Title: “How I Write: Geoffrey Clark.” Interview by Jack Smith. The Writer (February 2009), 58. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.
Summary: One piece of advice comes up almost every time I read about what writers do when they write: make that first draft quick and as complete as you can. Clark: “I always try to get first drafts down fast, and then if I’ve gotten the spark I was looking for, I’ll see it through however many drafts it needs to be fully realized.”
Comment: My experience has been that if I don’t finish a draft at one sitting for short pieces and as quickly as possible for longer pieces, I will procrastinate and it will probably never be completed or published. RayS.
10-second review: Summary of RayS’s suggested program for vocabulary development in middle school and high school.
Title: “Building Word Knowledge.” Raymond Stopper. Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris. 2004.
Vocabulary development is important because a knowledge of words increases the range of ideas available to people, enriching their personalities; because a knowledge of words is related to IQ; because a knowledge of words is vital to skilled communication in writing and speaking; and because a knowledge of words is essential to comprehension of reading material. Words are both ideas and the sources of ideas.
Generally speaking, vocabulary development is a cumulative process. Vocabulary grows slowly, gradually increasing as a result of reading, taking the time to note the context and to look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary, checking the etymology and reducing the definition to two or three words, whether recorded on index cards or in your memory.
True, Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy does provide knowledge of great numbers of words in short periods of time, words that are useful and, because of Lewis’s techniques, easily remembered. But even Lewis’s book will not take the place of consistent vocabulary growth gained through learning unfamiliar words when reading. RayS.
10-second review: Some tips on solving sentence completion vocabulary tests successfully
Title: “Building Word Knowledge.” Raymond Stopper. Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris. 2004.
SAT’s present use of vocabulary tests: sentence completions.
Sentence Completions
The Sentence Completion Test is the only vocabulary test left on the SAT, after elimination of the antonyms and the analogies.
Here is an example of a sentence completion item from 10 Real SAT’s, p 289, Second Edition:
Trinkets intended to have only … appeal can exist virtually forever in landfills because of the … of some plastics. A. arbitrary … scarcity; B. theoretical … resilience; C. ephemeral … durability; D. obsessive … fragility; E. impetuous … cheapness.
The technique recommended by the College Board is for students mentally to fill in the blanks with words from their own vocabulary that make sense in the context of the sentence.
Then, they should read the answers looking for the first word that approximates the first word they used from their own vocabulary. Next, they should check the second word. Sometimes one of the words will be correct and the other will not. They will need to keep going until they find the answer that matches both of their words from their own vocabulary.
In the preceding example, I substituted from my vocabulary the words, “temporary” and “longevity.” The answer to this problem is “C. ephemeral … durability.” My word, “temporary,” was similar to the first word in the correct answer, C. “ephemeral”; “durability” was similar to my word, “longevity.”
Not knowing the meaning of the word “ephemeral,” of course, could make selecting the correct answer very difficult. Build your vocabulary by collecting unfamiliar words from your reading on 3” x 5” index cards, using as few words as possible as definitions for each word. Will help you remember the meaning.
Remember that the purpose for this technique for solving sentence completion items is to eliminate at lest three items, leaving the choice between two. Guessing wrong costs only ¼ point in the SAT. Guessing right gains one whole point.
Whether the test is “antonyms,” “analogies,” or “sentence completions,” these techniques will not help if students are unfamiliar with the words in the test. My three steps to vocabulary development—pre-teaching difficult words before reading assignments, studying Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy, and using index cards to record unfamiliar words encountered in reading, with key words from the dictionary as definitions—practiced over several years, will go a long way toward building large, useful vocabularies for writing, speaking and reading successfully. RayS.
10-second review: Some tips on completing antonym and analogies vocabulary tests successfully
Title: “Building Word Knowledge.” Raymond Stopper. Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris. 2004.
SAT’s previous use of vocabulary tests: antonyms, analogies, sentence completions.
Antonyms
I remember in reading the instructions for how to take the antonym test (word opposites), the makers of the test pretty much said, “You either know the word or you don’t.” You just have to remember that you are looking for the opposite, which is not the usual pattern in a vocabulary test. If your vocabulary test involves antonyms, just practice. And build up your vocabulary in the manner I have suggested: through looking up unfamiliar words before reading assignments, working with Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy, and by collecting individual cards with the unfamiliar words you meet in your reading.
Analogies
The analogy is traditionally stated as follows: Topic: Discourse:: A. title: play; B. subject: digression; C. guideline: policy; D. theme: essay; E. footnote: text.
Normally, students read the analogy problem as, “Topic Is to Discourse” as “A. title is to play”; “B. subject is to digression”; “C. guideline is to policy”; “D. theme is to essay”; and “E. footnote is to text.”
The first step in attacking an analogy is to state precisely in a sentence the relationship between the two given words: “The topic is the subject of the discourse” and then follow through with the exact same statement of the relationship with the rest of the test items.
The topic is the subject of the discourse as A. the title is the subject of the play; B. the subject is the subject of a digression; C. the guideline is the subject of the policy; D. the theme is the subject of the essay; and E. the footnote is the subject of the text.
Although D. The theme is the subject of the essay is close, the more precise answer is A. The title is the subject of the play.The theme of an essay might not be the same as the topic. The topic might be automobile accidents, the theme, why do they happen?
As in this analogy, if you put the given words (Topic: Discourse) into a sentence stating their relationship, “The topic is the subject of the discourse,” you will quickly eliminate most of the choices. Usually that will bring you to two possible choices and, if you are not sure, guess. In the old SAT, you only lose ¼ of a point for each mistaken answer and you gain a whole point if you guess right. You need to practice this method for solving analogies. If you are pressed for time, try a half hour a day.
I used to take the SAT each time it was offered. My practice with analogies gave me an almost perfect score almost all of the time.
But here’s the point. I found that students had no trouble in solving the analogies using my suggested method (taken from the directions offered by the SAT in its instructions) but would miss the analogies because they did not know the words in the analogy.
Build up your vocabulary by keeping a record of unfamiliar words you encounter in your reading assignments, by working with Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy and by keeping a record of unfamiliar words in your reading in all your subjects and in your leisure reading. Even if the analogies are not part of the SAT today, there is still the Miller Analogies test needed for graduate school.
10-second review: Step 3 in increasing vocabulary is to provide a method for students to collect and review unfamiliar words they encounter in their reading.
Title: “Building Word Knowledge.” Raymond Stopper. Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris. 2004.
Personal Vocabulary Collection
Finally, I always tried to encourage students to keep a personal vocabulary collection. Not everyone was motivated to do so, and some educators disagreed with my method, but here it is—based on my experience learning to read French:
To complete my master’s degree in English, I had to pass a test in reading French because French was one language in which much literary criticism had been written. I did not have the money to spend on a course in French and I did not want to overload myself with another course, considering the number of English courses I was taking already, so I decided to teach myself to read French; I did not have to learn to speak it.
I bought a box of French vocabulary cards—thousands of them—a French grammar book and a dual translation book in which the French version of a story or article appeared on the left page and the English version on the right page. I spent one hour of my day, every day, seven days a week, for a year, doing these three activities: 15 minutes memorizing vocabulary words, 15 minutes studying the French grammar and 30 minutes working on the dual translation book, first attempting to translate the French version and then comparing my translation to the English translation on the opposite page. Of course, I used a French-English dictionary to help me with the translation.
To build my French vocabulary, I would go through the cards in the box, ten cards a day. I would look at the French word, then at its meaning in English on the opposite side of the card. I noted that the English meanings were concise, usually expressed in one, two or three words. The next day, if I knew the meaning of the word without looking on the other side of the card, I placed the card in one pile, the “known” pile. If I still had to look at the meaning on the other side, I placed the card in the “not known” pile. Each day, I would start with the “not known” pile to see if I could add any cards to the “known” pile. Gradually, as day followed day, the “known” pile began to grow larger and larger. I was learning French vocabulary.
I soon realized that the concise two- or three-word definitions in English for the French words helped me to remember their meanings.
By the end of the year, my work with French vocabulary, grammar and translation, one hour a day, had given me the ability to read French almost fluently, although I could not speak it. I had practiced only reading. When the time came to take the reading test in French, I passed it easily.
What I did with the French vocabulary is what I recommended to my students interested in developing their English vocabularies, especially when the time came to take the SAT. Three of the four tests in the Verbal Section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) consisted of vocabulary—antonyms, analogies and sentence completions. The other test was reading comprehension. I suggested that each week they read as many articles as they could in one of the major news magazines—Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report—and to underline words they did not know. These magazines were an excellent source of useful vocabulary words. It was in looking up the words in the dictionary that my method differed from the traditional approach of copying the entire definition.
I suggested that the students use 3” x 5” index cards and put one word, with pronunciation, if needed, on the blank side of the card, and the definition on the other, lined side of the card. I suggested that they write only one or two, or, at most, three key words from the dictionary definition. The purpose was to avoid the mindless copying of lengthy definitions in favor of thinking about the meanings by reducing them to key words.
Using only one index card per word made reviewing the words easy, sorting them, as I had with the French vocabulary, into a pile that consisted of known words and a pile that consisted of words still not mastered.
Several students, desperate to improve their SAT Verbal scores, tried this method for a month or more before re-taking the test. They significantly improved their scores and expressed gratitude for my suggesting the method.
When I was teaching, I had students accumulate such a card collection with the words that I pre-taught before reading assignments, to which they would add unfamiliar words encountered in their personal reading and from their reading in other subjects. The point of the collection was the reduction of lengthy dictionary definitions to just a few key words. No telling how large students’ vocabularies would grow if they conscientiously followed this plan from 5th grade through high school.
Examples of 3” x 5” index cards with the word (and definition, if necessary) on the blank side and key words from the dictionary definition on the lined side:
panache (pa năsh’)……….flashy, loud, show-off
grommet (grom’ it) ………. loop as button fastener
antic ………. laughable behavior
invidious (in vid’ e us. ………. insult
quotidian (kwōtid e en) ………. daily
apostrophize (a postrafīz) ………. speak to a personification (“O West Wind….”)
congeries (kon’ jerēz) ……… collection
farrago (fa rāy’ go) ………. disordered mixture
littoral (lit’ or al) ………. close to shore
rive (rīv) ………. split
paradigm (par’ a dīme) ………. pattern
risible (rĭz’ a bl) ………. provoking laughter
dialectic (dī a lek’ tik) ………. contradiction combined = truth
midden ………. accumulated refuse
antinomy (an tin’ a mē) ………. fundamental contradiction; unresolvable
doyen (doi’ en) ………. experienced member of a group
outré (oo tray’) ………. violates convention
hegemony (hĕ jem’ a nee) …….. control by person or group
bricolage (brik’ ō lazh) ………. Constructed of whatever is handy
The key to the effectiveness of this method is the conciseness of the definitions on the lined side of the card. Too many words in the definitions would make the word hard to remember. Lengthy definitions lead to mindless copying. One has to think about the definition in order to reduce it to one, two or three words. RayS.
10-second review: Step 2 in increasing vocabulary is to use a good vocabulary text. Continued.
Title: “Building Word Knowledge.” Raymond Stopper. Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris. 2004.
How Norman Lewis Teaches Vocabulary.
First, Lewis gives a basic list of words, each described by the idea it represents. For example, from the first chapter, “Personality Types,” here’s Lewis’s description of an egoist:
“Me First.”
Your attitude to life is simple, direct, and aboveboard—every decision you make is based on the answer to one question: “What’s in it for me?” If your selfishness, greed, and ruthless desire for self-advancement hurt other people, that’s too bad. “This is a tough world, pal, dog eat dog, and all that, and I, for one, am not going to be left behind!”
Lewis does the same for every other word in the basic ten words.
Next, he breaks the words down into roots, prefixes or suffixes. From “egoist,” he extracts the root, ego, meaning “I” or “self.” Based on that root, he adds the words, ego (self-concept), egocentric, alter ego, and egomaniac.
By the time he has finished the basic ten words for the chapter and taught the following words related to the basic ten words, students will have learned a number of additional words, among them, the following: ambidextrous, ambidexterity, dexterous, dexterity, sinister, gauche, gaucherie, adroit, adroitness, anthropology, anthropologist, anthropological, philanthropist, philanthropy, philanthropic, gynecologist, gynecology, gynecological, monogamist, monogamy, monogamous, bigamist, bigamy, polygamist, polyandrist, misanthropist, misanthropy, misanthropic, misogyny, and asceticism.
Summary of the Advantages of Using Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy.
Students enjoy the focus on ideas, the emphasis on the Greek and Latin roots, the ability to remember the words because of the roots, the brief objective tests that virtually assure learning and concentration on pronunciation of some real jaw breakers. They had fun going home and showing off their knowledge of words, sometimes embarrassing their parents who did not know that “gauche” described someone who was socially awkward or that “ambidextrous” described a person who is skilled with both hands.
Buy a copy of the book, Norman Lewis, Word Power Made Easy, from Amazon.com and try it yourself. You’ll be surprised at how many words you will learn in a very short time. And so will your students.RayS.
10-second review: Step 2 in increasing vocabulary is to use a good vocabulary text.
Title: “Building Word Knowledge.” Raymond Stopper. Teaching English, How To…. Xlibris. 2004.
What Is the Best Vocabulary Text on the Market?
As far as a vocabulary textbook is concerned, I have never found a better one in grades 9-12 than Norman Lewis’s Word Power Made Easy. You will find it on Amazon.com along with a lot of glowing praise from people who have used it. Want to learn hundreds of words, maybe even a thousand, in an enjoyable manner? Try Word Power Made Easy. Many of the words Lewis teaches appeared regularly on the vocabulary-laden versions of the SAT. These are words that are interesting as ideas.
Lewis teaches hundreds of words by stressing the interesting ideas they represent, by relating them through etymology or word origins, and by using brief objective tests to review their meanings several times in each chapter with review tests throughout the book.
Here’s a list of chapters from the table of contents of the book:
“How to Talk about Personality Types.” Basic words: egoist, egotist, altruist, introvert, extrovert, ambivert, misanthrope, misogynist, misogamist, ascetic.
“How to Talk about Doctors.” Basic words: internist, gynecologist, obstetrician, pediatrician, dermatologist, ophthalmologist, orthopedist, cardiologist, neurologist, psychiatrist.
“How to Talk about Practitioners.” Basic words: psychologist, psychoanalyst, orthodontist, optometrist, optician, osteopath, chiropractor, podiatrist, graphologist, gerontologist.
“How to Talk about Science and Scientists.” Basic words: anthropologist, astronomer, geologist, biologist, botanist, zoologist, entomologist, philologist, semanticist, sociologist.
“How to Talk about Liars.” Basic words: notorious, consummate, incorrigible, inveterate, congenital, chronic, pathological, unconscionable, glib, egregious.
“How to Talk about Actions.” Basic words: disparaging, equivocating, titillate, adulate, proscribing, obviate, militates, maligning, condone, placate.
“How to Talk about Speech Habits.” Basic words: taciturn, laconic, inarticulate, garrulous, banal, verbose, voluble, cogent, vociferous, loquacious.
“How to Insult Your Enemies.” Basic words: martinet, sycophant, dilettante, virago, chauvinist, monomaniac, iconoclast, atheist, lecher, hypochondriac.
“How to Flatter Your Friends.” Basic words: convivial, indefatigable, ingenuous, perspicacious, magnanimous, versatile, stoical, intrepid, scintillating, urbane.
“How to Talk about Common Phenomena and Occurrences.” Basic words: penury, vicarious ephemeral, euphemisms, badinage, bovine, nostalgia, cacophonous, carnivorous, clandestine.
“How to Talk about What Goes On.” Basic words: to enervate, to castigate, to self-abnegate, to recapitulate, to vegetate, to simulate, to intimate, to alleviate, to commiserate, to vacillate.
“How to Talk about a Variety of Personal Characteristics.” Basic words: obsequious, querulous, supercilious, obstreperous, impecunious, chivalrous, innocuous, bibulous, cadaverous, dolorous.
There are a lot of interesting words in that list of chapters. And they are only the beginning. Tomorrow, I will show you how Lewis teaches them. RayS.
