THERE AREN’T ANY HANDOUTS IN THE FILING
CABINET TODAY
Consider:
The man sighed hugely.
--E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
Discuss:
What does it mean to sigh hugely?
How would the meaning of the sentence change if we rewrote it as:
The man sighed loudly.
Apply:
Fill in the blank below with an adverb:
The man coughed _________________.
Your adverb should make the cough express an attitude. For example, the
cough could express contempt, desperation or propriety. Do not state the attitude.
Instead, let the adverb imply it. Share your sentence with the class.
THEME
Definitions
Topic: Something that is discussed in the story. Usually one or two words.
Theme:
 An idea or message about life society or human nature.
What is the author trying to teach us? You use inference to find themes.
Must be written as a statement.
Finding Themes
Needs and Desires: Understand the inner struggles of characters. What are their needs and desires in the beginning,
middle, and end?
Conflict: Identify the central conflict.
Subtext: Examine dialogue and action between characters. Does the main character say or do things he doesn’t want
to say and do?
Personal experience: Compare the main character’s journey to your own experiences. Do you know how he feels?
Plot: Look at what has happened in the story and find what the characters have learned.
Motivation: Look for evidence regarding character motives and evaluate the character’s personality.
Visualize Setting: Evaluate what effect the setting has on the characters and on the mood of the story.
THEME ACTIVITY:
1. Read the children’s story as a group.
2. Find a theme for each of these methods:
a) Needs and Desires: Understand the inner struggles of characters. What are their needs and desires in
the beginning, middle, and end?
b) Conflict: Identify the central conflict.
c) Subtext: Examine dialogue and action between characters. Does the main character say or do things
he doesn’t want to say and do?
d) Personal experience: Compare the main character’s journey to your own experiences. Do you know how
he feels?
e) Plot: Look at what has happened in the story and find what the characters have learned.
f) Motivation: Look for evidence regarding character motives and evaluate the character’s personality.
g) Visualize Setting: Evaluate what effect the setting has on the characters and on the mood of the story.
DICTION
DICTION: The choice of a particular word as opposed to others.
 Denotation (dictionary definition)
 Connotation (the meaning from context; effect the word has).
 Diction Activity #1: How can we remember these two words?
Experts tell us the French language has a vocabulary of about 125,000 words. The English
language has a vocabulary of about half a million, not including technical or other specialized language.
So in English we can say exactly what we mean because we have so many synonyms. (Perhaps that is why
the writer Orson Scott Card [Ender’s Game] says there are no true synonyms in English.)
A writer could call a rock formation by many words – a stone, a boulder, an outcropping, a pile of
rocks, a cairn, a mound, or even an anomalous geological feature. The analytical reader then faces tough
questions: Why that particular choice of words? What is the effect of that diction?
CONNOTATION: The associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its
explicit or primary meaning.
Connotation is often described as having to do with emotional, social, or other implications of
a word. The word “thin,” for example, can have a positive connotation of attractiveness in modern
society, while it has a negative connotation when we use it to describe someone’s “disappearing” hair.
Among other things, connotation often determines the audience's reaction to the object of
description, thus helping the writer/speaker achieve a purpose. Connotation also contributes to style
and tone.
Diction Activity
Groups:
student, apprentice, disciple, junior, learner, novice, scholar, undergraduate
skinny, bony, angular, emaciated, gaunt, malnourished, scrawny, slender, willowy, thin, anorexic
run, amble, bound, dart, dash, gallop, lope, scamper, sprint
vacation, break, fiesta, furlough, holiday, intermission, layoff, recess, respite, sabbatical
busy, active, diligent, employed, occupied, unavailable, employed
fear, dread, apprehension, misgiving, qualm, anxiety, panic, terror
fat, obese, chubby, stout, plump, stocky, bloated
friend, companion, buddy, acquaintance, colleague, playmate, confidante, compatriot
A) identify each word as positive, negative, or neutral. Keep in mind that many
words can be either, depending on the context.
B) Choose 3 words and give the connotation and denotation.
SYNTAX
Syntax is the way words are arranged in sentences. In other words,
syntax is sentence structure. Syntax includes these important elements:
• Sentence parts
• Word order
• Sentence length
• Punctuation
Syntax Activity
When I woke up it was light. It was awfully quiet. Too quiet. I mean, our house just isn’t naturally
quiet. The radio’s usually going full blast and the radio is turned up loud and people are wrestling and
knocking over lamps and tripping over the coffee table and yelling at each other. Something was
wrong, but I couldn’t quite figure it out. Something had happened…I couldn’t remember what.
–S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders
1. What is the purpose of the shorter sentences and fragments?
2. What is the purpose of the longer sentences?
3. How does sentence length reinforce the meaning of the passage?
4. Hinton used ellipses in the last sentence to show that something has been left out. What has been left
out? How do you know?
5. Reorganize this sentence: Spring break came like a time of calm winds after a hurricane.
What is the effect of this new word order?
AMBIVALENCE
THE “COEXISTENCE OF TWO OR MORE EMOTIONS.”
AMBIGUITY
THE “CO-EXISTENCE OF TWO OR MORE
MEANINGS.”
Ambiguous is something that is confusing or has more than one meaning. It can
be the ambiguous look your ex-girlfriend gives you as she leaves the library, or the
ambiguous ending of the movie Lost Highway, where you don't know what the heck
just happened. Here's the word in action from the news:
Ambivalent is when you don't hate something, but you don't love it either. Since
you feel two ways about it, you don't really care. It's often used to describe
feelings, attitudes, and relationships:
When choosing between ambiguous and ambivalent, consider whether you are
describing something that is unclear or vague: that's ambiguous. If it's a fluctuation in
attitude or feeling, that's ambivalent.
http://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/ambiguous-ambivalent/
AMBIVALENT AND AMBIGUOUS ACTIVITIES
#1: How can we remember these two words?
#2: Find two characters (not previously written
about) for each term. Include, character’s name,
where he/she is from, and why they are an example
of that term.