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English Notes

This document defines and provides examples of various literary devices, techniques, and concepts including: formal and informal definitions, synonyms and antonyms, analogies, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, conjunctions, modal verbs, tone, mood, purpose, and techniques. It also summarizes the plot introduction and character descriptions from the first few paragraphs of the Vietnamese classic poem "The Tale of Kieu" by Nguyen Du.

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Apollo Ashford
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44 views

English Notes

This document defines and provides examples of various literary devices, techniques, and concepts including: formal and informal definitions, synonyms and antonyms, analogies, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, conjunctions, modal verbs, tone, mood, purpose, and techniques. It also summarizes the plot introduction and character descriptions from the first few paragraphs of the Vietnamese classic poem "The Tale of Kieu" by Nguyen Du.

Uploaded by

Apollo Ashford
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Formal Definition- are exact explicit or literal meanings of specific words

EX: Academe (n.)- is a place of instruction where a community of teachers


and learners are transmitting knowledge of various subjects
(Word + Abbreviated part of speech + meaning w/o period)
Informal Definition- are connotative meanings of specific words based on the
ideas, feelings, associations, and overtones that are ascribed to those words
EX: Love is the feeling of happiness with someone you want to spend your
time with
Synonyms- are words that have the same meaning as a given word
EX: Bad-Awful-Terrible
Antonyms- are words that mean the opposite of a particular word
EX: Bad-Good
Analogies- are comparisons between two similar things that explain or clarify
a point
EX: She’s blind as a bat

LITERARY DEVICES
Alliteration- a literary device where the same first letter/s is/are repeated in
a series of words in a sentence
EX: Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Assonance- a literary device where the same vowel sound is repeated within
a series of words in a sentence
EX: No pain, No gain
Onomatopoeia- a literary device where words that are phonetically similar to
a particular sound are used to describe something
EX: The horse neighed at the visitors
Conjunctions- are discourse markers or lexical units that link words,
phrases, or clauses together
F.A.N.B.O.Y.S ACRONYM
F (Because) WE LISTENED TO PROF. YAMAMOTO EAGERLY, FOR HE
BROUGHT GOOD NEWS
A (In addition to) “EVERYONE IN THE WORLD KNOWS THAT THE SOFT
OVERCOMES THE HARD AND THE WEAK THE STRONG
N (Negative choice) I DO NOT EXPECT SUMMER TO BE SO HOT, NOR DO I
EXPECT WINTER TO BE SO COLD
B (However) “ALWAYS WITHOUT DESIRE WE MUST BE FOUND, IF ITS DEEP
MYSTERY WE WOULD SOUND; BUT IF DESIRE ALWAYS WITHIN US BE, ITS
OUTER FRINGE IS ALL THAT WE SHALL SEE”
O (Choice) “OF FAME OR LIFE, WHICH DO YOU HOLD DEARER?”
Y (Contrast) “HE WHO DIES, AND YET DOES NOT PERISH, HAS LONGEVITY”
S (Therefore) “MAN AT HIS BIRTH IS SUPPLE AND WEAK; AT HIS DEATH,
FIRM AND STRONG. SO, IT IS WITH ALL THINGS

Modal Verbs- are auxiliary verbs that are used to express the probability of
an action or event
EX: Can and Could
a) Verbs that express ability or certainty
Can (Present Tense)
 David can sing the national anthem now
 Mr. Alvarez can play basketball tomorrow
Could (Past Tense)
 David could not sing the national anthem last month
 Mr. Alvarez could not play basketball last week

b) Verbs that express permission


Can (Present Tense)
 You can watch the concert tonight
 Can I eat dinner later?
Could (Past Tense)
 Mother said that you could watch the concert tonight
 Father said that you could eat dinner later

c) Verbs that express a condition


Could (Past Tense)
 You could watch the concert tonight if you would take the morning
shift tomorrow
 Lucas could eat dinner later if he would help wash the dishes

EX: May and Might


a) Verbs that express permission (May is formal and more polite than
can)
May (Present Tense)
 Carla may read as many books as she can in the library
 May I leave the room?
Might (Past Tense)
 Carla might read as many books as she could according to the librarian
 Jose asked if he might leave the room

b) Verbs that express the possibility


May (Present Tense)
 It may rain on the day of the children’s parade
 Edwin may run for the post of the city mayor
Might (Past Tense)
 The forecast said it might rain on the day of the children’s parade
 Edwin might run for the post of the city mayor

