Читать книгу Your Literacy Standards Companion, Grades 9-12 - Jim Burke - Страница 104

Connotative meanings: Words have a primary or literal meaning; some also have a secondary or connotative meaning, which implies an additional idea or feeling related to the word or phrase.

Cumulative impact: When a specific word (fair in Lord of the Flies) or phrase (“an honorable man” in Julius Caesar) is repeated throughout a text or an important passage, it has a cumulative effect, a bit like a snowball gathering mass and speed.

Domain-specific words and phrases: Within each discipline or branch of that discipline, certain words (cell, division) have a domain-specific use in, for example, biology; other words, however, are unique to that discipline and are, thus, essential for students to know to read, discuss, and write about complex texts in that subject.

Evokes a sense of time and place: Language brings to life a time or place through its rhythms, phrases, words, and their syntax; antiquated phrases spoken by a contemporary character suggest one thing. Language, such as Mark Twain and Zora Neal Hurston, used evokes a time, a culture, a place, and one’s character.

Figurative meanings: Figures of speech (or figurative language) are those often colorful ways we develop of saying something; they include euphemism, hyperbole, irony, understatement, metaphor, simile, and paradox, among others. Some of them are specific to an era, region, or social group and, thus, can confuse readers.

Interpret: Best understood as a way of explaining what someone said or wrote using more accessible, familiar language for those who lack experience with or knowledge of the subject or this type of text.

Key terms: In highly technical or scientific subjects, certain terms are an essential part of the precision and accuracy that discipline demands. In some subjects, a certain term (e.g., evolution, uncertainty, or entropy) represents a specific idea or applies to a very precise process.

Court opinion: A statement announcing a decision after a case is tried. The judge summarizes the facts, reads the applicable law, explains how it relates to the case, provides the rationale behind the decision, and states the judgment, which is usually written.

Shape meaning or tone: Certain words carry added, often implied meanings; we describe these as “loaded words,” for they have the power to affect the meaning of the words around them or to influence the speaker’s tone (e.g., turning it from sincere to ironic).

Symbols: In humanities classes, a symbol suggests some greater meaning when it is attached to an idea; thus, the bald eagle symbolizes the American spirit; in science and math, however, symbols represent operations, procedures, and concepts such as change (∆) or pi (π).

Technical meanings: These would be words with specialized meanings specific to the subject being investigated, explained, or argued about; one example might be the distinctions made between political philosophies, such as libertarian and republican.

Tone—informal and formal: When thinking of tone, think about tone of voice. The formal tone of the Constitution matches its importance and subject; the informal tone of a literary text signals the relationship between the individuals and reveals the character of the speaker.

Words and phrases as they are used in a text: The point of close reading is to understand what the text really says; to do this, students must scrutinize the words and phrases used by the author as they are the key to determining what the author really means or what the text says; also, they are an essential source of evidence.

Uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text: When first introduced, certain words establish a general idea that the author, through repeated and careful use, refines in an attempt to invest in it more meaning and importance each time it is used.