Online Reporter
Charles Dube Highway to success
Holiday time is a welcome relief to students, especially to those who have been sweating it out. It comes as a surprise to many that some students are always on holiday so to speak. They celebrate their peers’ weekly successes with little effort spared for their own improvement,
However, this sounds like unfair criticism to those who genuinely work day and night. Having said thus, this is to encourage all learners to put in hard work in all they do. Examination classes, please relax but do not forget your studies totally. Know your capabilities.
Do not blindly follow your friend’s ways of doing their work. There are geniuses among students who do not need hours to understand concepts. If you are not that type, devise your own ways of reading or studying. You will love school if you do your work properly as expected.
Remember recently we picked up some points on reading where we heard that reading is not only for fun but also a great way to start learning English. By reading in English, you will discover new words, grammar structures and phrases that will help communicate better.
Reading will improve your overall skills and increase your knowledge of various topics and types of writing. Now that you are on holiday, it is opportune time to read with no pressure at all from things like homework and lessons.
You were reminded to pick books that interest you, such as thrillers and non-fiction. It is quite surprising that many are able to pick movies that interest but cannot do the same on books. “There is a book out there for everyone.
Choose what captures your attention to stay motivated and engaged also.
Adding emphasis to writing and creating a grotesque image. Describing in vivid detail how a character changes into their alter ego is a crucial skill that writers use to engage and shock their reader. Often they want to give the reader a detailed description of this.
Good writers often choose their language to emphasise or intensify particular ideas or descriptions. Have a look at the following words: frightening, crumpled, foul, putrid, rotting, ghastly, worm-eaten, shrunken, fearsome, decayed, shrivelled, maggots, frightful, cankered, wizened and horror.
Are any of these words similar in meaning? Group any words with similar meaning together into “families”. For example, reduced in size –shrunken; decomposing –rotting. How do you choose language to add emphasis to your writing? Synonyms are different words that have the same or very similar meaning.
For example, a synonym of the word “frightening” might be terrifying; or synonym of the word pretty might be attractive. Writers including yourself might use “synonyms and related words in three different ways: to emphasise particular ideas or details, to avoid repeating the same word and to introduce different layers of meaning or detail.”
How can you use intensifiers for effect in your writing? Writers can use intensifiers (or adverbs of degree) to add further emphasis to your ideas. As the name suggests, this intensifies and adds more to the meaning of a word or phrase.
Common intensifiers include: so, very, really and quite. Roald Dahl in one of his texts describes the Grand High Witch: so crumpled and wizened, so shrunken and shrivelled . . . frightful.
Adverbs ending in –ly are often used as intensifiers. There was something terribly wrong with it.
Better writers use synonyms to emphasise ideas and details in their story and to avoid repetition –they choose these synonyms carefully to introduce different layers of meaning. They know when to use intensifiers to add further emphasis to a word or phrase, but do not overuse them.
Read the following passage borrowed from one writer: Beneath the mask lay such horror. The face was so repulsive, so repellent, so evil. It had two empty eye sockets. The empty holes seemed to move in the darkness beneath the mask. They were filled with worms, which slithered, slipped and slid.
The following words taken from this paragraph: repulsive, repellent, slithered, slipped and slid are used as synonyms. Here the synonyms emphasise the horror and the fear that it creates. Such, so used thrice are intensifiers.
Intensifiers heighten the revulsion and terror that the narrator feels towards the thing.
You also need to understand how to craft a short story extract using a range of features for effect. What kind of overall effect are you hoping to achieve? How do you want your readers to react to this part of the story? Should they: be nervous? Terrified? Excited? Amused? Tense?
Who is your character? Consider what your character is like before their transformation: Male or female, Age? Are they likeable? Do they have a job or perhaps go to school? What type of transformation will they undergo?
Will it be painful or painless? Will it be shocking, gruesome, painful or perhaps even funny? Will the change be sudden or gradual? What will it look like? How will your character feel about their transformation? Pleased, horrified? Shocked? Confused? Agitated?
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