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10 Tips To Help Navigate Centuries-Old Writing
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You have been given a card with a word on one side and a
definition of a different word on the other side.
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Someone in class is holding a card with the matching
definition for your word and the matching word for your
definition.
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Find that person!
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amuse: to delude or deceive
awful: wonderful, delightful, amazing
barnacle: a species of wild goose
cute: keenly perceptive; shrewd
guess: to take aim, as with a weapon
matrix: the womb
nimrod: a skillful hunter
placenta: a flat cake, like a pancake
quarrel: a square of glass
receipt: a drug or food made by recipe
recipe: “take”
recreation: refreshment by taking food
road: hostile incursion on horseback
roulette: a hair-curling device or a massage roller
sad: satisfied or settled
servant: an admirer or wooer
torpedo: an electric ray fish that can temporarily paralyze
villain: a farm laborer
wrong: twisted or bent
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Source: dailykos.com
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It’s easy to be go astray when you apply the wrong definition
to a word. It can lead to a complete misinterpretation of a
text.
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In order to fully comprehend and analyze an archaic text, we
need to first understand what the words mean.
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I can apply reading strategies to better comprehend an archaic
text.
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What is an archaic text? (Hint: That word should look familiar to
those of you who have already done your Group 19 vocabulary
assignment.)
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What challenges might an archaic text present?
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What strategies can we employ to help us read archaic texts?
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Read from punctuation mark to punctuation mark, figuring out
the meaning as you go.
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Treat semicolons and colons as periods.
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In extremely long passages, figure out where new paragraphs
would start.
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Use the entry point strategy. Find something that makes sense to
you and “enter” the passage there.
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Read carefully and closely, paying attention to every word.
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Read a line and think about what the passage might be about. Think
about what you already know about the topic. Then continue reading.
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Read actively. Ask questions, make connections, formulate opinions,
make predictions, etc.
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Focus! Set up reading conditions that will help you pay attention. Find
something interesting even in the driest of passages. Annotate as you
read.
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Beware of words that might take on different meanings in older texts.
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Look up words you don’t know and try to expand your vocabulary.
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“Men not only forget benefits received and injuries endured; they
even come to dislike those to whom they are indebted, while
ceasing to hate those others who have done them harm.
Diligence in returning good for good, and in exacting vengeance
for evil, comes to be a sort of servitude which we do not readily
accept.”
Tips I can use: Read from punctuation mark to punctuation mark.
Read carefully and closely. Look up words you don’t know.
(Remember: You don’t have to use all of the tips every time!
Figure out what works for you and for the passage.)
Paraphrase: I think this means that the need to pay people back
for the good things they have done for us or the bad things they
have done to us often outweighs and outlives the actual deeds
themselves. Seeking that justice seems less of a desire and
more of an obligation that enslaves us until it is achieved.
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You will each receive a sample text of your own. Spend a
few minutes applying the strategies we have discussed and
paraphrasing the text.
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Next, discuss your results with someone who read the same
text as you.
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In 2006, students taking the AP exam were asked to write a
rhetorical analysis of an excerpt from an 1827 essay by William
Hazlitt called “On the Want of Money.” The result: the lowest
mean score (3.96) of any free-response essay prompt in the past
10 years.
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Read the excerpt, apply the reading strategies we have
discussed, and answer the questions on the handout for
tomorrow. (This PowerPoint is available on our class page, if you
need it.)
Also for tomorrow, read “Of Youth and Age.” (Grab a packet off
the front table. Stop reading when you get to “No Man Is an
Island.”)
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