Unit Objectives
At the end of the unit you will be able to
1. recognize multiple meanings a word may have, i.e. denotative and connotative
meanings, affective and collocative meanings;
2. identify false friends in English and learn to choose the correct word for an idea 3. learn to avoid making errors in subject-verb agreement; and 4. write a simple note.
Part 1 Warm-up activities
Form pairs and each write a short paragraph about AIDS and AIDS patients.
Student A: Do you think AIDS is a horrible disease? How horrible is it? Are you afraid of AIDS patients? What do you think of them? Write a short paragraph to express your views.
Student B: Suppose you are an AIDS patient, do you think there exists any difference between AIDS and other fatal diseases like cancer? Do you think you are a threat to public health? Write a short paragraph to express your views.
Part II Focus
2.1 Denotation and Connotation
Suppose you are going to write about a respectable teacher whose body size is above the average. Choose the one you would use from the sentences below, and then discuss the inappropriateness of the other two: a. He/She is plump. b. He/She is portly. c. He/She is fat.
So the works “fat, portly and plump”do not just mean overweight; they also suggest whether it is pleasant or unpleasant. We call the suggested meaning of a word its connotation.
Denotation, on the other hand, refers to the literal and primary meaning of a word—the definition you find in a dictionary. For example:
Mother denotes a woman who is a parent but connotes qualities such as protectiveness and affection; and weed denotes an uncultivated plant but connotes 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. Exercise: filling in the table below Word Denotation Connotation Sentence Gold home eagle heart sweater
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A good example is the word “gold\". The denotation of gold is a malleable, ductile, yellow element. The connotations, however, are the ideas associated with gold, such as greed, luxury, or avarice and also something very good. If you say that someone has a heart of gold, you are emphasizing that they are very good and kind to other people.
Thus 'home' denotes the house where one lives, but connotes privacy and intimacy. The word 'eagle' connotes ideas of liberty and freedom that have little to do with the word's literal meaning.
Heart: an organ that circulates blood throughout the body. Here the word \"heart\" denotes the actual organ, while on another context, the word \"heart\" may connote feelings of love or heartache. （My heart is broken）
Sweater: a knitted garment for the upper body. The word \"sweater\" may denote pullover sweater, while \"sweater\" may also connote feelings of warmness or security. Summary:
Denotation allows the reader to know the exact meaning of a word so that he or she will better understand the work of literature. It is the literal meaning of a word. (Literal meaning)
Connotations relate not to a word's actual meaning, or denotation, but rather to the ideas or qualities that are implied by that word. (implied meaning)
2.2 Attitude
In all kinds of writing, the words you choose may do more than inform. The selection of a word often reveals how you feel about your subject, whether you are pleasant, angry, critical or admiring. See if you can detect in the following sentences how the writer’s attitude changes from sentence to sentence: a. What a slim girl she is! b. How thin the girl is! c. The girl is so skinny!
The slim suggests the writer’s approval of the girl’s figure, while the word skinny is just the opposite. No girl will feel flattered if she is said to be skinny, as it is next to a bag of bones! So the three words, though similar in their denotative meaning, are diverse in affective meanings—that is, they reveal different attitudes of the writer. When we write in English, we have to be careful with such emotionally loaded words-i.e. words that can reveal the writer’s attitude.
The affective meaning of the word is connected to a person's personal emotions and how that would influence word choice.
Practice:
One of our friends is attractively thin and graceful. Is she slender or skinny?
You are describing some nurses working in a hospital who are pleasant and talk a lot in a friendly way making patents less nervous. Are they pleasant and chatty, or pleasant and talkative?
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The meanings of the above words and expressions are emotion-loaded. They express implicitly the speaker or writer’s feelings and attitudes. Affective meaning refers to the part of meaning which conveys the speaker’s/writer’s emotions about and attitudes towards the person or thing he/she is speaking/writing about. Words that have affective values generally fall into three categories: 1. Appreciative (favorable)
Words of appreciative implication are positive, expressing the writer’s
appreciation or attitude of approval. 2. Neutral/general
3. Derogatory (unfavorable)
Words of derogatory connotations are negative, suggesting disapproving attitudes, contempt or criticism.
