COMPREHENSION 1

ENGLISH LANGUAGE JSS2   FIRST TERM

THEME: READING

WEEK ONE

COMPREHENSION

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE

Students should be able to;

1. Identify the use of certain expressions that point the intention of writers

CONTENT

Develop your reading skills. Read the following text and do the comprehension questions

What is Love?

Love can be defined as an intense emotion of deep affection or romantic attachment to someone. At the philosophical level, love is a strong feeling or virtue which represents all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. For some religions, such as Catholicism, "God is love". The love of God is also attached to other religions like Islam.

As a stronger form of like love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less sexual and more emotionally intimate form of romantic attachment, love is commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship with romantic overtones, love is sometimes contrasted with friendship, although the word love is often applied to close friendships.

The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my partner"). "Love" can also refer specifically to the passionate desire and intimacy of romantic love, to the sexual love, to the emotional closeness of familial love, or to the platonic love that defines friendship, to the profound oneness or devotion of religious love. This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.

Nevertheless, love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

Source: Wikipedia

 

Questions

1. Love can be easily defined

1. True
2. False

 

2. Love is never associated to friendship

1. True
2. False

 

3. Love is a favourable artistic theme

1. True
2. False

 

4. What is the mood of the writer? __________

 

5. The writer's purpose is to ______

1. Inform
2. Taunt

THEME: WRITING

OUTLINES

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE

Students should be able to;

1. Read through a topic
2. Jot down main and supporting ideas as they occur

CONTENT

Makeup has become a necessity for most women and they believe that they cannot step out of the house without at least five different kinds of cosmetic products. The cosmetics market has boomed to such an extent that not only are there different cosmetics for every kind of body part, there are different ones for different seasons too! But before makeup is marketed to us, it is tested on animals. Do you ever wonder why is it so? Because the cosmetics we trust to make us beautiful are full of so many harmful chemicals. And even though these cosmetics make us look good temporarily, in the end, they are going to leave an ugly effect. Here are some of the most common side effects of the cosmetics that you apply without a second thought:

• An Unwanted Dependency Leading to Addiction

In an era where social media is all about creating the perfect image of ourselves, the idea that one can look perfect without makeup has become laughable. Some people have an extreme dependency on cosmetics and avoid social interaction if they are not fully made up. This dependency can lead to psychological problems like lowering the self-esteem of a person. Makeup helps create a perfect image and while everyone looks flawless, there is societal pressure to live up to these expectations. Therefore, this dependency becomes an addiction that leads to the erosion of self-esteem and self-confidence.

• Prolonged Exposure Leads to Headaches

Headaches are a common issue associated with cosmetics. Usually prolonged exposure to extensive makeup leads to dizziness, tiredness and nausea. It is, therefore, very important that while removing makeup, you remove every trace of it. The fact that cosmetics contain only chemicals, and some have certain ingredients that, if exposed to direct, could lead to bouts of unconsciousness. It is probably more harmful for people who suffer migraines and chronic headaches.

• Permanent Dark Circles

The skin around the eyes is more sensitive as compared to the rest of your face and it shows the effect of chemicals sooner too. Experts tend to suggest that fewer cosmetics should be applied around the eyes as it can lead to bags under the eyes and dark circles. Dark circles are not easy to get rid of and often create constant marks under the eyes. This creates an endless cycle because to hide their dark circles, people apply more makeup which in turn leads to the worsening of the condition.

• Eye Makeup Causes Several Diseases

Kajal is probably the one necessary cosmetic owned by every Indian girl and it is something without which their appearance is incomplete. However, this cosmetic which is applied on the inner lining of the eyes can cause not one but several harmful diseases. It can cause the development of chemical, toxic and infective conjunctivitis, glaucoma, uveitis, dry eye and the discolouration of the eyes. If you wear lenses the chemicals in the makeup can damage your lenses and result in thinning of eyelashes. Mascara, which can lead to thinning of eyelashes can also cause blindness as it contains Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a very harmful bacteria that is resistant to both heat and cold.

• Clogging of Pores and Acne

Cosmetics like foundation and primer that even out the complexion of your skin and make your skin smooth, do this by smoothening your pores and natural blemishes. This means that your skin is not allowed to breathe and therefore can end up causing several problems. Foundations and powders that clog your pores can aggravate acne. It can also flare up your blemishes, it can cause pimple and cause an acne breakout. So, avoid using oil-based cosmetics and go for non-acnegenic makeup that won’t block your pores.

Outlining the topic above, we look at;

1. Topic
2. Introduction
3. Body and paragraphs
   1. Effects of Makeup
   2. Alternatives while using makeup products.

THEME: SPEECH WORK

PURE VOWELS

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE

Students should be able to;

1. Identify the pure vowel

CONTENT

A phoneme is the smallest unit of speech sound. Every language makes use of a limited number of such sounds or phonemes. English language has 44 sounds or phonemes in its sound system.

These 44 sounds consist of 20 vowels sounds and 24 consonants sounds.

The five letters a,e, I,o,u are the five vowel letters and we get 20 vowel sounds from these 5 vowel letters.

20 vowels are further divided into two parts:

1. Monophthongs (12).
2. Diphthongs (8).

12 monophthongs and 8 diphthongs are 20 vowel sounds.

1. Monophthong

A monophthong is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The monophthongs can be contrasted with diphthongs, where the vowel quality changes within the same syllable, and hiatus, where two vowels are next to each other in different syllables

Monophthongs are also called pure vowels as they have single sound in their pronunciation.

12 Monophthongs are further divided into two parts Long vowels(5) and short vowels(7). These are the symbols for long vowels with various examples to understand their pronunciation.

 

• /a:/ Palm/pa:m/,Calm/ka:m/,Cart/ka:t/

 

• /u:/ Cool/ku:l/,Fool/fu:l/,Food/fu:d/

 

• /ɔː/  Cause/kɔːz/,Call/kɔːl/,all/ɔːl/

 

• /i:/   Read/ri:d/,Seat/si:t/,Wheat/wi:t/

 

• /ɜː/  Earn/ɜːn/,Learn/lɜːn/,Turn/tɜːn/

The two dots with these symbols denote longer pronunciation. These sounds are pronounced in a longer way that is why they are called Long vowels.

 

2. Short Vowels :

These vowels are not pronounced in a long way. They are called short vowels. These are the symbols below for short vowels with various examples and phonetic transcription to understand the pronunciation for the sounds in a better way.

 

THEME: GRAMMATICAL ACCURACY

PARTS OF SPEECH - NOUN

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE

Students should be able to;

1. 1. Identify the features of Noun
   2. List the functions of noun
   3. Make sentences with noun

CONTENT

What does a noun do in a sentence?

It acts as the subject of a sentence that acts as the verb. The subject has to be a noun. It cannot be a verb, an adverb, an adjective or any other part of speech. Nouns are basic to sentence structure because they, along with pronouns, provide the subject of the sentence. Also, a noun functions as a direct object of a verb, an indirect object of a verb, object of a preposition, or a compliment.

1. 1. Noun as subject of verb

The subject (in bold) can be a person, place, thing or idea. It performs an act or shows a state of being as expressed by the verb. The subject is easily recognized as it usually comes at the beginning of a sentence and is followed by a verb.

Examples:

• The man stepped on my toes.
• The car smashed into a wall.
• Both of them fell down the stairs.
• I  accidentally hit my head on the bookshelf.

 

1. 2. Noun as a direct object

The direct object (in bold) is a noun in a sentence. The object is acted upon by the subject, and It typically comes after the verb.

Examples:

• Tom bit his nail.
• I am painting the doghouse.

 

• Her dog followed her to the park.
• Strong wind blew their tent down.

 

1. 3. Noun as indirect object

The indirect object (in bold) is a noun in a sentence. An indirect object represents a person or thing that receives the effect of the action of the verb. It usually comes between the verb and the direct object.

Examples:

• He fed the monkeys bananas.
• The mother was cooking her family a seafood dinner.
• Jack sent a letter to his parents.
• She poured drinks for the boys.

 

1. 4. Noun as object of a preposition

The object of preposition (in bold) is a noun in a sentence. The object comes after the preposition as shown here in the following examples.

Examples:

• Joe broke his nose in a fight. (Preposition: in)
• Two puppies followed behind the girl. (Preposition: behind)
• Birdwatching is a favourite hobby of the villagers. (Preposition: of)
• Everyone is complaining about the boss. (Preposition: about)

1. 5. Noun as object of a verbal

A verbal is a word formed from a verb but functions as a noun or an adjective. Only a noun can be an object of a verbal, which can be a gerund, an infinitive or a participle. It is shown in bold in the following example sentences. The objects are underlined.

Examples:

Winning the lottery jackpot was his biggest dream.

To escape from the prison was all he wanted.

Having found his father’s car keys, he demanded a reward.

1. 6. Noun as a predicate complement

The predicate complement is a noun (or an adjective) that is joined to the subject of the sentence by a copulative verb. A copulative verb is also known as a linking verb.  The following sentences show the predicate complement in bold. The copulative verbs are underlined.

Examples:

• The tribal chief is the fattest man in the tribe.
• These two apples are the only rotten ones.
• Aunt Barbie could be the biggest woman in the neighbourhood.

 

1. 7. Noun acts as an adjective or modifier of another noun.

Words that are usually used as nouns are also used as adjectives, as a separate word preceding the noun or combined with the noun to form a single word (see ‘Compound nouns.’) For example, the mountain is usually a noun, but it can be used as an adjective to modify a noun, goat as in (1) below. The following show in bold the nouns acting as adjectives and the modified nouns that follow them and the single words comprising nouns acting as adjectives and the nouns that they modify.

Examples:

• That one looks like a mountain goat.
• Dog fleas must seek out another dog when the dog dies.
• Blowing out the candles, the grandmother's denture landed on the birthday cake.

A noun must be in the singular form when used as an adjective as shown above. There are, however, some exceptions: a sports club, a goods train, a sales conference.

Nouns acting as adjectives are combined with the nouns that they modify to form a single word.

• She saw a dark figure waving to her from her doorway.
• There is a layer of fine dust on your bookcase.
• In the farmhouse, the hoots of owls were the only things they heard.
• Each night he set several mousetraps around the house and in the garage.
• He brought along his toothpaste but forgot his toothbrush.

 

THEME: LITERATURE

SHORT STORIES AND NOVELLETTES

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE

Students should be able to;

1. Read short stories and novelettes
2. Give answers to questions asked on the short story.

CONTENT

Four Friends

Once upon a time in a small village lived four Brahmins named Satyanand, Vidhyanand, Dharmanand and Sivanand. They had grown up together to become good friends. Satyanand, Vidhyanand and Dharmanand were very knowledgeable. But Sivanand spent most of his time eating and sleeping. He was considered foolish by everyone.

Once famine struck the village. All the crops failed. Rivers and lakes started to dry up. The people of the villages started moving to other villages to save their lives.

“We also need to move to another place soon or else we will also die like many others," said Satyanand. They all agreed with him.

“But what about Sivanand?" Asked Satyanand.

“Do we need him with us? He has no skills or learning. We cannot take him with us," replied Dharmanand. “He will be a burden on us."

“How can we leave him behind? He grew up with us," said Vidhyanand. “We will share whatever we earn equally among the four of us."

They all agreed to take Sivanand along with them.

They packed all the necessary things and set out for a nearby town. On the way, they had to cross a forest.

As they were walking through the forest, they came across the bones of an animal. They became curious and stopped to take a closer look at the bones.

“Those are the bones of a lion," said Vidhyanand.

The others agreed.

“This is a great opportunity to test our learning," said Satyanand.

“I can put the bones together." So saying, he brought the bones together to form the skeleton of a lion.

“Dharmanand said, “I can put muscles and tissue on it." Soon a lifeless lion lay before them.

“I can breathe life into that body," said Vidhyanand.

But before he could continue, Sivanand jumped up to stop him. “No. Don't! If you put life into that lion, it will kill us all," he cried.

“Oh you coward! You can’t stop me from testing my skills and learning," shouted an angry Vidhyanand. “You are here with us only because I requested the others to let you come along."

“Then please let me climb that tree first,’ said a frightened Sivanand running towards the nearest tree. Just as Sivanand pulled himself on to the tallest branch of the tree Vidhyanand brought life into the lion. Getting up with a deafening roar, the lion attacked and killed the three learned Brahmins.

Questions

1. 1. Who was considered foolish among the two friends?
   2. What is the moral of the story?
   3. From the passage is the answer in one still considered foolish?
   4. What made the villagers leave their village?

Hungry Wolf

This is a short story about Hungry Wolf.

Once, a wolf was very hungry. It looked for food here and there. But it couldn't get any. At last, it found a loaf of bread and a piece of meat in the hole of a tree.

The hungry wolf squeezed into the hole. It ate all the food. It was a woodcutter's lunch. He was on his way back to the tree to have lunch. But he saw there was no food in the hole, instead, a wolf.

On seeing the woodcutter, the wolf tried to get out of the hole. But it couldn't. Its tummy was swollen.

The woodcutter caught the wolf and gave it nice beatings.

Questions

1. What is the moral of the story?
2. Is the wolf considered greedy?
3. Whose food was eaten?
4. Who was hungry?

Types Of Prose

There are two types of prose

1. Descriptive
2. Narrative

1. Descriptive Prose Definition

Descriptive prose describes things as they are or as they appear to be. It can be the description of a person or a landscape or an event. In descriptive prose, we can see things as they are or were seen or heard or imagined by the describer. A good description translates the writer's observation into vivid details and creates an atmosphere of its own. Through his/her description, the author tries to recreate what she has seen or imagined. A fine description is a painting in words.

Examples

Mr Squeers' appearance was not prepossessing. He had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favour of two. The eye he had was unquestionably useful but decidedly not ornamental: being of a greenish-grey, and in shape resembling the fan-light of a street door. The blank side of his face was wrinkled and puckered up, which gave him a very sinister appearance, especially when he smiled, at which times his expression bordered closely on the villainous. His hair was very flat and shiny, save at the ends, where it was brushed stiffly up from a low protruding forehead, which assorted well with his harsh voice and coarse manner. He was about two or three and fifty, and a trifle below the middle size; he wore a white neckerchief with long ends, and a suite of scholastic black; but his coat sleeves being a great deal too long, and his trousers a great deal too short, he appeared ill at ease in his clothes, and as if he were in a perpetual state of astonishment at finding himself so respectable.

 

2.  Narrative Prose

Narrative prose is a form of writing in which the work is written in prose, rather than in poetry, and tells a definite story through actions. Many written works are written in this form, including a great deal of literary work and most modern pieces of fiction. The narrative aspect of this style comes from the fact that events occur and are narrated within the work, rather than having events occur outside of the framework of the story. Narrative prose also means that the story is told in a prose format, which is basic language, rather than a poetic format that may deal with meter and rhyme. Perhaps one of the simplest types of writing to understand, narrative prose typically consists of a narrative story written in a fairly clear prose format. This does not mean that these stories are inherently simplistic, however, as very complex and detailed stories are crafted using this format. It simply means that these works are written as action-driven stories in which events occur and characters are seen taking part in them. Stories written as narratives can still have compelling and rich characters, but these characters are part of the action and are not merely witnesses or storytellers.

Narrative prose is typically written in the moment of the action and tells a story through a series of events. This means that a story written in this format is not likely to consist of a character sitting in a dark room, thinking about the things that have happened in his or her life. Of course, this type of story could be told through narrative, but the major events of the story would consist of flashbacks the reader would experience as those events play out. In this way, the events become the action that moves the story forward and eventually reveals various pieces of information about the character.

A work written as narrative prose is also written in a prose style, rather than as poetry. Poetic works have several different rules and facets to them, such as rhyme, rhythm, meter, and other poetic devices. Even blank verse poetry is typically written in a way that is meant to take advantage of the poetic format and create a piece of writing outside of standard communication. Prose, including narrative, is written in the voice of common speech and relays events through basic language that can be symbolic and powerful, but remains straightforward and accessible.