Monday, September 21, 2009

Lecture 2: Parts of Speech Review and Quiz

With a partner, choose one of the following activities and post your responses as a comment to the Lecture 2 blog post: (30 minutes)

  1. Find 3 newspapers, each in English but from a different country, and note down 12 adjectives (4 from each paper) and their effects on sentence structure and meaning. What are any difference in writing styles? 
  2. Write a description of these images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesslaccetti/3904727918/sizes/l/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesslaccetti/3061235409/sizes/o/in/set-72157610185167406/. Include at least 6 adjectives for each. Write the parts of speech that you use (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions etc…) in capital letters
  3. Create an online “Parts of Speech Treasure Hunt.” List 12 sentences, each with as many parts of speech as you manage directing readers where to go to find the treasures. At the end of your comment include 12 links to the treasures

16 comments:

  1. #2 Picture 1)
    Clouds are REFLECTED in the CLEAR water. The DARK trees SERVE to split the image in half. A slice of BRIGHT sunlight BREAKS the clouds apart. The pallet of muted colours are contrasted with the STUNNING GREEN grass at the bottom of the picture. The TALL grass at the waters edge seems to be CREEPING out into the STILL waters, as if in anticipation of its COLD nature.

    Picture 2)
    ELECTRIC colours and THRIVING plants bring life to this neighborhood. The SMALL motorcycles and cars are quite suited to the NARROW streets. Human existence is known in this neighborhood with the many apartments and the glimpse BLUE plaid at the bottom left corner of the photo. With the ETHERIAL CREAM coloured clouds creeping up into the uncorrupted sky, this photo is full of life.

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  2. Assignment 2
    PICTURE 1:
    WE are LOOKING at a SCENIC PHOTOGRAPH; a SINGULAR ISLAND 'IN THE MIDDLE' of a SERENE LAKE. The ISLAND IS DENSE WITH CONIFEROUS TREES, AND IN the BACKGROUND the DISTANT SHORELINE IS VISIBLE. The IMAGE would CREATE a NICE POSTCARD.

    PICTURE 2:
    IN a EUROPEAN CITY, THERE IS an APARTMENT COMPLEX LINED ONE-WAY STREET.The SKY IS BLUE AND ONE WOULD ASSUME that IT IS a BALMY SUMMER'S DAY.There ARE NO PEOPLE IN SIGHT, ONLY STILL VEHICLES.HEALTHY PLANTS PROVIDE a PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPING EFFECT.

    project completed by Jenny Nielsen and Caleb Caswell.

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  3. The first image contains a SPECTACULAR sight of the sun TRIUMPHANTLY breaking through the OVERCAST sky. The RIPPLED surface of the lake projects a sense of EERIE serenity. The EXTENSIVE line of trees in the background creates a feeling of DAUNTING isolation on the VAST horizon.

    The second image contains the COLOURFUL setting of a EUROPEAN RESIDENTIAL street. The perspective of the viewer gives the impression of being in a TIGHTLY-SPACED environment, What makes this photo PARTICULARLY INTERESTING is the contrast between the LINEAR shapes of the buildings and the OPEN sky.

    (Adjectives and adverbs are capitalized).

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  4. Assignment # 2

    Image 1
    A TRANQUIL lake dominates the vista. GENTLE ripples texture the surface of the water. A LONELY FORESTED island rests in the middle. Its DARK form contrasts SHARPLY with the water surrounding it. Shades of grey paint the sky, issuing warnings of the storm to come. The PALLID SETTING sun peers through a gap in the clouds.

    Image 2
    A SHADOW DAPPLED street stretches into the distance. COLOURED buildings rise on either side of the NARROW road. The sky commands attention with its VIVID BLUE canvas. Power lines stretch across the street, interrupting the otherwise UNBROKEN expanse. Beyond the street a cluster of PUFFY WHITE clouds are BARELY visible.

    Shawna and Jennifer

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Picture One:

    Clouds wistfully travel across the CHALKY sky and the RIPPLING lake glistens. The LAKESIDE pebbles are repeatedly coated in an ICY film. Meanwhile, SWEET songs of DISTANT loons are carried across the water. In the distance, LONE trees protect themselves by huddling from the CRISP wind. The sun GRACEFULLY peaks through the clouds.


    Picture Two:

    BRIGHT residences with SUN-BATHED balconies welcome the morning sun. UNDERSTATED garden hedges provide added privacy. A PRISTINE sky makes for a PICTURESQUE backdrop. The roadway is CRACKED and MENDED, adding character. A STIKINGLY cloudless day helps bring the street to life.

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  7. RE:Kayla Gaffney
    In taking in the pictures, I first started to get an initial sense of the image. As pointing out adjectives and other parts of speech, you begin to realize that almost every singe word is a specific part of speech. For the first photo, I started at the top of the page and spoke about the objects that made me feel like they were important to the image. I played upon color for the most part of my comments, since color is what was most abundant in the pictures that i found. For the second photo, i looked at the objects that dominated my field of vision. The images were both a lot to take in, but that makes the adjectives come naturally to the page instead of sounding forced.

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  8. re: Jennifer and Shawna's post

    I found myself paying more attention to word choice since a certain number of adjectives were required. Also, I was very conscious of when we created a sentence that did not contain an adjective and I immediately looked for a way to be more descriptive.

    On the whole, however, I do not think my process changed that much. We wrote our descriptions first then went back and identified adjectives. For both images we had more than six right off the bat.

    Paying attention to what kinds of words you're using when writing is a different and interesting experience. It seems to breed a greater awareness of language itself - at least it did for me.

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  9. RE: ASSIGNMENT 2
    Basic observational skills are applied in the describing of the two images. There is nothing particularly flowery in the language; it is used mostly to serve the mental-eye rather than create mood or atmosphere, which is how it differs from how I would normally write. The flow of the sentences mainly consists of addressing the main subject, then describing its context within the picture. This is also different from my usual writing, where I would vary the rhythm and structure of how the sentences are formed to avoid repetition.

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  10. Re: Jennifer and Shawna
    We approached this assignment by simply writing a description and then going back and capitalizing the adjectives and adverbs. We paid close attention to wording and tried to be as descriptive as possible.

    While describing these scenes, I was aware of the adjectives we put into our sentences, but I didn't actively try to put as many in as possible. When describing anything, adjectives come naturally, and being required to place 6 adjectives into the description did not affect my process very much. We were easily able to use more than 6 adjectives without putting any thought into where we were using them.

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  11. RE: Andrew and Ramona:

    Our heavy use of adjectives was a purposeful choice in order to create a more intense description. We were slightly more conscious of our choices, due to the nature of the activity. Although this did not directly affect our observations, we found ourselves articulating our thoughts more elaborately.

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  12. re: Description of the two photographs.
    Writing about the photographs enabled us to rely on our powers of observation. The adjectives used were a direct result of studying the photographs through observation. Description is a powerful tool in writing, and can evoke an emotional response in the reader. I wrote a poem about my mother a few years ago, simply by describing a photograph of her as a teenager. Great insight can be gained when we employ our senses to further our understanding of an image or situation.

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  13. PART 1:New York Times Newspaper
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/business/21marvel.html?_r=1&hpw
    1. Hasbro has rights to produce CERTAIN toys, and Universal holds Florida theme park rights to Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk, ` among other characters.
    “Certain” suggests that they are limited to what they manufacture for their toys, which helps sentence structure by limiting the meaning of producing.

    2. Mr. Kirby, who died in 1994, worked with the writer and editor Stan Lee to create many of the characters that in the last decade have become especially VALUABLE to Hollywood.
    "Valuable" suggests that the characters are doing well in Hollywood and have made a good impact on the comic world. This helps the sentence structure by emphasizing the importance of how important creating characters are.

    3. The window for serving notice of termination on the OLDEST of the properties opened several years ago, and will remain open for some time under copyright law.
    "Oldest" suggests the well used-corporations for Disney and Marvel, which helps the sentence structure in the way that it describes the state of businesses in today's society.

    4. Copyright matters have become increasingly TANGLED for Hollywood, as it continues to trade on characters and stories that were created decades ago but are now subject to deadlines and expiration dates under federal copyright law.
    "Tangled" is used in this article to emphasize the state of the copyright affairs, and the problems they have caused.

    Irish Times
    http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/0919/1224254847602.html
    1.The relationship between Guinness and Ireland is symbiotic, but as the black stuff celebrates its 250th birthday across the globe, is the LOVE affair beginning to show its age?
    " Love" develops the feelings of the appreciation of the alcohol, this helps sentence structure in developing the mood the adjective
    brings.

    2.It once claimed to be good for you, but is now firmly in the bad books of HEALTH professionals
    "Health" is important to establish which professionals are looking into this alcohol and it's affect on those who drink it.

    3.But while this is a FITTING time to consider these achievements, it is timely also to ask how long they might continue into the future.
    "Fitting" implies to the 250th birthday and how even though they are currently celebrating, it is becoming common knowledge that it is bad for the common person.

    4. Cassidy says Guinness has managed to hang on to a MORALLY POSITIVE image for most of its 250 years.
    "Morally positive" is important to establish despite the negative attitude towards Guinness in the article.

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  14. PART 2: New Zealand Herald
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10598798

    1. Rat poison discovered in DEAD penguins
    " Dead" is important to establish the importance of the article.

    2. The THREE AERIAL drops of 147 tonnes of POISON-LACED CEREAL bait - the last on August 7 - were part of a project to create a sanctuary for RARE birds.
    "Poison-laced cereal" gives us details about the rat poison that possibly killed the penguins. These words help complete the sentence.

    3. Tests on penguins and dolphins were commissioned partly to ease PUBLIC speculation the poison was linked to the recent deaths of dogs, dolphins, penguins and fish in the Hauraki Gulf.
    "Public" shows the extent of the speculation and allows the reader to understand the awareness the public has for this issue.

    4. Meanwhile, DoC has asked Algae specialists at the Cawthorn Institute to test Dead dolphins for DOMOIC acid, an algal toxin known to kill dolphins, and results were expected this week.
    "Domoic" explains what type of acid so the reader is clear that there is a point to testing it.

    The differences in each of the newspapers we have used are in text, format, pictures and adjectives used. Depending on where the newspapers derive, we sometimes see that in more of the North American papers, the font and text is simple like Times font. In the New Zealand news, the layout was very laid back and standard, and may actually have contained ads in the article. Ireland was a little more intricate with font and format, more sophisticated in its writing.

    By Brie and Murriel

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  15. Re: Three Newspapers

    Between Norway, Ireland, and Australia there were no drastically different language uses. What did differ from country to country was the type of news reported. All countries reported prominently local news in contrast to popular North American newspapers which commonly publish international news as headlines. We found newspaper articles, in all three countries don’t contain many adjectives; they tend to get straight to the point.

    Newspaper 1 -Ireland Independant-http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/cecelia-sprinkles-the-magic-again-1891139.html

    Grown-up- Helps give the article a specific tone. Gives the reader a sense of what the writer is writing about, and the age group.

    Murky- Contrasts with fairytale in the same sentence, used to describe how a mystery novel would be different to a fairytale.

    Escapist- Emphasizes the quality of the novels being described.

    Modern- Gives the reader a timeline in which the object being described, in this case teenager, fits. The reader then knows they aren’t being told about a teenager from 20 years ago, but from now. Helps put the writing into context.

    Newspaper 2- The Australian - http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26107834-12377,00.html, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26107570-12377,00.html, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26108363-12377,00.html

    Sketchy - Used to describe the details of the spys career--not much is known.

    Poor - Elizaveta Mukasei, the spy, was from a POOR family who had to move to escape their poverty. From this new location is where she eventually got into being a spy.

    Enhanced - The photos of models are obviously changed and the public should be made aware of this. Helps describe to the reader what it is that the media does to pictures.

    Developing - A kinder, well-known term to describe poorer countries.

    Newspaper 3-Norwegian News in English-http://theforeigner.no/pages/news/norways-650-million-bill-for-the-chernobyl-accident/

    Radioactive- describes the subject, “meat,” and conveys to the reader what the subject is affected by.

    Controlled- Explains the noun “diet,” and describes its regulation as it is presented to the subject of the paragraph, the sheep.

    Semi-wild- Compound adjective used to describe the feral habitat of the mountainside. It inspires the reader to imagine the subject, “sheep,” living in a wilderness.

    Excessively- Used with the noun “fond” to describe the sheep’s (once again, the subject) enjoyment of mushrooms. Allows the reader to better understand the sheep’s affinity towards the mushrooms.

    Cassidy, Sarah, and Brent

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  16. Picture 1:

    There is a LONELY ISLAND STANDING in the middle of a PLACID BODY OF WATER. The SHORES SURROUNDING it SEEM very distant and give the ISLAND a MYSTERIOUS and FOREBODING feel. The SKY is grey and OVERCAST except for the SMALL patch of SUN RADIATING THROUGH a break in the clouds. Its LOOKS as though there may be a slight chill in the AIR and, if it wasn’t for the patch of GREEN GRASS HIDING in the corner of the shot, it is almost believable that fall could be right AROUND the corner.

    Picture 2:

    This shot depicts the typical feel ALONG an OLD EUROPEAN STREET. Either side of the STREET is lined with RUSTIC and WEATHERED looking buildings that SEEM to continue on AROUND the corner and INTO forever. Each BUILDING has its own DISTINCT color and character to it; some have NEATLY trimmed hedges lining the property while others have INTIMIDATING metal posts. THIS SHOT LOOKS like it could have been taken decades ago but the Smart car on the right of the street dates it to a much closer time.

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