English 2 G 8/15

1. English 2 G 8/15 • IDENTITY PROJECT Working on your OWN amazing and glittering piece of writing. • IMPROVEMENTS: Working on nouns and verbs in your writing. • HOMEWORK: • Complete your IDENTITY PROJECT by THURSDAY 23rd AUGUST • DEAR novel tomorrow!!!

2. Writing about lives… I was born in a University campus and seem to have lived all my life in one campus or another. My family is from Dhaka – now the capital of Bangladesh. My ancestral home in Wari in ‘old Dhaka’ is not far from the University campus in Ramna. My rather AshutoshSen taught chemistry at Dhaka University. AmartyaSen (Nobel Prize winning economist) Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Wurttemberg Germany, on March 14 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich… It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day – A sunny day with leaves just turning, The touch-lines new-ruled – since I watched you play Your first game of football, then, like a satellite Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away. (C. Day Lewis) Frieda Kahlo’s ‘Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace, Hummingbird and Unibrow’ was created in 1940…She was deeply influenced by indigenous Mexican culture…The woman’s characteristic features are impassive and it is only with addition of symbols such as thorns and butterflies that indicate psychological intent… All this happened, more or less. The war parts anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn’t his. (K. Vonnegut)

3. NOUNS / VERB http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/n/nouns.asp I miss the good old days when all we had to worry about was nouns and verbs

4. NOUNS/VERB • It was, it is, there was, there are, etc.. • Instead of using the ambiguous “it,” state the noun you mean • Only use state of being verbs if you absolutely have to Instead use VIBRANT action verbs Example: It wascoldthe day my grandfather died. Instead…The weather grewfrigid the day my grandfather died. • If you have to use adjectives, or adverbs, make them count!

5. Mini Workshop #2: NOUNS! • Clarify vague pronouns  have clear antecedents • Especially important with it, personal pronouns, and vague nouns • It seems they enjoy those things. • He learned a lot from that experience. • Use specific nouns and avoid adjectives: • frumpy old woman • Dilapidated vehicle • Dingy, broken down house  crone, hag  jalopy, rattletrap  hovel, shack

6. Mini Workshop #2: VERBS! Concision comes in small packages… • Simplify verb forms: • I have come to the understanding… • I do indeed take pleasure in… • Cut superfluous adverbs  Use precise verbs: • Run quickly • Laugh wholeheartedly • Dance wildly  I now realize…  I relish…  sprint, gallop, dash  guffaw, chortle, chuckle  gambol, caper, frolic

7. Mini Workshop #2: VERBS! • Tone & diction:Make your words SHOW how you feel! • When the doorbell rang, I got off my bed and went to answer the door. • What is the tone? • What words are “flat” or “vague”? • How might they be changed?

8. Mini Workshop #2: VERBS! • Tone & diction:Make your words SHOW how you feel! • When the doorbell rang, I got off my bed and went to answer the door. • What is the tone? • What words are “flat” or “vague”? • How might they be changed? When the doorbell blared, I jumped off my bed and sprinted to the door. Tone? When the doorbell dinged, I crept out of bed and shuffled to the door. Tone?