Task1
Read passage 1 below, pay attention to the adjectives, adjectival phrases/clauses highlighted in bold.
Passage 1
Interstate 80 stretches from California to Nevada through the Donna Pass of the Sierra Nervada. Pine trees of various sizes line the two sides of the freeway. Giant pines that reach 30 feet, smaller ones of about 10 feet, together with the grayish manzanita shrubs that flourish at the foot of the pines, form impenetrable green walls that hide and protect wild animals like deer and coyotes from the traffic of the human world. In the sunny sky, white fluffy clouds of various shapes float on the clear azure backdrop. It seems that the whole world is made up only of these three colours: green, blue, and white.
Task2
Now read passage 2 and try to compare and contrast it with passage 1. Some adjectives, adjectival phrases/clauses are already highlighted in bold.
Passage 2
As Interstate 80 meanders from California to Donna Summit of the Sierra Nevada, pines trees stand guard over their mysterious world of wildlife like sentinels. Giant ones over nine meters tall maintain their majestic stance while younger , more friendly ones stand closer to the roadsides and look like Christmas trees, waving their arms at the passers-by. Grayish-green manzanita shrubs line up on the sides of the highway at the bottom of their neighbours’ realm, dwarfed not only by size, but also by their own shabby appearance. In the azure sky, white cotton-candy castles are guarded by fluffy ponies, dragons, phoenixes, and all kinds of creatures of the air. It’s hard not to be mesmerized by this spectacular aerial show.
Think about it: What are the differences and similarities between the two passages?
Task3
While passage 1 is more factual and relies on adjectives, details (e.g. “wild animals like deer and coyotes”) and prepositional phrases (e.g. “In the sunny sky”), passage 2 uses ‘figure of speech’ to make the piece of writing more interesting.
Figure of Speech
A ‘Figure of speech’ is the use of a word diverging from its literal meaning. Some examples of figure of speech are:
Personification – assigns human qualities to something that is not human.
e.g.
“Opportunity may knock, but it seldom nags.” - David Mamet.
Metaphors – compares two unlike things by indicating their resemblance.
e.g.
“All the world is a stage,
and all the men and women merely players:
they have their exits and their entrances.”- William Shakespeare
Similes – compares two unlike things by employing words “like” or “as”.
e.g.
“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it’s not going to go away.” - Elvis Presley
Read passage 2 again, highlight and indicate examples of personification, metaphors, and similes using different colors.
Select any text in the grey box below to highlight it.
Change highlight color:
Personification
Metaphors
Similes
Your Answer
Answer
Passage 2
As Interstate 80 meanders from California to Donna Summit of the Sierra Nevada, pines trees stand guard over their mysterious world of wildlife like sentinels. Giant ones over nine meters tall maintain their majestic stance while younger, more friendly ones stand closer to the roadsides and look like Christmas trees, waving their arms at the passers-by. Grayish-green manzanita shrubs line up on the sides of the highway at the bottom of their neighbours’ realm, dwarfed not only by size, but also by their own shabby appearance. In the azure sky, white cotton-candy castles are guarded by fluffy ponies, dragons, phoenixes, and all kinds of creatures of the air. It’s hard not to be mesmerized by this spectacular aerial show.
Passage 2
As Interstate 80 meanders from California to Donna Summit of the Sierra Nevada, pines trees stand guard over their mysterious world of wildlife like sentinels. Giant ones over nine meters tallmaintain their majestic stance while younger, more friendly ones stand closer to the roadsides and look like Christmas trees, waving their arms at the passers-by. Grayish-green manzanita shrubs line up on the sides of the highway at the bottom of their neighbours’ realm, dwarfed not only by size, but also by their own shabby appearance. In the azure sky, white cotton-candycastles are guarded by fluffy ponies, dragons, phoenixes, and all kinds of creatures of the air. It’s hard not to be mesmerized by this spectacularaerial show.
Task 4 Vocabulary – Matching Activity
The following words are extracted from passage 2. Without using a dictionary, match the words with their definitions by referring to their meanings in the passage. After that, determine their part of speech in the passage. Write n. for noun; v. for verb; adj. for adjective or adv. for adverb in the column labeled Part of Speech.
, waving their arms at the passers-by. Grayish-green manzanita shrubs line up on the sides of the highway at the bottom of their neighbours’ realm, dwarfed not only by size, but also by their own shabby appearance. In the azure sky, white cotton-candy castles are guarded by fluffy ponies, dragons, phoenixes, and all kinds of creatures of the air. It’s hard not to be mesmerized by this spectacular aerial show.