Tuesday, May 25, 2010


1. Compiling a list of ten analogies is about as much fun as unanesthatized bowel surgery. (Zero Punctuation)

2. It had that eerie, surreal quality like when you're on vacation and jeopardy comes on at 7 pm instead of 7:30. (Top 25 Analogies)

3. Jake was stubborn. Trying to convince him that he was wrong was like trying to convince Republicans that women had rights; it just wouldn't work.

4. My laugh is deep and hearty, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up. (Top 25 Analogies)

5. Her eyes were like two brown circles with little black dots in them. (Bad High School Analogies)

6. My vocabulary is as bad as, like, whatever. (Top 25 Analogies)

7. Ninjas have the power to disappear unnoticed, the period after the Dr on a Dr Pepper can. (Bad High School Analogies)

8. His hard, angry manner provoked hatred and distrust like Jessica Alba provokes animalistic lust.

9. John and Mary had never met, like two hummingbirds who had also never met. (Top 25 Analogies)

10. Listening to my analogies is like having your ear canals raped by a man wearing a sandpaper condom. (Zero Punctuation)

Idioms

An idiom is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard for ESL students and learners to understand.

example:A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush:
Having something that is certain is much better than taking a risk for more, because chances are you might lose everything.

A Blessing In Disguise:
Something good that isn't recognized at first.

A Chip On Your Shoulder:
Being upset for something that happened in the past.

A Dime A Dozen:
Anything that is common and easy to get.

A Doubting Thomas:
A skeptic who needs physical or personal evidence in order to believe something.

A Drop in the Bucket:
A very small part of something big or whole.

A Fool And His Money Are Easily Parted:
It's easy for a foolish person to lose his/her money.

A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand:
Everyone involved must unify and function together or it will not work out.

Idioms Expression

An idiomatic expression are common phrases or sayings whose meanings cannot be understood by the individual words or elements.

Examples of these idioms are "Baker's Dozen", "Funny Farm" and "Cold War".
Idiomatic expressions are also non-standard speech, slang or dialect that are natural to native speakers of a language.

Examples of these idioms are "Apples and Pears" for stairs and "Ruby Murray' for curry

Adjectives

Adjectives are descriptive words. An adjective is a word which qualifies a noun, that is, shows or points out some distinguishing mark or feature of the noun.


Examples:
A black dog
An angry man
A round theatre

Imperative

Definition:
Imperatives are verbs used to give orders, commands and instructions. The form used is usually the same as the base form. It is one of the three moods of an English verb. Imperatives should be used carefully in English; to give firm orders or commands, but not as much when trying to be polite or show respect to the other person.

EG: Give me that tape, please.

Analogy



Definition: An Analogy is a likeness or similarity between things that are otherwise unlike.

Examples: Sleep and death - they share a lack of animation and a recumbent position.

Analogy is the comparison of two pairs which have the same relationship but different meaning. Analogies provide insights

Antonyms and Synonyms

Antonyms: are words with the opposite meaning to another word.

Synonyms: (Grouped by Similarity of Meaning) of verb


Theme Of Robinson Crusoe


Fear

Robinson Crusoe must overcome his fear in order to survive his long ordeal on the deserted island. The trial by fear begins when he runs about like a madman, scared of every shadow, and sleeps in a tree with a weapon: "fear banished all my religious hope, all that former confidence in God." He quickly realizes that he must recover his wits and reason if he is to survive.

At several points in the narrative, Crusoe is almost overwhelmed by his fear of the unknown. It propels him to colonize the island, securing his shelter and becoming self-sufficient. His ability to funnel his fear into productivity and creativity allows him to survive under extreme conditions.

Crusoe masters his fear when he faces the ultimate challenge — the devil. Investigating a cave, he is met by a pair of eyes. At first scared, he realizes that he can confront this enemy just like he has met every other challenge on the island. "He that was afraid to see the devil, was not fit to live twenty years in an island all alone."

With that, he rushes in to confront the devil and discovers a dying goat. He has passed his trial. Had he not faced his fears, he would have run away in full belief that the devil lived in that cave. Instead, he investigates and confronts his fear.

Human Condition

Robinson Crusoe is a meditation on the human condition, and an argument for challenging traditional notions about that condition. Finding himself alone in a deserted island, Crusoe struggles to maintain reason, order, and civilization. His "original sin" is his rejection of a conventional life. When he leaves England for a life on the high seas, he refuses to be "satisfied with the station wherein God and Nature hath placed" him.

Crusoe struggles with — and eventually triumphs over — nature. The book suggests that this struggle is at the heart of human nature: man is on earth to triumph and gain profit from nature. Any profit makes sense in this view of the world, whether that means getting just one plank out of a huge tree or building a boat too heavy to bring to the water. Once Crusoe is able to overcome his fear and subdue nature is rewarded handsomely.

Money

Consistent with Defoe's writings on economics, money is an important theme in Robinson Crusoe. At the beginning of the narrative, Crusoe details how much money he has, what he does with it, and what he gains by his actions.

On the island, money loses all value. Crusoe has to find another way to measure his worth. While rummaging through a ship for salvage he laments aloud at the sight of some money, "O Drug! what are thou good for." At that point he realizes that just one knife is worth more than money. Usefulness is the key to evaluation of worth.

Crusoe's hope of returning to England is symbolized by these tokens of civilization — on the island, the money is only a reminder of his old life and he treasures it as a memento. In all of his other endeavors he freely admits his success or failure. But as a merchant, he knows that though separated from the world now, he can only reconnect with it if he has money. Once he returns to London, his old reliance on money returns.

Industrialization

Industrialization is defined here as a process whereby humans channel the forces of nature into the production and manufacture of goods for their economic consumption. This industrialization is Crusoe's occupation, according to his cultural background and his religion. He immediately sets out to be productive and self-sufficient on the island.

By the time of Robinson Crusoe, most villages were experiencing labor specialization. People began to buy bread instead of baking it. Thus Crusoe has to relearn many of these arts to survive. With practice, Crusoe is able to increase the level of industrialization on his island.

Crusoe has a few implements with which he is able to reconstruct a semblance of civilization as well as create more advanced technology. While building his house, he notes that every task is exhausting. In brief, he praises the idea of "division of labor" as he describes cutting timber out of trees, bringing the wood from the trees to the construction site, and then constructing his shelter. He soon devises labor-saving devices, thus increasing his efficiency and productivity.

The necessity of a sharp ax leads Crusoe to invent his own foot-powered sharpener. He has "no notion of a kiln," but he manages to fire pottery. He needs a mill for grinding his grain, but not finding a proper stone, he settles for a block of hard wood. The entire process of baking his own bread spurs a realization of how wonderful the state of human technology is.

People take the labor behind the necessities of life for granted when such items can be easily purchased in the market. Crusoe is not suggesting that people return to a world of self-sufficient households. Instead, as he goes about his Herculean tasks, like creating a simple shelf in his house, he comments that a carpenter could have finished the two-day job in an hour. Thus he appreciates the process of specialization that helps make industrialization so successful.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010