictionary can tell us only what a word points to, not "what it feels like":
Distinguishing between two words that seem to mean the same, but have different colors and shapes and suggestions –this is essential to the art of writing, and also of speaking. The right word is as important to the writer as the right note to the composer or the right line to the painter. (Sydney J. Harris, "You Need an Ear for Words to Write." Last Things First, Houghton Mifflin, 1961)
A few times a year, Harris would illustrate this point by drawing some important distinctions between related words. Here are two examples from The Best of Sydney J. Harris (Houghton Mifflin, 1975):
1. I am opposed to your newfangled ideas because I believe in "the value of tradition," but you are opposed to my sensible reforms because you are "blindly clinging to the past."
2. When my candidate reverses his mind after election, it proves he is "open minded"; when yours does the same thing, it shows him up as "a man of no principle." - - - - - - - - - - -
May 2nd
SEMANTICS "THE POWER OF WORDS"
We've been learning about semantics for the past days, so here we are going to practice about words connotation.
“A dictionary can tell us only what a word points to, not "what it feels like"
(Writer and columnist Sydney J. Harris, "You Need an Ear for Words to Write." Last Things First, Houghton Mifflin, 1961)
EXERCISE
INSTRUCTIONS: Complete the following sentences choosing from the box the correct option related to the bold words or text in each sentence.
act of war | charmingly-unpretentious | flambotant | immaturity |
bumped fenders | network of spies | strong-minded | knows all the ins and outs |
Example:
Jane marries John because of his "boyish charm"--and divorces him because of his immaturity.
- My attorney ______________________________, but my opponent's attorney is a "slippery character."
- The striking colors in our living room are "dramatic"; the striking colors in yours are _________________________.
- I take you to a restaurant that is _____________________________, but you take me to a restaurant that is a "dive."
- Their nation has a _________________________, but our nation takes "security measures."
- If it was your fault, we had a "collision," but if it was my fault, we just ___________________________.
- I am _____________________, but you are "opinionated."
- When you attack us, it is an ___________________, but when we attack you, it is "a necessary preventive move to maintain our independence and to preserve the peace."
Bibliography: http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/The-Connotative-Power-Of-Words.htm The Connotative Power of Words, Sydney J. Harris on Synonyms and Connotations, By Richard Nordquist.
- - - - - - - - - -April 4th
CONDITIONALS IN BUSINESS
Great work on your online tests!
I'm gladd you like the idea for grade yourself with this online quizz tool!
As we solved all doubts at today class about different conditional forms, for next class you're going to look for different conditional sentences reading newspapers, business magazines, advertisements, etc., and you're going to create a CONDITIONAL SENTENCES Power Point Presentation using the sentences you found -0, First, Second, and Third conditional forms- to be sent to my mail igam12@yahoo.com, not after next monday April 11th. (Minimun 8 slides for presentation).
The best presentation will be posted on this page! All presentations get extra credits, use your crativity (music, images....)
You can go to this webpage to learn more how to do a "teching power point presentation" http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/powerpoint-for-e-learning/
Contact me for any questions and ... Good Luck! :D
Next class will be learning about ALTERNATE CONDITIONAL FORMS :)
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April 1th
CONDITIONALS
A lot of information today at class, wright? ;)
Do you want to test yourself? Go to this link and take the challenge!!! :D
http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl_conditionals1.htm
We'll have a feedback next class for all your doubts.
See you!
