Word List for "The Witch" Vocabulary Quiz

Fine
anxiously
craned
elderly
excitedly
firmly
frowned
gasped
irritably
leaned
nudged
occasion
pleasant
suspiciously

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE 
English 10 Reading and Literature

Preparing for "The Witch" (Shirley Jackson)

Today, we will first work in groups to discuss two pre-reading questions.

Then, the teacher will read the story aloud, dramatizing some of the situations in the story.

Finally, we will discuss together the pre-reading questions and our overall understanding of Shirley Jackson's story.

Group Work:

Discuss the following in your group.

1. What stories do you know where a witch appears? What kinds of people were the witches in the story? Why are we so interested in witches?

2. Where do children learn to behave? Who teaches them, and how?

Oral Reading:

Pay attention and follow along.

Class Discussion:

1. What struck you most about the story? Was this witch like those you had discussed in your group?

2. The mother gives her children food and candy (toast, a cookie, lollipops) to make them cooperate.

What do you think of this way of making children behave? What ways do you use (or do you agree with using) to make children behave?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
English 10
Touch your arm, touch your heart by W. Brian Stewart
Discussion

Guided Reading and Group Work

The essay by W. Brian Stewart is told through a series of anecdotes (a brief account of a funny or interesting incident—Wordsmyth online dictionary).

With your group identify each anecdote and the paragraph in which it occurs.

Number each one.

Now, go back to each anecdote and discuss its main idea.

Note where the topic/controlling ideas occur.

Write a short sentence with your group that states the main idea in your own words.

What, in your opinion, makes the anecdote effective?

Finally, discuss with your group the overall effect of this piece of writing.

Note techniques used by the writer to create this effect. (for example, he uses humour in the example about the schoolboys and the stallion)

Homework (due on Wednesday, May 21)

Write a short, 500-word, essay that relates three short contacts you have had with strangers that have had a long-lasting impact on you and “left a vivid memory.” Use similar techniques to W. Brian Stewart (anecdotes, quotations, etc.) to give your examples.

Bring your essay to class next week for further discussion.

 

Here's a link for next week's (May 14) reading, entitled Touch your arm, Touch your heart at The Globe and Mail.

Prepare for a test based on Lessons 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32. The vocabulary used will be taken from your textbook, Language Exercises for Adults Level H.

 

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
English 10
Examining an Essay on Poetry
April 30, 2003

This week, we will review the marking guide used by your teachers for evaluating your test essays.

After our review, each group will mark one student essay and then present their reasons to the class.

Group Work

Review the English 10 Composition Marking Scale. Make a note of any areas you do not understand.

Ask the teacher questions about the scale as he circulates around the class.

After you are sure you understand the scale, read the student essay one time. Discuss your first impressions in the group.

Now, choose a mark out of 25 for each of the four aspects. Write a short written comment for each aspect on a separate sheet of paper. For example, “We give an 11/25 on conventions because there are frequent errors that make it sometimes hard to understand the writer.”

Homework:

Prepare for a test based on Lessons 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32. The vocabulary used will be taken from your textbook, Language Exercises for Adults Level H.

 

PEARSON ADULT LEARNING CENTRE
English 10  Poetry for Study

This week, we will work in groups to design a short essay on poetry. Then, over the two week break, we will write a 500 word essay.

 

Group Work

Make a list of topics that the class learned and discussed during our past two classes.

Choose three topics that you could use to write short, 125 word paragraphs.

Choose two examples from the poems you’ve studied that could be used to provide support for each body paragraph.

Write the topic sentence for one body paragraph. Write out one example, using three three sentences to explain and illustrate.

Homework:

For the holiday, write a short, 500 word, essay on the general topic: “What I’ve Learned about Poetry in English 10.”

Divide the essay into three body paragraph topics.

Write the three body paragraphs.

Write the conclusion.

Write the introduction. Include a general thesis sentence.

Write your own title. Do not use the topic assignment as a title!

Bring the essay to your first class after vacation: April 30, 2003

 

 

This week, the devices in the poems are explained and defined for you. Then, try finding them on your own!

 

 

Three Poems for the Study of Poetic Devices

 

The Three Oddest Words: Wislawa Szymborska

Paradox: "In everyday language, a paradox is a concept that seems absurd or contradictory, yet is true." —definition at whatis.com.

When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.
 

From her poem, Szymborska illustrates a paradox of language and meaning. The class discussed this idea at length, agreeing it was true but "absurd" as the definition suggests. We live our lives with the future passing by, even as we pronounce one simple word, "Future."

 

Erosion: E. J. Pratt

Rhyme: "The basic definition of rhyme is two words that sound alike. The vowel sound of two words is the same, but the initial consonant sound is different." —definition at virtuaLit.

It took the sea an hour one night,
An hour of storm to place
The sculpture of these granite seams
Upon a woman's face.

Clearly, Pratt has used a "true" rhyme on "place" and "face." But, did you notice the "near" rhyme on "sea" and "seams"? Note also the close relationship in meaning the rhyming words have here: the action, "place," and its object, "face."

 

A Grain of Rice: F. R. Scott

Alliteration: "Alliteration occurs when the initial sounds of a word, beginning either with a consonant or a vowel, are repeated in close succession." —definition at virtuaLit.
 

Such majestic rhythms, such tiny disturbances.
The rain of the monsoon falls, an inescapable treasure,
Hundreds of millions live
Only because of the certainty of this season,
              The turn of the wind.

Can you find the alliterative words here? Look to sound, the "s" as a sibilant, specifically. Find it? If not, look to the fifth line, the fifth and eighth words.

Assonance: "Assonance occurs when the vowel sound within a word matches the same sound in a nearby word, but the surrounding consonant sounds are different. "Tune" and "June" are rhymes; "tune" and "food" are assonant." —definition at virtuaLit.

Look to the words, "live" and "wind" (a near rhyme or slant rhyme) and to the short "i" sounds in "majestic" and "rhythms" to see assonance in action in Scott's poem.

Metaphor: "Closely related to similes, metaphors immediately identify one object or idea with another, in one or more aspects." —definition at virtuaLit.

Scott identifies "monsoons" as "inescapable treasure," directly relating the two through the use of metaphor.

 

Group Work

Find as many examples of the poetic devices, "metaphor," "assonance," "rhyme," "near rhyme," "alliteration" and "paradox" as you can. Be prepared to explain your results to your classmates.

Give two examples to illustrate the terms, "stanza" and "line" that we learned last week.

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