Example:
Childlike vs. childish (appreciative vs. derogative)
resolute, firm vs. stubborn, obstinate, pigheaded (appreciative vs. derogative) shrewd vs. crafty (appreciative vs. derogative)
tough-minded vs. ruthless (appreciative vs. derogative) Practice:
Look at the following ten groups of words and expressions. In each group, words and expressions have similar denotation but vary in affective value. According to their affective values, put them into the categories they belong to in the table. 1) spinster, unmarried woman,
2) cocky, proud, arrogant, self-confident 3) prudent, timid, shy, cowardly 4) sly, wise, foxy, clever,
5) tempting, attracting, charming, 6) dismissed, fired
7) salesman, product representative 8) old age, golden years, fossil
9) strong-willed, stubborn, persistent 10) updated, new
1 Appreciative Neutral Pejorative 2 Maiden lady Unmarried woman spinster 3 Self-confident proud Cocky, arrogant 4 prudent Shy, timid cowardly 5 wise, clever Of high IQ Sly, foxy 6 Charming, attracting tempting 7 dismissed fired 8 Product salesman representative 9 Golden years Old age fossil 10 Strong-willed, persistent, stubborn
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Work in pairs and compare your writings in the Warm-up activities. Pay special attention to words showing attitudes and those rich in connotative meanings. Correct any misuse. 2.3 Collocation
Fill in the blanks with do or make. a. ___________ somebody a favor b. ___________ somebody good c. ___________ a gesture d. ___________ evil e. ___________ an effort
Certain words tend to occur together regularly. For example, when we describe coffee, we can say strong coffee or weak coffee, but when we describe soup, we cannot say the soup is strong or weak; instead we say the soup is thick or thin. From this we can see certain nouns are usually modified by certain adjectives and words of the same meaning are not interchangeable in this situation. We call this fixed combination of words collocation. There are several types of collocation:
Verb plus noun: follow the fashion Adjective plus noun: a brilliant success Verb plus adverb: think alike
Preposition plus noun: (the answer) to a question Verb plus preposition: think of (an idea) Conclusion:
Learning a word is usually is not only learning its meaning; it also includes learning which word or words it usually goes with, that is, its collocations. 2.4 False friends
False friends are pairs of words or phrases in two languages or dialects that look or sound similar, but differ in meaning. Read the following conversation between Alice and the Red and White Queens in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.
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“Can you answer useful questions?” asked the Red Queen. “How is bread made?” “I know that!” Alice cried eagerly. “You take some flour …”
“Where do you pick the flower?” the White Queen asked. “In a garden or in the hedges?”
“Well, it isn’t picked at all,” Alice explained, “it’s ground …”
“How many acres of ground?” said the White Queen. “You mustn’t leave out so many things.”
Can you find out the cause of the misunderstanding? Explanation:
Words like flour and flower, ground(pp) and ground(n) in this dialogue are
troublesome and their misuse can easily cause misunderstanding. We call pairs of words similar in appearance or pronunciation but different in meaning false friends. Examples:
Advise vs. advice Affect vs. effect
Complement vs. compliment Continually vs. continuously Angel vs. angle Capital vs. capitol Conscious vs. conscience
Practice:
Fill in the blanks below with the right word in brackets, change the form where necessary.
Your fever ________ (rise, raise) yesterday.
It is easier to talk about a __________ (principle, principal) than to live by it. Our _____ (principle, principal) played on the faculty football team against the
school all-stars.
Is that table _________ (stationary, stationery), or can it be moved to another
corner of the room?
White __________ (stationary, stationery) is always appropriate.
Can you think of any other false friends? Work in pairs and make a list of at least five pairs. Compare their meanings and write a sentence with each word to illustrate its meaning.
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Part III Writing Notes (1)
Read the following sample and answer the questions. Sample 1 Helen,
I am writing to thank you for the wonderful time I had at your dinner party last night. David Questions:
1. Why do people write notes? 2. What are the components of a note? 3. What are the characteristics of a note?
Read the following sample and answer the questions. Sample 2 Dear Mr. Li,
I am writing to tell you how grateful I am for all you did for me in Shanghai. I hope that you will contact me if there is anything I can do for you. In particular, I should be most glad to send you or the Department any books you need. Yours faithfully R.V.Johnson
Introduction to notes/letters of thanks 1. A note/letter of thanks usually includes:
1) thanking (thank you for…)
2) describing the reason (…for making my stay in Edinburgh so
pleasant …)
3) expressing pleasure (I enjoyed myself enormously …)
便条（Notes）
1. 便条的写作相对来说比较简单，重要的是格式，尤其要注意邀请类，
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预约类和道歉类便条的写法。 写便条时要注意一下几点：
1）如果想签署写便条的日期，应该写在右上角。 2）如果需要别人的回执，在左下角写上R.S.V. P.
3） 写作要注意写作对象，区分语言的正式与非正式形式。
5）地点和时间的顺序是先地点后时间，时间遵循星期+月份+日子+小时+分钟。 Example:
一个便条是2月28日上午9时40分写的，英语格式应该为：Sat. Feb. 28. 9：40 a.m. 当然这只是理论上的可能，实际生活中便条的日期写到几号就行了，如Sat. Feb.28，或者只写月日Feb.28.6） 要注意一些省略词，例如月份，R.S.V. P.等。
Part IV Unit Summary
In this unit, we have learned that the meaning of a word is multi-faceted: it includes denotative and connotative meanings, affective and collocative meanings, etc. The denotative meaning refers to the literal meaning, the one in dictionary, and the connotative meaning is the implication. A word can also convey a favorable, neutral, or unfavorable attitude of the person who uses it. And when we use a word, we have to pay attention to its collocations. In writing we should do not fit the specific context.
In addition, we have reviewed the conversions governing subject-verb agreement. A good knowledge of these conventions helps us stay away from some common writing errors. We have also discussed briefly the features and format of a note, a simple but efficient form of written communication.
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