unit-1-the-correct-word-1

1、Successful Writing,Unit I : The Correct Word(I),,,Words are the 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 cho

2、ose the right words.,Contents,Ⅰ. Lead-In Ⅱ. Denotation vs. ConnotationⅢ. Affective meanings of words Ⅳ. Collocative meanings of words,Ⅰ. Lead-in,,Group Discussion,Suppose you are going to write about a respectable tea

3、cher (male) whose body size is above the average. Then suppose you are to write the doorkeeper of your dormitory, an amiable middle-aged woman. He/ She is plump.He/ She is portly. He/She is fat.,√,√,When we are aske

4、d to describe the person who is fat, we have to decide whether the word “fat” is the right one.,,Ⅱ. Denotation and connotation,,Denotation, also called conceptual meaning, refers to the literal and primary meaning of a

5、word, i.e. the definition you find in the dictionary. （概念義,通常是詞典給出的定義，不會(huì)因人、因文化而異。）Connotation, is commonly understood as the cultural and/or emotional association that some word or phrase carries.引申義；言外之義，附加在概念意義之上，通過(guò)語(yǔ)言

6、所指事物傳遞的意義，因人、因文化而異。,,,4/4/2024,e.g. motherconceptual meaning：母親 connotation：慈祥、和藹、撫愛、體貼等,,Stepmother,Words and Cultural-specific Connotations,,Examples:鶴 vs.craneChinese: the symbol of longevityJapanese:

7、the symbol of happinessBritish: ugly birdFrench: stand for stupid men and wanton woman貓頭鷹 vs. owlChinese: unluckyEnglish: symbol of wisdom,Examples,蝙蝠 vs. batChinese: luckyEnglish: as blind as a bat, as crazy as a

8、 bat etc.狗 vs. dogChinese: derogativeEnglish: neutral,Examples,龍 vs. dragonChinese: symbol of power and statusEnglish: evil animal (the great dragon: Satan)荷花 (lotus)Indian: the national flowerJapanese: unlucky,

9、used in funeral or memorial ceremony,Examples,黃色 (Chinese; American; Russian)Chinese: pornographic(English) yellow news: sensational newsRussian: the symbol of betrayal 菊花 (chrysanthemum)Chinese: elegantJapanese

10、: the symbol of the royal familyLatin American: used in funerals,,Task One :,Discuss the denotations and connotations of mother and weed.,Country,a woman who is a parent,mother,→,Country,an uncultivated plant,weed,→,qua

11、lities such as protectiveness and affection,｛,｛,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.,,Task Two:,A: Discus

12、s the denotations and connotations of father and wildflower.,the male parent,Father,→,Country,an uncultivated plant,Wildflower,→,support and sternness,｛,｛,vitality and pleasantness,,Interestingly, “wildflower” carries a

13、different connotation from that of Chinese. In China, “wildflower” sometimes connotes negative senses. It can mean the woman who has loving affairs with married guys.,,,B. Fill in the table below and study the denotation

14、s and connotations.,,Country,Moon,Ice,Blood,Gold,a precious yellow metal,→,wealth, value, preciousness, etc.,｛,the natural body that moves around the earth once every 28 days,→,tranquility, purity, sth. out of reach,｛,wa

15、ter frozen so that it has become solid,→,indifference, cruelty, death,｛,red liquid flowing through the bodies of humans and animals,→,family background, descent, race, passion, courage,｛,,1. In the West, every male perso

16、n has the good qualities of males, such as bravery, spirit, and toughness.2. Anyway, she has the characteristics of a woman, such as frailty and delicacy.,4/4/2024,,Ⅲ. Attitude,,,In all kinds of writing, the words you

17、 choose may do more than inform. The selection of a word often reveals your emotions and attitude to your subject.,,Example one:,Can you detect in the following sentences how the writer’s attitude changes from sentenc

18、e to sentence?,a. What a slim girl she is!b. How thin she is! c. The girl is so skinny/ bony.,Approval,A bag of bones,→,→,,,So, the three words, though similar in their denotative meanings, are diverse in affective mea

19、nings —that is, they reveal different attitudes of the writer. When we write in English, we have to be very careful with such emotionally loaded words.,,Affective meaning感情意義,Reflecting the personal feelings of the speak

20、er/writer, including his attitude to the listener, or his attitude to something he is talking about.通過(guò)概念意義、引申義、語(yǔ)調(diào)或言辭等表達(dá)的關(guān)于說(shuō)話者或作者的感情和態(tài)度的意義。You’re a vicious tyrant, and I hate you for it!I’m terribly sorry to interrupt,

21、 but I wonder if you would be so kind as to lower your voices a little.,Task one:,Look at that lovely little boy! Look at that small boy! Look at that tiny boy!,4/4/2024,,They all describe the smallness of the boy.

22、little suggests attractively and pleasantly small , obviously an appreciative term; tiny means extremely small, implying the abnormal growth of the child; small is neutral, simply signifying not big.,4/4/2024,,Task Tw

23、o:,A. Complete the table with synonyms.,,Favorable,Neutral,Unfavorable,unique,strange,bizarre, abnormal,strong-minded, resolute, steadfast,stubborn, dogged,pigheaded,praise, commend,,compliment v.,lick one’s boots,flatt

24、er,senior citizen,old person,fossil,bachelor girl,single woman,spinster,,B. Fill in the blanks with the words in the above table.,He has the most unique distinction of having written speeches which were effective when d

25、elivered.Many of the managing posts are filled up by pigheaded people only because they happen to have the habit of ordering poor people about.I was flattered by your invitation to come to this party.He thought his la

26、ndlady was a mean fossil.Hurray! End of my single life! Not an old and bad-tempered spinster any more!,,Ⅳ. collocation,,Task One:,Fill in the blanks with do or make.,Certain words tend to occur together regularly.,,a. d

27、o b. doc. maked. doe. dof. make,4/4/2024,,,To sum up, collocation defines a sequence of words or terms that co-occur more often than would be expected by chance.,,,Collocation is a very important language feature an

28、d we must make note of that when we learn a language.,Collocative meaning搭配意義,pretty: girl, boy, woman, flower, garden, colour, village, etc.handsome: boy, man, car, vessel, overcoat, airliner, typewriter, etc.hot temp

29、ter, hot news white elephant, white lie,The meanings a word acquires when it co-occurs with other words.,,There are several types of collocation: v.+n., a. + n., v.+ ad., prep. +n., v. + prep.. Learning a word is not

30、 only learning its meaning; it also includes learning which word or words it usually goes with, that is, its collocations.,,Task Two,Choose the best modifiers for the following noun phrases.,intensive/extensive,,,Country

31、,Glowing,Crowning,Outright,accent - effect,- report/ account/ description,- achievement - glory,- refusal/ ban/ abolition,→,→,→,→,Pronounced,→,Classroom Activities,D D A B C C B,4/4/2024,,Ⅴ. False friends,,Tas

32、k One,Read the following conversation between Alice and the Red and White Queens in Lewis Caroll’s Through the Looking Glass. Can you find out the cause the misunderstanding?,,,Misunderstanding arises from the use of hom

33、onyms同音/同形異義詞, or false friends, “flower and flour”, “ground (as the past participle of grind) and ground (meaning the solid surface of the earth)”. In this excerpt, the use of false friends adds a humorous touch to th

34、e text.,,,We call pairs of words similar in spelling or pronunciation but different in meaning false friends.,,Some more examples:,fair vs. fare farther vs. furtheradvise vs. advice affect vs. effect compliment vs.

35、 complement capital vs. capitol credible vs. credulous subconscious vs. unconscious intense vs. intensive ineligible vs. illegible imaginative vs. imaginary image,,Can you distinguish between these false friends?,

36、Compliment n.,Capital,Credible,Intense,Capitol,Credulous,Intensive,→,→,→,Complement,→,Subconscious,→,Unconscious,Ineligible,Illegible,→,,Task Two,Fill in the blanks with the right word in brackets, change the form where

37、 necessary. lie lay lain lyinglay laid laid laying,,1. rose 2. raised 3. lying 4. laid 5. lay 6. stationery 7. stationary8. principle 9. principal,4/4/2024,,Or, either…or…, neither…nor

38、…, not only… but also…As well as, as much as, rather than, in addition to, together with, with, plus, includingAll, most, half, the last, the restLots of, heaps of, loads of,4/4/2024,,4/4/2024,,4/4/2024,,4/4/2024,,4/4