CSEC ENGLISH
Hello there! We hope you have settled into a good study routine now that the exams are so close. You need to re-read all your chosen English B texts, and you need to make a list of all your favourite spelling mistakes, and work on correcting them! Read on, and see what you can learn from today’s CSEC English page.
ENGLISH B—Writing about literary devices
You are sure to be asked to ‘comment on the effectiveness’ of a literary device in the course of your English B exam. Let’s look at how you can get full marks.
You need to do FOUR things: Identify the device, show where it occurs in the poem/play, say what it makes you THINK, and say how it makes you FEEL.
Here’s an example.
In the poem Little Boy Crying, the speaker ALLUDES to the children’s story Jack and the Beanstalk with references like ‘grim giant’ and ‘chopping down the tree’. The ALLUSION is effective because it makes the reader think how frightened and helpless the child feels and how much he hates the man who has slapped him. It also makes us feel compassion for the father in the poem because we know that far from being an ‘ogre’ or a ‘colossal’ cruel, he actually feels pain as he disci plines his son, and wishes he could remove his angry mask and just go on playing piggy-back or bull-fight with him.
Check back and make sure that we have done the FOUR things we listed! Now choose a device from this or another poem and write a similar paragraph, following the instructions.
MINI-MUDDLES
Do this exercise and find out if you are a mini-muddler! Select the correct word from the pair in the brackets.
1. Why did the receptionist (adapt, adopt) such a haughty tone when the
client mis-read the document?
2. Although Calvin comes from a very
manners are deplorable.
3. All of my friends (accept/except)
picnic.
4. If you have skilled mechanics, they could (adapt,adopt) modifying it for use in the rice fields.
5. After the company had (fazed/phased) out production of that model,
they realized their mistake.
6. You should (accept/except) her apology and invite her to the party. 7. The new draughtsman is of Chinese (decent/descent).
8. Savita was not in the least (fazed/phased) at the prospect of having an
interview.
CAUGHT IN THE SLIPS
this combine-harvester,
Look at these sentences and see if you can spot the slips:
At our school’s Speech Day, the Headmaster stressed on the need for the business community to try to create more jobs for school-leavers. Parents, kindly be inform that school will be close on Friday.
Check the bottom of the page for the answer.
SPELLING
(decent/descent) family, his
Jacqui will be able to come to the
Here are 15 words that are a bit tricky. Ask someone to test you, and make sure you can spell them. Write down any that you get wrong, and learn them. refrigerator, chasm, chaos, chaotic, myth, appreciate, innocence, metaphor, simile, glimpse, crispy, privilege, acknowledge, impulse, pursuit
Rule 1
Remember to put commas AROUND any “interruptions” in the sentence. Look at these examples:
sad to say,
● My brother,
school. ● The prettiest girl in our class,
opinion, is Anita. ● Several of the cattle ranchers, according to a report in today’s news
paper, have formed a cooperative.
does not do well at in Mark’s
Now it’s your turn. Find the “interruptions” in these sentences, and put commas around them.
1. The lime tree as you can see for yourself needs pruning.
2. Noise in the neighbourhood so my sister tells me has become a
serious problem.
3. Tourists visiting this resort according to the brochure are able to hire
ponies to ride through the forest.
4. My left shoulder from what the X-ray shows has been dislocated. 5. “My aunt” he said “left for England last week.”
Rule 2
Use a dash to add on a brief explanation—particularly in cases where you repeat a word. Look at these examples to see what we mean.
● She wants to be a surgeon—a neurosurgeon, in fact.
● He’s gone to live in Essequibo—in Anna Regina.
● They’re going to build a bridge over the river—the Berbice river.
Where would you put the dash in these sentences?
1. We asked Jamal to send us some photographs of his sister’s wedding. 2.Where have you put the key the one you use to open the shed?
3.The boys left their books on the shelf the little glass shelf above the
telephone.
4.Did you get the tablets those worm tablets that I asked you to bring
for the dog?
USING THE PASSIVE FORM
We can say the same thing two different ways. Look:
A. This house needs painting.
B. This house needs to be painted.
In sentence B we have used the passive infinitive—the verb TO BE plus the past participle.
Rewrite these sentences, following the example of sentence B.
1. This chicken needs frying.
2. These walls need wiping.
3. This car needs fixing.
4. Your hair needs combing.
5. The lawn needs mowing.
6. The rug needs beating.
7. The robbery needs investigating.
8. This meat needs freezing.
9. The balloons need blowing up.
10. That crook needs shooting!
11. The invitations need sending.
12. That old dress of yours needs throwing away!