THE TALE OF KIEU


BY NGUYEN DU

PAGES OF FRAGRANT MANUSCRIPTS TURN UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT


AND THE “ROMANCES OF YORE” RECORDED ON GREEN TABLETS,
RECOUNT THAT, ONE YEAR, UNDER THE REIGN OF GIA TINH OF THE MING
DYNASTY
THERE LIVED A CRAFTSMAN BY THE NAME OF VUONG
HE WAS NEITHER RICH NOR POOR
HIS YOUNGEST CHILD. A SON, VUONG QUAN, WAS A SCHOLAR
A PROUD LINK IN THE FAMILY TRADITION
HE HAD TWO DAUGHTERS THEY WERE AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE GODDESS OF
THE MOON
THUY KIEU WAS THE OLDER SISTER, THUY VAN THE YOUNGER ONE
BOTH WERE GRACEFUL AS THE “MAI” FLOWER AND AS PURE AS SNOW
EACH HAD HER OWN CHARM, A PERFECT CHARM IN ITS WAY
VAN WAS ENDOWED WITH AN UNCOMMON POISE,
HER FACE WAS ONE OF THE HARMONIOUS FEATURES ADORNED WITH
BROWS OF A NOBLE DESIGN
A SMILE AS FRESH AS A FLOWER GAVE HER A TOUCH OF NATURAL
DISTINCTION
A WORD SHE UTTERED WAS A PRECIOUS STONE
CLOUDS COULD NOT SHAPE THE GRACEFUL FALL OF HER HAIR
AND SNOW WAS NO MATCH FOR HER COMPLEXION
BUT THERE WAS MORE REFINEMENT, MORE GLAMOUR IN KIEU’S CHARM
AND IN WIT AND CULTURE SHE OUTSHONE HER SISTER
HER GAZE HAD THE DEEP INTENSITY OF AN AUTUMN LAKE
THE CURE OF HER BROWS WAS LIKE THE DREAMFUL LINE OF MOUNTAINS
IN THE SPRING
FLOWERS ENVIED HER FRAIL DELICACY. WILLOWS HER GREEN YOUTH
A SMILE FROM HER COULD ROCK EMPIRES AND CITADELS
HER BEAUTY WAS EXCEPTIONAL, AND HER TALENTS UNRIVALED
NATURE HAD BESTOWED UPON HER BOUNTIFUL GIFTS
SHE WAS EQUALLY WELL-VERSED IN POETRY, PAINTING, SINGING, AND
DICTION
THE FIVE-SCALE TONE HAD NO SECRET FOR HER
SHE EXCELLED IN THE PLAYING OF THE LUTE
AND HER FAVORITE PIECE WAS HER COMPOSITION, “THE CRUEL FATE”, A
POIGNANT LAMENT
A FAIR MAIDEN, SHE LIVED BEHIND CURTAINS AND SCREENS
APPROACHING THE AGE WHEN SHE WOULD ADRON HER HAIR WITH COMBS
AND PINS
INDIFFERENT TO THE BEES AND BUTTERFLIES FROLICKING AT THE
EASTERN WALL

Tone- is the overall “character” of a literary text, and can also be the
“attitude”
of an author toward his/her audience, or an author’s “treatment” of the
subject matter. It can be formal, informal, serious, sarcastic, funny, sad, or
cheerful among others

EX: A scorned lover writing a letter to someone who has betrayed them will
have a different tone than a mother writing a letter to a beloved son.

Mood- is the “ambiance” of a literary text which is the emotions that the
audience feels as a result of the descriptions, setting, and characters’
attitudes among others in the text

EX: It’s not that we had no heart or eyes for pain. We were all afraid. We all
had our miseries. But to despair was to wish for something already lost. Or
to prolong what was already unbearable…What was worse, to sit and wait for
our own deaths with proper somber faces? Or to choose our own happiness?
Technique- is the way an author uses words in a text to convey a particular
message or theme

EX: “And perhaps Nguyen Du, like Kieu and the other Le retainers, was
seeking the redemption that could only come at the end of a story, but that
would never come in real life”

Purpose- is the author’s objective or intention

EX: Did the author want to inspire, entertain or teach?

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