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Neil Riley has taught English for 35 years and was Head of English at Southland Boys' High School. He
is currently teaching English and French and is the CEO and general editor of Live-wire Learning.
Live-wire Learning is New Zealand's most comprehensive on-line learning resource for secondary school
students providing detailed teaching material and graded questions in English from Years 7-12.
The goal of your teachers and school is that you become a self-directed life-long learner. Teachers will
help you achieve this but you have to help yourself as well. Like any sport, computer game or cultural
activity where practice makes perfect, you have to practise your English and literacy skills. This book and
eLive-wire is designed to help you to practise and become successful.
Our aim with this second book in the series is provide hard copy notes (which you can refer to in the
years ahead) from our site and some easy exercises that you can complete in class, so that then you can
practise this skill on line in your own time. Once you have mastered the easier Achieved-Only versions of
a module on line, you can then challenge yourself with the harder Merit and Excellence level questions in
the normal modules.
As a student you can now
go on line and use the eLive-wire programme to practise your knowledge and understanding of this material with Achieved level questions, gain success and confidence
get instant feedback from the hundreds of online questions + explanations to accelerate your learning
re-sit modules to improve your score out of 10 and your 'working at' level
extend yourself
track your record of learning and your place on the leader board (see our home page)
refer to the relevant modules or Glossary to make notes on the Key Terms
use the definitions modules to rehearse key terms.
We hope that this resource will motivate and equip you to succeed in this subject.
For instructions to access the web site, turn to the inside back cover.
All the best for your learning.
No material in this publication may be reproduced in any form without the permission of the publishers.
Vocabulary Development: Derivations 5. The History of the English Language - Old English 10 6. The History of the English Language – Middle English 12 7. The History of the English Language – Early Modern English 15 8. The History of the English Language – Modern English 16 9. Prefixes and Suffixes 18 10. Confusing Words – Homophones and Homographs 21 Poetic Devices 11. Sound Devices: Alliteration, Assonance & Onomatopoeia, Rhyme, Rhythm 23 12. Image Devices: Literal and Figurative Imagery, Simile, Metaphor, Personification 29 Language Features 13. Clichés to Slang 34 14. Visual Language Features 43 Close Reading of Texts – Putting it into Practice 15. Approaches to Unfamiliar Text 46 16. Close Reading Passages 49
Prefixes In Summary prefixes 1. The teacher was taking
her students from the
known to the unknown as
they explored their science
topic
A prefix is a part of a word that we fix to the start
of a word to change its meaning.
Common ones include:
e/ex-, in-, im-, un-, dis-, mis-, de-, re-
Several like in-, im-, un-, dis-, non- mean 'not'.
Prefixes In Detail
1. A prefix is a part of a word that we fix to the start of a word to change its meaning.
2. Many new words have been added to the English language in this way. On the next
page there is a table of common prefixes, their origins (what language they came from),
their meanings and an example. Differences in origins of prefixes affect their meaning.
3. Prefixes attach to the root of a word and word roots generally belong to word families.
4. There are a large number of prefixes that mean 'not' and therefore when added to a
word change the meaning to the opposite (they become antonyms). For example, in-, im-,
un-, dis-, non- mean not.
Worked example 3: dictionary The Latin root 'dict-' meaning 'say, speak' appears in the words: 'dictionary, dictate, unpredictable', predict (Note the prefixes 'un' and 'pre' also in use here.)
Worked Example 4: transplant The prefix 'trans' means 'across'. If we add it to the word 'plant', it now means 'to plant across' in a different place.
Worked Example 5: replant
The prefix 're' means 'again' or 'back'. If we add it to the word 'plant', the meaning of
the new word is 'to plant again'.
Worked example 2: ante- anti-
The Latin prefix 'ante' = 'before' and the Greek prefix 'anti' = 'against' or 'in place
of' are sometimes confused but both have quite different meanings because they
come from different languages.
Worked Example 6:
kind – unkind
persuade – dissuade
Worked Example 1: prefix
Note how the word 'prefix' itself begins with the prefix 'pre' means 'before' or 'in
Close Reading of Texts – Putting it all into Practice
Part 1 offers some ways you can approach a piece of unfamiliar text; Part 2 offers some
suggestions for answering NCEA Level 1 type questions on some passages of unfamiliar text.
You should go online to read and answer first in order to prepare you for the kind of written
answers you will encounter in NCEA level 1.
Part 1 Approaches to Unfamiliar Text
a. Features of Style
Style Features to look out for and questions to consider.
letter to
the
editor
Expect that the writer's purpose will be to persuade, to present a point of view. - Are there any supporting facts or is it just opinion?
- Does the writer use hyperbole?
- Is the tone unbiased and factual or emotive?
- How has the writer structured the piece? How does the writer capture your interest? Is there a
strong conclusion?
- How formal or informal is the letter?
formal
writing
Expect that the ideas will be presented and developed in a structured, logical and reasoned
way. - What is the writer's purpose?
a. To inform? How is the material structured? Are there subheadings? Images? Supporting
evidence? Is there the Statement – Evidence – Comment (SEC) format?
b. To persuade? Does the writer take the reader from the known to the new? Or the most
important to least? Or the least important to most? Or the general to the specific?
- What is the writer's message?
- What is the writer's point of view and attitude? Can you find examples of emotive language
that reveal this?
- Who is the likely audience? How does the writer use personal pronouns to create a relationship
with that audience?
- How formal and technical is the language? Does it use concrete nouns (as in a technical
manual) or abstract nouns (as in a more theoretical text)?
poetry Expect that the poet will be telling a story or exploring an experience or conveying a
message. Helpful hints:
- The poem's title will provide a clue.
- Try to work out who is involved, where the event is taking place, what is happening.
- The main idea or message will appear at the end of the poem.
- Poets use the best words in the best order so you will need to read slowly and paraphrase it in
your own mind.
- Punctuation will help you understand what is happening but you will have to decide whether
an idea stops at the end of the line or runs on to the next line.
- What narrative point of view is being used? First person (I) or third person (he, she)?
- Is the poet using emotive language? How does the poet feel? How does the poet want us to
feel about the subject being described?
- Is there both literal and figurative language? How vivid and original are these images?
- What sound effects has the poet included and why?
- How is the poem structured?
creative
writing
Expect that an event is being narrated or a scene or person is being described. - Who is involved? Where and when is the event taking place? What is happening?
- What is the message?
- Does the writer use literal imagery? If, so, what kind of mood/atmosphere is being created?
- Does the writer use figurative imagery? If so, how vivid or original are these images?
- Does the writer use emotive language? If so, what is the writer's attitude and how does the
writer want us, as readers, to respond?
- How is the story told? Is it first or third person narrative point of view?
- What other language techniques are being used and what effects do they have?
(ii) Example: ____________________________________________________________
(b) Explain how the feature you identified in (a) expresses the poet's feelings.
(c) Look at the whole poem. In your own words, explain the ways the poet helps you, as a reader, to become involved in the scene. Comment on how features such as language, tone, structure, narrative point of view and imagery are used. Support your answer with evidence from the text.
'Lines Composed In A Wood On A Windy Day'
(1) My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring And carried aloft on the wings of the breeze; For above and around me the wild wind is roaring, Arousing to rapture the earth and the seas.
(2) The long withered grass in the sunshine is glancing, The bare trees are tossing their branches on high; The dead leaves, beneath them, are merrily dancing, The white clouds are scudding across the blue sky.
(3) I wish I could see how the ocean is lashing The foam of its billows to whirlwinds of spray; I wish I could see how its proud waves are dashing, And hear the wild roar of their thunder to-day! - Anne Bronte Jones