 |
 |
 |
 |
  |
|
  |
 |
Text #2: The Tornado |
|||
 |
|
||
|
Storms, by Seymour Simon (HarperCollins, 1989). Text copyright ©1989 by Seymour Simon. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. |
|||
Vocabulary
-
This passage contains a simile and several examples of personification.
-
Identify the uses of figurative language in this passage.
-
What is the effect of the figurative language in this passage?
-
Why might some students have difficulty comprehending this language?
Grammatical structures and devices
-
This passage contains a relative clause.
What object does it give explicit information about? What is this information? [ANSWER]
Cohesive devices
-
What does the pronoun it refer to in the sentence When it contacts the earth, an explosion of flying dirt turns the tornado dark?
Notice that pronouns often refer back to noun phrases in previous sentences rather than noun phrases in the sentences in which they occur. What is the effect of using a pronoun to refer back to a noun phrase in a prior sentence? Does this usage sometimes make it hard to figure out what the pronoun is referring to?
-
This passage contains a complex sentence:
When it contacts the earth, an explosion of flying dirt turns the tornado dark.
Identify the main (independent) clause and the subordinate (dependent) clause. Which clause is first, and which is second? What effect would reversing the two clauses have on the sentence? On the passage as a whole?
Rhetorical devices
-
This passage is rich with words that modify nouns (adjectives) and verbs (adverbs). [EXAMPLES]
-
Note that words that end in -ing sometimes function as adjectives and not action verbs. How can you tell when an -ing word is acting as an adjective?
-
Why do you think the author uses so many adjective and adverbs in this passage? Why has he chosen the particular modifiers we find here?
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|