11ENG- Unfamiliar Texts: Workbook

Unfamiliar Texts: Workbook

Pre-reading activities

Vocabulary Work

a. inherited: I inherited my grandmother's engagement ring. I can't wait to try it on!
b. expelled: The kid who was always rude got expelled from school. We won't be seeing him for a while
c. persuaded: He persuaded me into helping him with a task. Hopefully, I can do it right!
d.transferred: We had just transferred our bag of vegetables to the market, it is now in their hands.
e.atmosphere: It is hard for rockets to leave earth's atmosphere, therefore copious amounts of fuel are required.
f.armament: The military always has a generous stack of armament. I guess they have more weapons than people!
g.pouting : I saw her pouting at me when I walked past. She either hates me or likes me...
h.apprentice(s): My apprentice is attempting to follow in my footsteps, I think he may even be greater than me one day.
i.Cavalier: A Cavalier is someone who supported King Charles 1 during the English Civil War.
j.holy orders: Holy orders are the orders that are accepted as important in Christianity.

The Title

Title: Friendly Persuasion

Definition of Friendly: kind and pleasant.

Definition of Persuasion: the action or process of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something.

Connotations of Friendly: Kind, Helpful, Easy to talk to

Connotations of Persuasion: Bring to a side, Bias, Tell the truth, change someone's mind

I think this story is about two people, where one tries to inform or persuade someone in a kind way to become a supporter of King Charles 1. This is because persuasion is the act of telling someone to do or believe something, and friendly turns this into a positive thing.

Words I relate with school:
-Joyous
-Stressful
-Friends
-Achievement
-Study
-Learning

My first impression of this extract is that it suddenly takes a sad turn at the end, and it changes emotions a little too fast. I think that it was actually quite different from my original thoughts because the text did not focus on the 'friendly' part too much.

I was correct when I predicted that this text relied on the theme of persuasion and that this is what affected the parents' thoughts. This is seen where the text says: "Alan's parents were easily persuaded into most things; they found it a lot less trouble than having to make their own decisions".

I was incorrect when I predicted that it was ultimately about friendly persuasion because, in the text, it followed a negative track, where persuasion practically turned into a forced decision.

I think this is because the text used a lot of the words to mean the opposite or a different thing. For example, there was nothing really 'friendly' about the persuasion as it became a forced decision upon the parents.

One thing that surprised me about the story was the fact that words were used to mean a different thing than the definition. The words were used in metaphors to over-exaggerate certain sentences.

I think that the intended audience is for people in secondary schools. This is said in the biography of the author David Hill. Also, the fact that he was a high school teacher means that he could put in personal experience.

I think that "people were upset by Alan's behavior", and that this statement is true. This is true because Alan always seemed to be up to some mischief, such as where he would drive his car onto property that was owned by other people. Also, to support my answer, the teachers at the school "sighed with relief" when he left. This indicates that tension was taken off of their shoulders and that they are now in a relaxed and calm state.

I can see a point of change in the 5th paragraph "Alan's mini". The change that separated this from the previous paragraphs, is that it brings up the main subject to the story, Alan's car. The paragraph switches from an introduction to Alan to the topic of his car. This change helps us understand the purpose of this piece of writing because it brings in what everything was leading up to beforehand. It puts purpose into the introductory paragraphs as we now know who Alan is, to foreshadow that this car may not be the best gift for a boy like him.

I think that the title of the story (Friendly Persuasion) is appropriate because the story does revolve around the decisions that are made by others regarding Alan (i.e. the persuasions). Also, friendly does somewhat fit in with the story, as it covers over his 'friendly smiles' that never do work out to his benefit.

I think that the title relates to the author's attitude towards the characters in his story because it shows that he stresses the importance of the friendly persuasion that affected the decisions of the characters. He makes the characters sound controlled and unable to make decisions, and this is why the 'persuasion' in the title fits in with the characters.

If I were to write a different title for this story, I would name it "Not my decision". This is because of the parents, and the way in which they simply let the decision be made up for them. This is because "they found it a lot less trouble than having to make their own decisions". These 'persuaded decisions' end up making bad choices for Alan and his life, and in the end, even cost him his life.

I think that the title and the point of change work nicely together because they both cover over the main points to the story. They cover over persuasion and the consequences that come with persuasion. The word 'friendly' in the title also fits in with the group of friends that Alan has (or 'apprentice Romeos') which were a changing point in his life.

Language Features
repetition-totally charming and totally irresponsible
adjective-slim
adverb-hastily
metaphor-
compound word-
parallel construction-The girls all wanted to mother him; the boys all wanted to smother him.
onomatopoeia-
question-
listing-Slim, tanned, black-haired, and hazel-eyed
simile-made him look like a Cavalier on holiday
alliteration-similar scarves
euphemism-Alan and his Mini were unrecognizable

An example of a metaphor that is used in this text is: "He'd gathered a small following of apprentice Romeos". It is significant because it implies that he was the leader and that he had apprentices/followers.

Euphemism example one:

Euphemism example two: