Unit 1

Unit 1 The Correct Word

Unit objectives

At the end of the unit you will be able to

1.       Recognize multiple meanings a word may have, i.e. denotative and connotative meanings, affective and collocative meanings;

2.       Identify false friends in English and learn to choose the correct word for an idea;

3.       Learn to avoid making errors in subject-verb agreement;

4.       Write a simple note

 

Part1 warm-up activities

Form pairs and each writes a short paragraph about AIDS and AIDS patients. Student A looks at File1 and Student B at File2 for specific information.

	File 1 Do you think AIDS is a horrible disease? How horrible is it? Are you afraid of AIDS patients? What do you think of them? Write a short paragraph to express your views.
			File 2 Suppose you are an AIDS Patient, do you think there exists any difference between AIDS and other fatal diseases like cancer? Do you think you are a threat to public health? Write a short paragraph to express your views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART II Focus

Denotation and connotation

Suppose you are going to write about a respectable teacher whose body size is above the average. Choose the one you would use from the sentences below, and then discuss the inappropriateness of the other two:

a.       He/She is plump.

b.       He/She is portly.

c.       He/She is fat.

Then if it is the doorkeeper of you dormitory, an amiable middle-aged woman, that you are to write about, which adjective would you use?

 

Words are building blocks of writing; therefore, we need to have a good command of them. When we put pen to paper, first and foremost we have to make sure that we choose the right word. If we are asked to describe a person who is fat, we have to decide whether the word fat is the right one. If the person is a respectable teacher, you may not use it, as it does not have a pleasant overtone. And if it is the doorkeeper, you may choose the word plump, as it not only means overweight, but has a pleasant overtone. What’s more, it is usually used to describe a woman. So the words fat, portly and plump do not just mean overweight; they also suggest whether it is pleasant or unpleasant. We call the suggested meaning of a word its connotation.

 

Denotation, on the other hand, refers to the literal and primary meaning of a word-the definition you find in a dictionary. Thus, we can say that the word mother denotes a woman who is a parent but connotes qualities such as protectiveness and affection; and that the word weed denotes an uncultivated plant but connotes destruction and uncontrolled growth. When we write, we have to watch out for the connotative meaning of a word; otherwise, we may make silly mistakes.

 

Classroom activities

1.       Discuss the denotations and connotations of father and wildflower, in contrast to mother and weed above.

 SHAPE  \* MERGEFORMAT

2.       Fill in the table below and study the denotations and connotations.  

Word	Denotation	Connotation	Sentence
Gold
	The natural body that moves around the earth once every 28 days
		Coldness, indifference, cruelty, death, etc.
blood			Blood is thicker than water.

3.       Explain the meaning of the following two sentences by looking closely at the denotative and connotative meanings of the italicized words.

1)      In the west, every man was a man.

2)      Anyway, she is a woman.

 

Attitude

See if you can detect in the following sentences how the writer’s attitude changes from sentence to sentence:

a.       What a slim girl she is!

b.       How thin the girl is!

c.       The girl is so skinny!

 

In all kinds of writing, the words you choose may do more than inform. The selection of a word often reveals how you feel about your subject, whether you are pleased, angry, critical or admiring. All the sentences above state the fact that the girl has a small size but are different in the writer’s attitude. The word slim suggests the writer’s approval of the girl’s figure, while the word skinny is just the opposite. No girl will feel flattered if she is said to be skinny, as it is next to a bag of bones! So the three words, though similar in their denotative meanings, are diverse in affective meanings-that is, they reveal different attitudes of the writer. When we write in English, we have to be careful with such emotionally loaded words-i.e. words that can reveal the writer’s attitude.

 

Classroom activities

1.       Complete the table with synonyms.

 

Favorable	Neutral	Unfavorable
	strange
		pigheaded
Compliment (v.)
	Old person
Bachelor girl

 

2.       Fill in the blacks with the words in the above table.

1)      He has the most ______distinction of having written speeches which were effective when delivered.

2)      Many of the managing posts are filled up by _______people only because they happen to have the habit of ordering poor people about.

3)      I was___by your invitation to come to this party.

4)      He thought his landlady was a mean____________.

5)      Hurray! End of my single life! Not an old and bad-tempered___________any more.

3.       Work in pairs and compare you writing in the warm-up activities. Pay special attention to words showing attitudes and those rich in connotative meanings. Corrective any misuse.

 

Collocation

Fill in the blanks with do or make.

      A.__________somebody a favor       b._______somebody good

      C___________a gesture              d________evil

      E___________harm                 f_________an effort

Certain words tend to occur together regularly. For example, when we describe coffee, we can say story coffee or weak coffee, but when we describe soup, we cannot say the soup is strong of weak; instead we say the soup is thick or thin. From this we can see certain nouns are usually modified by certain adjectives and words of the same meaning are not interchangeable in this situation. We call this fixed combination of words collocation.

 

Collocation is a very important language feature and we must make note of that when we lean a language. There are several types of collocation ---verb plus noun, adjective plus noun, verb plus adverb, preposition plus noun, verb plus preposition, to name just a few. Example of these are, respectively: follow the fashion（v.+ n.）, a brilliant success (a.+ n.), think alike(v.+ ad.),(the answer) to a question (prep. + n), and think of (an idea ) (v.+ prep). Leaning a word is not only leaning its meaning; it also includes leaning which word or words it usually goes with, that is, its collocations. Yet under certain circumstances, a deliberate violation of a collocation can bring out a novel effect, but it must be based on respect for the conventional use.

Classroom Activities

1.       Choose the best modifiers for the following noun phrases.

1)      He spoke English with a__________ French accent.

A. thick                  B. powerful

C. widespread             D. pronounced

        2)  He gave us a________ account of all that you had achieved over there.

            A. ready                 B. bright

            C. colorful               D. glowing

        3)  We need to find a new site with________ access to the European motorway network.

        4)  This will probably be the _________achievement of her career.

             A. glowing               B. crowning

             C. fascinating             D. shining

        5)  I don’t know him very well. He’s just a (n) _________acquaintance.

             A. uncanny               B. strange

             C. casual                 D. indifferent

        6)  We’re fighting for the __________abolition of the death penalty.

             A. total                  B. entire

             C. outright               D. complete

        7)  We need to take some__________ action before it is too late.

             A. acute                  B. decisive

             C. strong                 D. intense

2.  Look at you writings in the Warm-up Activities again with your partner. Pay attention to collocation and correct the mistakes if there is any.

 

Classroom Activities

1.       Read the following epitaph of Pecos Bill, find out the false friends and explain them.

                          Here lies Pecos Bill

                          He always lied

                          And always will

                          He once lied loud

                          He now lies still

2.       Fill in the blanks below with the right word in brackets, change the form where necessary.

1)      You fever________ (rise, raise) yesterday.

2)      That racket is bad enough to make Aunt Ella’s eyebrows_________ (raise, rise) .

3)      Jack has been________ (lie, lay) around all day.

4)      The soldiers_________ (lie, lay) aside their weapons.

5)      A heavy fog_________ (lie, lay) over the land.

6)      White __________ (stationary, stationery) is always appropriate.

7)      Is that table__________ (stationary, stationery) , or can it be moved to another corner of the room?

8)      It is easier to talk about a_________ (principle, principal) than to live by it.

9)      Our_____ (principle, principal) played on the faculty football team against the school all-stars.

 

PART III writing

Notes (9)

Read the following sample and answer the questions

Sample 1

Helen,	Questions : 1. Why do people write note?
I am writing to thank you for the wonderful time I	2. What are the components of a note?
had at your dinner party last night.	3. What are the characteristics of a note?
David

 

Simple 2

 

Dec. 20,2008

Dear Mr. Li,

I am writing to tell you how grateful I am

for all you did for me in shanghai. I hope

That you will contact me if there is anything

I can do for you. In particular, I should be

most glad to send you or the department

Any books you need.

Yours faithfully,

R.V. Johnson

Questions:

1. If you want to leave in your note    the date of writing, where do you put it?

2. If you want to retain a formal tone, how do you address the person you write to?

3. if you want to leave a complimentary close, where do you put it in a note？