Speech Work Comprehension and Narrative Essay

Contents:

• Speech Work
• Adjectives
• Comprehension
• Narrative Essay

Speech Work: Vowel Sound /I/

This sound is a short sound. For example pronounce these words; bucket, fish, ship, ship, women. Now when you say the sound, your mouth is open and the lips are spread.

Spelling

You can spell the sound /I/ sound in several ways in English. Listen and repeat:

I	E	Y	ie	A	unusual
Sit	Houses	Rhythm	cities	Private	busy
Sister	Enough	Sorry	carried	Orange	business

Grammar: Adjectives

An adjective is a word that is used to describe and modify a noun. It tells us more about the noun. We can identify adjectives in words by knowing their features i.e. the descriptive feature of an adjective to a noun and also the modification.

Types of Adjectives

There are different types of adjectives in English. These are:

Adjectives of Quality: These adjectives are used to describe the nature of a noun. They give an idea about the characteristics of the noun by answering the question ‘what kind’.

Examples: A beautiful day, A good girl.

Adjectives of Quantity: These adjectives help to show the amount or the approximate amount of the noun or pronoun. These adjectives do not provide exact numbers; rather they tell us the amount of the noun in relative or whole terms. e.g. All, Half, Many, Few, Little, No, Enough, Great

Examples: There are few books on the shelf

Many people came to the fair

Adjectives of Number: These adjectives are used to show the number of nouns and their place in an order. There are three different sections within adjectives of number; they are –

Definite Numeral Adjective – Those which clearly denote an exact number of nouns or the order of the noun.

One, Two, Twenty, Thirty-Three etc. also known as Cardinals.

First, Second, Third, Seventh etc. also known as Ordinals.

Indefinite Numeral Adjective – Those adjectives that do not give an exact numerical amount but just give a general idea of the amount.

Some, Many, Few, Any, Several, All etc.

E.g.: There were many people present at the meeting.

Distributive Numeral Adjective – Those adjectives that are used to refer to individual nouns within the whole amount.

Either, Neither, Each, Another, Other etc.

Taxes have to be paid by every employed citizen.

Adjective of Size: These adjectives  tell you about the size of the noun, they can be used for an object as well as living things.

Examples: A big rat, A short ladder

Adjective of Age: These are Adjectives that tell about the age of a noun either by itself or in relation to another noun.

e.g. Young, Old, Teenage, Mature

Examples: A young man, An old car

Adjective of Temperature: A warm evening, A hot bath

Adjective of Shape: These adjectives tell about the shape or appearance of the noun.

e.g. Circular, Crooked, Triangular

Examples: A square table, A round box

Adjective of Colour: These are the adjectives that tell about the shade and hue of a noun.

e.g. Pastel, Red, Blue, Metallic, Colourless

Examples: A red shirt, A colourless  liquid

Adjective of Origin: These are adjectives that tell the geographical location of a noun.

Examples: A french car, A chinese watch

Descriptive Adjectives

The most common type of adjective is the descriptive adjective. These are simply words that help to describe nouns. They can be colours, sizes, or other describing words.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are like possessive pronouns, but act as adjectives. They are: my, your, its, our, and their. They demonstrate a relationship of ownership. In the examples below, the possessive adjectives are in red. The nouns they modify are in blue. Remember: it’s an adjective if it comes with the noun; it’s a pronoun if it replaces the noun.

It is my ball.                                       

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative Adjectives are identical to demonstrative pronouns, but are used for a different purpose. The demonstrative adjectives are: this, that, those, and what. In the following sentences the demonstrative adjectives are in red and the nouns they modify are in blue.

Take this job and shove it..

Interrogative Adjectives

Another type of adjective is the interrogative adjective. Interrogative adjectives include the words which and what. In the following sentences the interrogative adjectives are in red and the nouns they modify are in blue.

Which company do you want to invest in?

Indefinite Adjectives

 It’s an adjective that’s not definite. Too vague? How about a word like “some” or “many.” Getting clearer?

1. Some people wanted to buy stocks.
2. Many people wanted to buy bonds.
3. A few people wanted to buy gold.
4. Why indefinite? Because it’s not exactly clear how many or who.

Assessment

Identify and name the types of Adjective in the following sentences

1. How much rise do you want to buy?
2. Those girls are wayward
3. Tolu has five red balls 
4. I gave Chika my lunch
5. The fat man couldn’t walk through the tiny door
6. The English man paid 5 pennies for a cup of black coffee
7. The heavy blue round box was placed on the light table
8. The big fat black man ran as fast as his strong legs could carry him at the sound of  gun fire
9. The faithful dog brought back his master’s brown book

Answers

1. How – Interrogative Adj
2. Those – Demonstrative Adj
3. Five, Red – Descriptive Adj
4. My – Possessive Adj
5. Fat, Tiny – Adj of size
6. English -Adj of origin, 5 – Adjective of number, black – Adj of colour
7. Heavy – Adj of size, blue – Adj of colour, round – Adj of shape
8. Big – Adj of size, Fat – Adj of size, Black – Adj of colour, strong – Adj of Quality
9. Faithful – Adj of Quality, Brown – Adj of colour.

Reading and Comprehension: Reading to Answer Specific Question

About Me and My Family

My name is Bunmi Akinluyi, and I am twelve years old. I attend C.M.S. Grammar school, Bariga. I live in Igbobi, a suburb of Lagos.
I live with my father, my mother, my Younger brother Dele and my baby sister, Ayo. Dele is nine and Ayo is two and half. She is quite small, but she talks a lot already.  My Aunt Bola and her eight year old son Ojo also live with us. Dele and Ojo go to Igbobi primary school.
My father is train driver. He works for the Railway cooperation. He is away from home quite often because he has to drive trains to Kaduna. My mother is a nurse, she works at a hospital not far from home.
My favourite hobbies are reading and playing volleyball. I am also very interested in music. The thing I enjoy most of all is talking with my friends.

Assessment (Comprehension)

1. How old is Bunmi?
2. Where does she live?
3. What is the name of Bunmi’s Aunt?
4. What school does Ojo attend?

After reading the passage above answer the following questions.

Composition: Narrative Essay

What is a Narrative?

A narrative or a narrative essay can be defined as an account of an individual experience. This explains a personal experience that had a significant impact on the individual’s life. It can be of a journey, a special day such as the first day in school, one’s marriage, an unforgettable day, etc. This highlights that through a narrative the individual can express and share something special with the reader. A narrative entails a sequence of events that are often related in chronological order. A narrative can be presented in the first person narration that uses words such as I, myself, me, etc. However, a narrative can be in the third person as well when relating stories. This will have various characters and a specific plot surrounding that story will be built.

A narrative allows the reader to comprehend the point of view, attitudes, perspectives and construction of reality of the narrator. It allows the reader not only to be a part of the experience but also understand the personality of the narrator. In Social Sciences, narratives are usually used as empirical evidence for research purposes as they allow the researcher to understand the subjective experiences of people and also their interpretations of events.

Assessment on Narrative Essay – Topic: My Experience in my Former School

Outline

• Start by introducing the topic; tell us you felt about your former school
• The body of the message; tell us about your experience in paragraphs(not more than four)
• The conclusion or the conclusive paragraph; now you can summarize your introduction, tell us your feeling about the experience so far

Oral Literature

Oral literature is a literature that is honed by the telling, over and over. More than most “non-oral” literature, it tends to respect the reader/listener. It takes the audience on a journey, word by word, event by event. It generally doesn’t make an argument but it creates images and experiences in the mind and heart. Often it contains tropes or repeating elements and mnemonics that are the vestiges of a work told from memory, but created anew with each telling. Generally speaking any literature that is rooted in an oral tradition tends to map onto our psyches better than purely literary or post-modern storytelling. It works the way our brains and hearts do.