Vocabulary Acquisition

What to know

to

Succeed

on the

American Literature

EOCT

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using:

a. context cluesb. analyzing meaningful word

partsc. consulting general and

specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

• Analyze the sentence for indications of meaning… “Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along

an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight”

The Great Gatsby 23

• What clues are there to help you interpret the word ghastly?– The words gray, crawl, invisible, creak provide a

sense that ghastly refers to something creepy or scary…disturbing

• What clues are there to help you interpret the word leaden?– The ash-gray men can help you to see a dark gray

color; the root lead should make you think of something heavy

• What clues are there to help you interpret the word impenetrable?– You should see the base word penetrate and

understand the meaning ‘to get through’; you should then see the suffix –able which means able to; you should then see the prefix im- which means not; all together…not able to be gotten through…which is a close definition of impenetrable

• What clues are there to help you interpret the word obscure?– You should see the phrase “…from your sight” as a

clue that obscure means to hide from view

So when you re-read the sentence with new understanding of the difficult vocabulary, you

have greater understanding…

“Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight”

The Great Gatsby 23

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use5. Demonstrate understanding of:

a. figurative languageb. word relationshipsc. nuances in word meanings

Figurative Language

• Metaphor– conceit

• Simile• Apostrophe• Imagery• Irony• Personification

• Hyperbole• Paradox• Symbolism• Understatement• Synecdoche• Metonymy• Allusion

• Metaphor…a comparison, which does not use “like” or “as,” of two unlike things in order to add meaning– Her voice was a screeching piece of chalk on a

blackboard so we eagerly awaited dismissal.• Voice is being compared to the screeching

sound of the chalk…a sound everyone has heard and cringes at the thought of; therefore, the added meaning of this metaphor is the shrill, unpleasant quality of the woman’s voice

• The comparison is DIRECTLY stated…____ EQUALS ____....no use of “like” or “as” to soften the comparison

• A CONCEIT is when a metaphor is extended for a significant portion of a text.

• Simile…a comparison, using “like” or “as,” of two unlike things in order to provide added meaning.– Her voice was as screeching and shrill as

chalk on a blackboard so we eagerly awaited dismissal.

• Voice is still compared to the screeching, shrill sound of the chalk on the board…

• BUT the use of “as” softens the comparison so the similarity is APPROXIMATE rather than EXACT

• Apostrophe…speech is directed to an imaginary person or abstract idea or quality– “O, Happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there

rust, and let me die.”» Romeo and Juliet

• Imagery…the use of words which appeal to any of the five senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)– Cold fingers of air crept under the door and

grabbed my bare ankles making me wish I had chosen to wear hiking socks.

• This appeals to your sense of touch…you can “feel” the icy cold draft coming in under a door lacking weather stripping.

• This also could be read as personification…fingers cannot creep…but the larger impression is one of touch…thus you should focus on the IMAGERY

• Irony…the ordinary meaning of the words is, more or less, the opposite of what the writer intends– Help had arrived quickly, but the fire station

had already burned down.• One would not expect a place that houses trained

firefighters and their equipment to burn down…this provides an unexpected “twist”…the opposite of what the reader is expecting

• Irony is often employed in Social Commentary and Satire in order to drive home the issue or to inject an element of humor

• Personification…giving human qualities/abilities to non-human or inanimate objects– The sun hid its face behind the clouds to hide

its sorrow at the loss of the precious child.• The sun

– Does not have a face– Does not think and therefore cannot decide to hide– Does not have a conscience and therefore cannot feel

sorrow

• Hyperbole…an exaggeration or overstatement used for effect– I cannot hit the broadside of a barn with a

baseball bat so I seldom volunteer to play in the student-teacher softball game.

• The “broadside of a barn” is a REALLY big area• If a person cannot hit that with a bat, that person is

REALLY bad with hand-eye coordination• This person would be a TERRIBLE addition to your

softball team…unless, of course, you want to lose.

• Paradox…a statement that seems contradictory but upon reflection makes sense– Slow and steady wins the race.

• One does not expect something slow/steady to win

– “Success is not final; Failure is not fatal; It is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill

*Most see success as a final goal and permanent once achieved; most see failure as the end of an opportunity from which there is no recovery…these are presented paradoxically

• Symbolism…the author’s use of representations to convey meaning– The color red in Ethan Frome represents love,

passion, vitality…as used to describe Mattie’s scarf, hair ribbon, pickle dish

– Modernism literature uses symbolism extensively as part of Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory…hiding the deeper conflict beneath symbolic representations which the reader must analyze carefully

• Understatement…the opposite of hyperbole…purposely minimizing something’s importance/meaning– “That was a nice little snack!” he exclaimed as

he loosened his belt after finishing his third helping of Thanksgiving dinner.

• OBVIOUSLY…this man has not had a snack; but rather, he has had an enormous meal of all the dishes traditional for a Thanksgiving feast.

• Synecdoche…the use of a part to represent the whole, or of the whole to represent a part– The young man asked his beloved’s father for

her hand in marriage.• He does not plan to marry the hand, but the whole

person

– Rather than ask for a “Coke” everywhere you go, you should learn the names of the various sodas.

• Not all dark sodas are Coca-Cola but people use that to mean any dark cola soda

• Metonymy…using a word closely associated with an object/person to represent that object/person– The Crown issued a press release mourning

the loss of Princess Diana.• The CROWN is associated with the Queen of

England

– The White House denied any knowledge of the scandal.

• The WHITE HOUSE is associated with the President of the United States

• Allusion…a reference to a well-known story, piece of art, person, or event in order to add meaning– Jen is a real Scrooge when it comes to

spending money.• You are expected to be familiar with A Christmas

Carol by Charles Dickens…either in book or in movie form, and therefore are expected to know the character Scrooge as a point of comparison to understand just how STINGY Jen really is…

Word Relationships

• Things to think about when dealing with a sentence completion item…– Does the word needed for the completion

blank need to• Define a prior portion of the sentence?• Express agreement with a prior portion?• Express a contrast with a prior portion?

• Look for clues within the sentence to see if you need a definition…– An appositive is usually to provide a definition

or description– Trigger words indicating a definition follows:

– Such as– For example– In other words

• Look for clues within the sentence to see if you need agreement…– Trigger words:

• In addition• Furthermore• And

• Look for clues within the sentence to see if you need contrast…– Trigger words:

• But However• Nevertheless Despite

Parts of speech…

• Knowing the part of speech can also help you understand word relationships…– Nouns and Pronouns name and rename each

other and can only be described by Adjectives…which MUST be directly beside the noun or pronoun being described

– Verbs express what nouns and pronouns do or how they exist and can be modified only by Adverbs…which may appear in a variety of locations in relationship to the verb

• Basic Sentence Patterns– Noun-Verb

• I gave.

– Noun-Verb-Noun (Direct Object)• I gave the keys.

– Noun-Verb-Noun (Indirect Object)-Noun (DO)• I gave Mary the keys.

– Noun-Linking Verb-Noun• Mary is my sister.

– Noun-Linking Verb- Adjective• Mary is nice.

Throwing in adjectives and adverbs…

• I gave Mary the car keys. – Car indicates what kind of keys…adjectives

tell: which one, what kind, how many

• Quickly, I gave Mary the car keys.– Quickly indicates in what manner I gave…

adverbs tell: in what manner, where, when

These examples may seem simple…

…BUT, pausing to examine a sentence’s STRUCTURE can lead you to an “educated guess” if you are unsure of the answer option meanings…

Sometimes, you can figure out a possible answer by the place it needs to fill within the sentence

Denotation vs Connotation• Denotation…is the dictionary meaning of a word

– Inexpensive…something which does not cost a great deal of money

– Cheap…something which does not cost a great deal of money

• Connotation…is the way a word makes a reader feel

• Would you rather have an inexpensive speaker system in your car or a cheap speaker system in your car? What is the implied DIFFERENCE in CONNOTATION given that the two words have the same DENOTATION?

Consider Denotation vs Connotation on test items…

• Ask yourself whether you are dealing with synonymous terms

• Ask yourself if one word has a more positive EMOTIONAL response

• Ask yourself which one is needed to BEST complete the intended meaning of the sentence

• ALWAYS think through vocabulary test items

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

What this portion of the standard means…

• Can you understand class lectures and course readings?

• Can you, on your own, seek the meanings and standard usage formats of unknown words and phrases?

Where to go?• Dictionary…denotations/meanings; part of

speech; sample usages; pronunciation

• Thesaurus…synonyms; antonyms; various forms of a word

• Grammar Handbook…to check sentence arrangement to eliminate misplaced or dangling modifiers; eliminate fragments or run-ons

Vocabulary Acquisition……is really simple.

It is:

*indirectly learning new words and phrases through reading, listening, and viewing attentively

*directly learning new words and phrases through looking new items up in the appropriate resource

*A LIFE-LONG ENDEAVOR