English Vocabulary and Etymology(week11)

English Vocabulary and Etymology(Week11)

Prefix, root, suffix

de-:down, away from

decrease:to become smaller in size, amount, number, etc.
example: These changes will decrease our expenses.


depreciate:to cause something to have a lower price or value
example: These changes have greatly depreciated the value of the house.


deactivate:to make something no longer active or effective
example:If you don't wish to use a feature, you can deactivate it.

fra-:brittle, shattered

fragile:easily broken or damaged
example:Be careful! This is a fragile thing.


fraction:a small part of something
example:In the reaction, the fraction acts as an agent.


fracture:the result of breaking something

example:She suffered a wrist fracture when she slipped on the ice.

ob-/op-:toward, against, across, down

obstacle:something that makes it difficult to do something
example:He overcame the obstacles of challenges.


opponent:rival
example:She is a formidable opponent in the race or senator.


opposite:located at another side
example: The two boys lived on opposite sides of the street.



gen-:birth, start, beginning

generate:to produce
example:Windmills used to generate electricity.

gene:a part of cell that controls or influences the appearance, growth, etc. 
example:She inherited a good set of genes from her parents.


general:not specific
example:They have issued a general warning.

sym-: with, together

sympathetic:having or showing support for or approval of something
example:They were quite sympathetic to our proposals.

symbolize:represent
example:The dove symbolizes peace.

symmetrical:having sides or halves that are the same
example:A new house of any size was now almost invariably symmetrical.

symbiosis:a relationship between two different kinds of living things that live together and 
                 depend on each other
example:There is a symbiosis between large and small.

New Word

．bedlam: a very noisy and confused state
    example:The park had never so many visitors at one time. It was total bedlam.

．propinquity:nearness in time or place
    example:There are many trees in close propinquity to the house.

．impede:block
    example:The rain impeded our trip.

．sedate:slow and relax 
   example:He walked the beach at a sedate pace.

．equanimity:calm emotion when dealing with problems or pressure
    example:She was sure his equanimity was fictitious.

．bliss:complete happiness
    example:The first six months of marriage were sheer bliss.

．inebriated:drunk
    example:He was clearly inebriated when he left the bar.

．gusto:zest, enjoyment
    example:I don't have the gusto to go hiking.

．garrulous:tending to talk a lot
    example:He became more garrulous after drinking a couple of beers.

．galvanize:to cause to become active
    example:The news galvanized them into action.

．encumbrance:load
   example:I felt I was being an encumbrance to them.

．gaudy:too brighter heavily decorated
    example:The showgirls wore gaudy costumes.

．jocose:humorous
   example:The comedian's jocose introductions kept the award ceremony from becoming 
                  a stodgy affair.

．peremptory:absolute, showing rude and insulting attitude to others
    example:His peremptory tone angered me.

．decorum:correct or proper behavior that shows respect and good manners
    example:He has no sense of decorum.

Extra Information



When I was One-and-Twenty by A.E Housman
         
                                                    

    

When I was one-and-twenty

       I heard a wise man say,

“Give crowns and pounds and guineas

       But not your heart away;

Give pearls away and rubies

       But keep your fancy free.”

But I was one-and-twenty,

       No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty

       I heard him say again,

“The heart out of the bosom

       Was never given in vain;

’Tis paid with sighs a plenty

       And sold for endless rue.”

And I am two-and-twenty,

       And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

>>Analysis
The theme of the poem "When I was One and Twenty" is given by the “wise man” in two pieces of wisdom, but they are closely related. One is, in effect, “Don’t give your heart away,” that is, don’t fall in love; the second is, “If you do give your heart away, you will suffer.”

    The speaker ignored the advice, and now, at twenty-two, has learned its truth. The last line of the poem, with its repetition, suggests that the speaker takes his youthful sorrow very seriously (“And oh ’tis true, ’tis true”), but surely the line strikes one (and is intended to strike) as a trifle maudlin. And, since the poem jingles nicely and almost suggests a nursery rhyme, we can hardly take the grief too seriously. We listen with sympathetic amusement to this tale of disillusionment, but we are pretty confident that the young man in the poem will survive, and probably will live to love another day.

The Philosophy of Composition by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Philosophy of Composition" is an 1846 essay written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well. He concludes that length, "unity of effect" and a logical method are important considerations for good writing. He also makes the assertion that "the death... of a beautiful woman" is "unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world". Poe uses the composition of his own poem "The Raven" as an example. The essay first appeared in the April 1846 issue of Graham's Magazine. It is uncertain if it is an authentic portrayal of Poe's own method.Generally, the essay introduces three of Poe's theories regarding literature. The author recounts this idealized process by which he says he wrote his most famous poem, "The Raven" to illustrate the theory, which is in deliberate contrast to the "spontaneous creation" explanation put forth, for example, by Coleridge as an explanation for his poem Kubla Khan. Poe's explanation of the process of writing is so rigidly logical, however, that some have suggested the essay was meant as a satire or hoax.

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

In the essay, Poe traces the logical progression of his creation of "The Raven" as an attempt to compose "a poem that should suit at once the popular and the critical taste." He claims that he considered every aspect of the poem. For example, he purposely set the poem on a tempestuous evening, causing the raven to seek shelter. He purposefully chose a pallid bust to contrast with the dark plume of the bird. The bust was of Pallas in order to evoke the notion of scholar, to match with the presumed student narrator poring over his "volume[s] of forgotten lore." No aspect of the poem was an accident, he claims, but is based on total control by the author.Even the term "Nevermore," he says, is based on logic following the "unity of effect." The sounds in the vowels in particular, he writes, have more meaning than the definition of the word itself. He had previously used words like "Lenore" for the same effect.The raven itself, Poe says, is meant to symbolize Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance.This may imply an autobiographical significance to the poem, alluding to the many people in Poe's life who had died.

>>"The Raven" depicts a mysterious raven's midnight visit to a mourning narrator












Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


>>Analysis

‘'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Night’' was written by Dylan Thomas in 1945, when his father D. J Thomas was seriously ill. The poem was published in his collection, In Country Sleep, after his father’s death. The poem is a protest against the idea of accepting death quietly. It discusses the various ways to approach death in old age and advocates struggling against death until the last breath.

Journey of the Magi by T.S. EliotA cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.'
And the camels galled, sore-footed, 
refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the 
terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

Then the camel men cursing and 
grumbling
And running away, and wanting their
liquor and women, 
And the night-fires going out, and the 
lack of shelters, 
And the cities hostile and the towns 
unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high
prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all 
night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, 
saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a 
temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of 
vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill
beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped in 
away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with 
vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for 
pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no imformation, and so
we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment
too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say)
satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I 
remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, 
certainly, 
We had evidence and no doubt. I had 
seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; 
this Birth was 
Hard and bitter agony for us, like 
Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these
Kingdoms, 
But no longer at ease here, in the old
dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their 
gods.
I should be glad of another death.



>>Analysis“Journey of the Magi” is a first-person recollection of a Magus, one of the Persian Magi who came to visit the Christ child as recorded in the second chapter of Matthew. The poem is narrated, however, from the perspective of many years later, after the Magus has returned to his home country. He is an elderly man, reflecting on events that occurred many years prior.






What Child Is This

What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary.

Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and donkeys are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spears shall pierce him through,
the cross he bore for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
the Babe, the Son of Mary.

So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king, to own him.
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The babe, the Son of Mary.

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary.