GED Reasoning Through Language Arts Study Guide 2021!

one of the basic elements that make up the structure of sentences is a noun there are different types of nouns but they all have the same general function today we're going to discuss different types of nouns as well as pronouns we'll also talk about what they do and how to use them properly [Music] nouns are words that name a person place or thing for example dad son jet fighter influenza chalk halstead street and puppy are all nouns this may seem broad but nouns can be broken down even further into different categories depending on what the noun is doing in the sentence common nouns like most of the words mentioned earlier are words that refer to general things these things do not have a specific name like john or eiffel tower those would be proper nouns we'll discuss those later here's an example of common nouns used in a sentence dinner was ready at 6 pm the common noun used in this example is dinner dinner in this case is a thing let's look at one more the eggs were scrambled in the hot pan this sentence has two common nouns eggs and pan because they are both things or objects in the sentence same simple enough right proper nouns are people places or things that have specific names or titles for example dad is a common noun but your dad's name might be drew drew is a proper noun a chevy is the name for a brand of car so it's also a proper noun in addition proper nouns are always capitalized let's see proper nouns in a sentence aunt jackie is my favorite aunt on my mom's side aunt jackie is someone's formal name therefore it is a proper noun mom in this sentence is not someone's formal name therefore it is just a common noun let's look at one more example james proposed to jesse near the eiffel tower in france this example is full of proper nouns james and jesse are the given names of people while the eiffel tower is the proper name of an object and france is the official name of a country a place collective nouns are nouns that refer to a collective group or multiple number of something a class of students a flock of birds a team of players a crowd of fans nouns can also come in plural and singular forms just as it sounds some nouns describe a single object person or idea that stands alone or multiple objects people and ideas let's look at an example and see if we can identify the singular nouns in the sentence the dog fell asleep on the porch with its toy nearby here we see a few singular nouns there's only one dog one porch and one toy mentioned therefore we know these are the singular nouns in this sentence identifying plural nouns can be just as simple most nouns can be made plural by adding an s or e s at the end of the word here we'll look at an example using our previous example and see if we can spot the plural nouns the dogs fell asleep on the porch with their toys nearby in this sentence we made a few changes we see now an s was added to dog and toy by adding an s these once singular nouns are now plural now the sentence is describing multiple dogs and toys on one porch here's one more example the businesses had a huge increase in savings this year in this sentence we can see that businesses is the plural noun because it is describing more than one business we made the word plural by adding an e s on the end remember when making a singular noun plural if the noun ends in ch sh x z s or sometimes o we add e s to the end of it there are other rules to properly make singular nouns plural for example nouns that end in y must have the y taken out and replaced with ies there are always some exceptions to these rules but the way you make a singular noun plural depends on what letter the word ends with as you learn more words these rules and exceptions will become easier to remember possessive nouns are nouns that describe ownership of something we show ownership by adding apostrophe s to the end of a noun or an apostrophe to the end of a word that ends with s one way to determine which noun is the possessive noun is to identify the object and ask to whom or what does this belong to no worries if this rule seems confusing here are a few examples to practice liz scratched mom's car while driving in this sentence we see three nouns but only one of them is possessive moms would be the possessive noun because the aforementioned car belongs to her not liz nouns that don't refer to humans or animals can also be possessive here's another can you spot the possessive noun in this sentence the bus's doors were jammed and the students couldn't board in this example the possessive noun is buses because the doors mentioned belong to the bus did you notice the placement of the apostrophe here not only does buses end with an s but buses is also plural remember nouns that end with an s like bus or boss are made plural by adding an e s at the end when trying to make nouns that end with an s possessive you must first determine if the noun is singular or plural to know where to put the apostrophe to make a singular noun possessive we simply add apostrophe s to the end of it even if the noun already ends in s because we want to show that there is only one of this thing or person possessing something when dealing with plural nouns that end in es we make the noun possessive by adding the apostrophe at the end of the word pronouns are words that take the place of nouns to keep from sounding repetitive pronouns can describe a person place or thing without naming it multiple times in the same sentence or paragraph pronouns also come in many forms today we'll only talk about personal pronouns and a few others as well as nominative objective and possessive cases like other nouns pronouns can also be singular plural and possessive and represent a person or thing here's an example of a sentence with no pronouns jasmine loves movies jasmine goes to the theater often and has jasmine's own members pass these sentences sound strange most people don't repeat someone's name over and over like that that's why pronouns help eliminate the redundancy take another look at these sentences with pronouns used instead jasmine loves movies she goes to the theater often and has her own members pass this example looks and sounds a lot better here we replace jasmine with the pronouns she and her as mentioned earlier pronouns can also be possessive we see that in the previous example jasmine owns a member's pass so instead of saying jasmine's pass we use the possessive pronoun her to describe her possession of the member's pass other possessive pronouns include singular his her mine plural possessive pronouns include theirs ours and yours when talking about pronouns it's also important to mention nominative and objective case nominative case refers to a noun that is performing an action or verb in contrast objective case is a noun that is having an action or verb taken upon it here's an example mariah drank water here mariah is in the nominative case because she is performing an action on the water the verb drink let's look at an objective pronoun example mariah caught the ball here the ball is the objective pronoun because it was the object that had an action performed on it which was it being caught indefinite pronouns represent a person or thing that we don't have a specific number of for example anybody can learn another language in this case the indefinite pronoun is anybody because it refers to an immeasurable amount of people these pronouns are used to ask a question what is her name whose keys are those intensive pronouns are pronouns that emphasize the pronouns that immediately proceeded she herself made sure to set the alarm in this case herself is meant to emphasize she making herself the intensive pronoun i myself made time to work out before bed here myself refers to the pronoun i making myself the intensive pronoun reciprocal pronouns are words that express an action is happening to two or more people or things at the same time reciprocal pronouns include each other and one another the students switch tests with one another we exchanged vowels with each other demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that point to specific things examples of demonstrative pronouns are this that these and those nouns and pronouns are essential pieces needed to complete sentences before we end let's do a few practice examples to make sure we got the hang of all we went over today what kind of noun is tuesday a a common noun b possessive noun c proper noun or d none of the above the answer is c proper noun because it's the name of a specific day which of the following singular nouns was made plural incorrectly a singer to singers b dish to dishes c church to churches or d tax to texas d because nouns that end in x take an e s to make them plural the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog this silly sentence contains all of the letters of the alphabet and you might notice it also is stuffed full of adjectives in this video we'll talk about what adjectives are and how to use them in a sentence [Music] an adjective is a word that describes a noun it describes something's size color age origin material or shape adjectives can be used to make the subject simpler to understand and to shed light on what an author wants their ideas to truly convey the adjectives used in the sentence about the fox and the dog are quick and brown describing the fox and lazy which describes the dog here's another example she is the smartest student in the class student is the noun and smartest is describing what kind of student she is so smartest is the adjective shakespeare has been credited for adding hundreds of new words to the english language when he was writing and many of those were adjectives some examples of shakespearean adjectives are thou cold-blooded slave hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side been sworn my soldier bidding me depend upon thy stars thy fortune and thy strength and dost thou now fall over to my fours cold blooded is an adjective that describes the slave it helps us to know what type of person the slave was cold-blooded is a word that had been used to describe snakes and reptiles but shakespeare used it for the first time to describe a person here's an example from the book little women she remembered her mother's promise in slipping her hand under her pillow drew out a little crimson covered book crimson covered describes the color of fabric that was covering the book as you can see using adjectives can make your sentences and ideas come to life instead of just saying that the firework display was beautiful you can make it much more exciting and easier to envision what the fireworks actually looked like by saying the fireworks this year were bursting brightly overhead as the bright dazzling sparkles lit up the sky bright and dazzling are just two of the many many adjectives that make writing so descriptive and fun to read describing situations in detail helps readers more vividly understand what is taking place when describing things in more detail adverbs are a helpful addition to make your sentences more colorful and portray the event clearly in this video we'll take a look at what adverbs do how to identify them and how to best use them in our writing let's get started the easiest way to find an adverb in a sentence is to ask these questions where was something done when was it done how was it done and to what extent was it done an adverb will always answer one of those questions for example the adverb here answers the question where and the adverb randomly answers the question how an easy identifier for adverbs is the suffix l-y not all adverbs use it but the majority of adverbs do let's identify some adverbs by using our four questions she went outside and walked the dog do any of those words in the sentence answer the question where when how or to what extent in this example we see that outside is the adverb because it tells us where she went let's look at another they briskly jogged through the park here we see that the word briskly answers the question how something was done making it the adverb in the sentence let's try one more example she almost tripped while jogging but regained her balance this one might be tricky in this example we see that almost describes the extent to which something happens which in this case was tripped she almost tripped making almost the adverb here adverbs not only modify verbs they are also used to describe comparisons of two things adverbs have three degrees of comparison positive comparative and superlative the best way to explain positive comparative and superlative adverbs is to think of them as well better and best when we want to describe the quality of something we can say the thing itself is done well that would be a positive adverb we may compare that thing to something else and say this thing is better than something else which is known as a comparative adverb or we may simply say this thing is the best which is superlative as you can see with each comparison the degree of its descriptor is increased there are many ways of changing adverbs from positive to comparative and superlative let's go over each one with real examples and see how they differ what's important to note about positive adverbs is that the words used don't necessarily have to be positive or good words for example the word badly is a positive adverb because it is the first or basic degree you can use to describe something without comparing it to anything else many adverbs can be modified to show different degrees by simply adding er or est to the end of the word adding er to a word makes it comparative meaning it's not the most of something but it is more than something else adding est to the end of a word means that the word it is describing is the most of something and nothing can be compared as being better than it here's an example he ran through the field faster than his sister in this example the adverb faster responds to the question of how something was done we also know this is a comparative adverb because of the added er to the end of fast this lets us know that this person ran at a higher speed compared to his sister here's another example she was the quickest of everyone who ran the 5k here we see the adverb quickest answers the question of how something was done because there is an est at the end of quick we know that this adverb is superlative because no one else ran more quickly than this person some adverbs especially those that end in ly can't have their degrees increased to comparative or superlative forms by simply adding er or est to the end these adverbs must have more and most preceding the word to be modified let's look at a few examples the crowd cheered for her more joyfully than for the other performers here we can see that joyfully is the adverb because it answers the question of how the crowd cheered we can also see that joyfully is a comparative adverb because of the word more before it with this we know that the crowd cheered more but not the most joyfully he completed his task most efficiently of all the employees again in this example the adverb efficiently is easy to spot not only because it ends in ly but because it answers the question of how the task is performed we also find the word most proceeding efficiently which means this is a superlative adverb and no task was completed more efficiently than his some adverbs can't be made comparative and superlative with the use of e-r-e-s-t more or most for irregular adverbs changing their degree of comparison means changing the word and its spelling entirely there is no special trick to these irregular adverbs so they must be memorized over time to understand their implied degree of comparison the word badly is an example of an irregular adverb to make it comparative you wouldn't say more badly or badlier the comparative form of badly is worse and the superlative form is worst other examples of irregular adverbs include little which becomes less and least and good which becomes better and best now let's look at adverbial phrases adverbial phrases perform the same function as adverbs and describe when how to what extent and where something happens what makes them different from normal adverbs is they are phrases which means they are a group of two or more words and they don't always contain a typical ly adverb in the phrase here are some examples that answer the question when he goes camping every summer they are going to sleep earlier than usual here these highlighted phrases signify a time in which something occurs in this sentence he was driving haphazardly and recklessly this adverbial phrase is made up of two adverbs and a conjunction to make a phrase that describes how something occurred an adverbial clause is similar to an adverbial phrase however adverbial clauses just like the name suggests are clauses which means they contain a subject verb and subordinating conjunction let's look at some examples sit at the table until your food is eaten in this example the adverbial clause until your food is eaten describes when something occurs we also know it is a clause because it has a subject food and verb eaten as well as a subordinating conjunction until my sister although she was hungry wouldn't eat until i arrived here the adverbial clause starts with a subordinating conjunction although has a subject she and a verb is together they describe the extent to which the sister wouldn't eat make sure you are polite to people wherever you go this example shows the subordinating conjunction wherever the subject u and verb go to show when something happened before we go let's do a little practice to refresh what we've learned number one which of the following are not adverbs a entirely b rather c them or d cautiously the answer is c then the word then is a pronoun number two the highlighted word is an example of what some people agree that serena williams is the greatest athlete of all time a adverbial phrase b subordinating conjunction c comparative adverb or d superlative adverb the answer is d superlative prepositions are words that specify how something is related to something else in time and space they work in a sentence to connect nouns or pronouns with other words and elements let's start with this example the dog swam in the lake there are two nouns in this sentence dog in lake we know from the verb swam what the dog is doing but we need the preposition in to tell us where the swimming is happening the dog is swimming in something and that something is the lake the second noun connected with the preposition in this case the word lake is called the object of the preposition and together with the preposition forms a prepositional phrase there is no subject in the phrase in the lake only a noun because of the preposition in we know it's a prepositional phrase this is an article not a noun so we know it can't be the object of the preposition like the noun we are trying to connect with our first noun dog is the object of the preposition most of the time though not always the object of the preposition comes after the preposition in the prepositional phrase when we're trying to find the prepositional phrase in a sentence first try to spot the preposition prepositions show direction location or time many of the most common prepositions are small words you use every day at by for from in of on to and with are all prepositions think about this sentence and try to pick out the prepositional phrase after work joe drove to the store in his car there are three prepositional phrases in this sentence let's start with a simple one joe the proper noun is connected to the noun stor by the preposition to it answers a directional question where did joe go he went to the store the word store is the object of the prepositional phrase to the store let's look for another preposition in this sentence you might have noticed our preposition in appeared again in this sentence in isn't a directional preposition like to but it tells us where joe was during his drive he was in his car carr is the object of the preposition in and in his car is the prepositional phrase now let's look back to the first word in the sentence after this is also a preposition remember prepositions show direction location or time after dinner is a prepositional phrase that tells us when joe went to the store dinner is the object of the preposition not all prepositional phrases are quite so simple think of it like a sandwich you have to have bread and filling to make a sandwich right a sandwich can be as simple as cheese between two slices of bread but it can also have meat veggies and spreads we can jazz up prepositional phrases the same way with adjectives and adverbs as long as you still have the bread and the feeling preposition and object of the preposition you'll still have a prepositional phrase take this sentence for example the swallows flew over the trees near the lake over the trees in near the lake are the two prepositional phrases in this sentence over is a preposition that tells us the direction the swallows flew and near is a preposition that tells us where the trees were located these prepositional phrases are fairly simple but look what happens if we make the sandwich more interesting the swallows flew over the dark trees near the town's renowned lake we still have the same two prepositions and prepositional phrases but the words dark towns in renowned are all adjectives dark is modifying or adding meaning to the object trees of the first prepositional phrase but it is otherwise not changing the preposition in any way the same is true of towns in renowned they are modifying the object of the preposition lake in the second phrase near is still the preposition and lake is still the object of the preposition so let's recap a preposition is a word that answers the question when or where something happened in a sentence it connects nouns or pronouns to other nouns in the sentence about to with up down under inside after before and four are a few examples of common prepositions the object of the preposition is the noun that the preposition is talking about and together with the preposition those objects make prepositional phrases hello and welcome today we're talking about subjects now the subject of a sentence is the person place or thing or idea that is doing or being the subject is sometimes called the naming part of a sentence or clause it shows what the sentence is about or who or what is performing an action in the sentence the subject is most often a noun pronoun or noun phrase now it's easier to find the subject of the sentence if you first find the verb remember a verb is any word used to describe an action a state or an occurrence ask yourself who or what verb in this sentence the answer to that question is the subject let's try it with this sentence rachel ate her breakfast the verb in this sentence is the word ate it describes an action that rachel took so let's ask our question who are what ate rachel did rachel's the subject of this sentence a simple subject is the subject of a sentence without all of its modifiers modifying words help tell us more about the nouns and verbs and sometimes even adverbs in a sentence but they can make it difficult to find the subject if you pull these away you find your simple subject let's look at an example the main reason after all was said and done wasn't enough to keep her there there are quite a few things going on in this sentence but if we strip away the modifying phrase after all was said and done we see the following sentence the main reason wasn't enough to keep her there now you may be tempted to assume the subject is her since sometimes people are subjects but let's ask our question what wasn't enough not her but the main reason reason here is the simple subject sometimes a simple subject can be a phrase rather than a single word that's when things get a little more complicated take this sentence for example what he didn't know about life in the city could fill whole volumes what he didn't know about life in the city is the simple subject you can't strip it down any more than that what could fill whole volumes what he didn't know life in the city and he are all incomplete exclamations they must be taken together as a complete phrase now that we have a good grasp on simple subjects let's talk about compound subjects take the following sentence jack and jill went up the hill who went up the hill jack well yes that's not all though jill did as well they are both subjects of the sentence a compound subject is when two or more nouns are joined together to act as a subject think about this sentence rain snow and ice made driving impossible rain snow and ice are all three compound subjects of the sentence now let's have a little fun what do you think is the subject of the following sentence come here now is it come is it here is it now is it non-existent no on all accounts if grammar wasn't confusing enough now i'm asking you to evaluate invisible words but don't worry we can find the subject by asking our question who or what needs to come here now the answer is you if a mother is calling her son she could say you come here now if you're calling your friend you can say you come here now this is called an understood subject often the subject of a command order or suggestion you is left out of the sentence strong and well-placed subjects make for strong writing avoid beginning sentences with the word there it's a filler for other words in the sentence that are the true subjects look here there are my shoes on the floor in this sentence there looks like the subject but in reality the word shoes already fills that role there only adds words and makes the meaning less clear we can clean the sentence up this way shoes are on my floor avoid mixing up the order of your subjects in verb phrase in this sentence take a look at this example the plumber is ben this sentence would mean the same thing if you said ben is the plumber but as it is the subject is inverted and confusing in general it's best to write with a clear subject followed by the verb phrase that describes what the subject is doing and don't forget if you're having trouble finding the subject in a sentence just find the verb and find out who or what is connected with that verb words are divided into different categories depending on their use and function these categories are what we like to call the parts of speech there are eight parts of speech in the english language nouns pronouns verbs adverbs adjectives conjunctions prepositions and interjections today we'll actually be talking about gerunds participles and infinitives now you're probably wondering how those are related to the parts of speech right well for the sake of understanding these concepts just think of those three as various ways in which the different parts of speech can be used in other words the main parts of speech are your tools and our three topics for today are the projects you need the tools for a gerund is a word that is created with a verb but functions as a noun always ending in ing being used as a noun a gerund can function as a subject a subject complement a direct object an indirect object or an object of a preposition it's important to note that though gerunds may look a lot like present participles they are not the same thing gerunds are specifically placed in the noun position of a sentence whereas present participles are placed with the verb phrase usually as modifiers here is an example of a gerund in the subject position brushing your hair prevents it from tangling in this sentence the word brushing is the gerund functioning as the subject of the sentence if a gerund were to be the complement of a subject in a sentence it would look like this her number one priority is working working is functioning as a complement to the subject priority here's an example where the gerund is the object of a preposition there is no use in standing in the line for three hours grandma said in this sentence standing follows the preposition in making it the object of the preposition gerunds can also function as the object of a sentence very similar to gerunds are participles participles are words created from verbs that are then used as adjectives to modify nouns in a sentence they can also be used as introductions to adverbial phrases there are present and past participles present participles always end in ing and correlate to events taking place in the current tense the past participle can be either regular or irregular and refers to events that have already happened differentiating between participles and gerunds can be a little tricky sometimes because participles can actually function as gerunds for our purposes today we're going to take a look at some rather straightforward examples when using a participle as an adjective you might come across a sentence like this the browning fruit should be put outside for composting browning is a present participle noted by the ing ending that is modifying the noun fruit i spent the whole day studying math in this sentence studying is a present participle that is working as the beginning of an adverbial phrase in the sentence the phrase studying math is modifying the verb spent how did i spend the whole day studying math both of those examples were present participles meaning the words ended in ing to denote something happening in the current time as mentioned there are such thing as past participles past participles can have varied word endings depending on the word being used most commonly you will see d or e d added to the end of a word let's look at a couple of examples the windows were cracked when the rainstorm came through here the word cracked is the past participle working as an adjective to modify the noun windows he continued forward cautioned by the desolate streets cautioned is the past participle in this sentence functioning as the beginning of an adverbial phrase describing the word continued additionally participles can also appear as multi-part verbs the multi comes from attaching an auxiliary verb or helping verb to the main verb being used in the sentence joanne was baking fresh cookies for her grandkids in this sentence only one helping verb is used was it is paired with the participle baking to create a multi-part verb joanne has been baking all morning the helping verb in the sentence has been participle baking joanne would have been reading all morning if her grandkids hadn't said they were coming over helping verb would have been participle reading knowing how to form different endings of the participles allows for a variety of meanings to be conveyed unlike gerunds and participles infinitives do not change their endings they are always in the simple singular form infinitives are singular verbs usually preceded by the word to they do not have any specific suffixes they're just simple in nature in other words the verbs are unconjugated infinitives can be used as a noun an adjective or an adverb most likely when you're dealing with infinitives you'll be dealing with the present infinitive that's what we'll be looking at today the two is used with the infinitive to show the purpose of something or maybe to express someone's opinion let's take a look at some examples of infinitives noun josh wants to study as soon as he gets home from school adjective today she wants to show josh a new game to play adverb josh played the new game with his sister instead of studying to make her happy we've discussed quite a bit today remember gerunds are words that are formed from verbs and used as nouns always ending in ing participles are words created from verbs that can be used as adjectives or an adverbial phrase also ending in ing unless expressing past tense and infinitives are verbs that take the simple tense and follow the preposition to whether it's a simple tale like the three little pigs or a long-winded play like the tragedy of hamlet a well-told story will always have a defined plot a plot is the sequence of main events in a story these events generally take place in a specific order which gives the story a specific structure this structure can be divided into five basic elements exposition rising action climax falling action and the resolution let's take a look at each of these the exposition or beginning of a plot sets the scene it is the part of a story where the writer builds the world sets the time frame and introduces characters to help the reader understand when and where things are taking place the rising action of a plot is where the story begins to develop conflicts are introduced that complicate the lives of the character and create suspense these tensions can be a cause of excitement or crisis as the characters deal with the conflict put in front of them the climax of a plot is when the tensions or actions have reached their peak and characters have reached a turning point in the story from this point on the reader is left to wonder what will happen next and if the tensions will be resolved the falling action of a plot occurs once the conflict from the onset of the story begins to resolve itself finally the resolution of a plot is the last element to take place the resolution is the conclusion of the story which can be happy tragic or open for interpretation regardless a well-written conclusion will make it clear that the story has come to an end these are elements that storytellers have used for centuries back in 335 bc greek philosopher aristotle wrote a book called poetics which talked about his theories about drama and storytelling according to aristotle plotz played a major role in the structure of poetry and tragedies during his time in fact to him the plot or mythos was the most important element in a tragedy he claims the plot should move from beginning to middle then to the end in an organized sequence where the beginning doesn't pick up from any previous event and the end ties up all loose threads within the story aristotle also believed there were two types of plots simple and complex simple plots are a unified construct of probable actions with a change in fortune this can be seen clearly in most cliche horror movie plots friends go on a road trip car runs out of gas friends find old house when searching for help friends explore old house someone gets attacked friends fight for survival someone gets away there is a chain of cause and effect events in this simple plot that move the story forward however a complex plot will have what's known as a reversal of fortune or a recognition in the story a reversal of fortune is a pivotal point of the story where the protagonist experiences a change from being secure to being vulnerable recognition is a moment of insight where the protagonist understands their place in the larger story an example of this can be seen in the character macbeth from the play of the same name by william shakespeare macbeth went from a content and quiet aristocrat to an overly ambitious and tyrannical king this tyranny arose from the belief that according to a prophecy no one born of a woman could defeat him this was a reversal in the plot because he took the prophecy literally he felt invincible that is until macduff who shakespeare describes as being born via c-section appears here it's here macbeth realizes the prophecy did not make him invincible and he is defeated by macduff this is an example of recognition for both macbeth and macduff who realize their places within the story as the conflict between them is resolved okay now that we've learned what plots are let's look at a quick review question to test your memory which of the following are the correct elements of a plot and are in the correct order a climax falling action exposition rising action resolution b exposition rising action climax falling action resolution c exposition elevation climax falling action and the end or d exposition rising action highlight falling action and the resolution the correct answer is b whether you are reading a post on social media an article in a magazine or a novel in class whoever wrote the piece that you're reading probably has their own opinion about the subject we all have opinions and these opinions not only spill into the words we speak but also seep into the words we write that's why it's important for readers to be able to identify when bias is being revealed and what is read doing so can help you as the reader to separate fact from opinion and be accurately informed on whatever topic you are researching today we'll look into this further by identifying language that shows bias discussing the importance of omission and why identifying the author's position is important for effective reading let's get started adjectives that an author uses can be a clear way of figuring out their stance on a subject for example when recalling a series of events such as the final score of a basketball game someone may write the blue team beat the red team by seven points this is an unbiased statement the author tells us objectively who is playing and what happened with no opinions to be seen in contrast what if the author reported the same game in this way my favorite team the red team lost to the cheating blue team it's pretty obvious in the sentence that the author favors the red team over the blue team this sentence is riddled with bias because the author blatantly states their opinion about the two teams the author also says that the blue team cheated now that we know that the author likes the red team more can we believe his account that the blue team actually cheated as a fact has the author made himself credible no way now what if the author wrote an account of the same game this way the blue team unfortunately beat the red team by seven points in this sentence just by adding the word unfortunately there seems to be some bias on the author's part language that conveys emotion is another means that authors use to show their position he seems to be upset that the blue team won and not the red team even subtle words like this can give away an author's opinion on a subject so it's important to take the weight of each word thoroughly when reading here's one more example the red team had their victory stolen from them by the blue team again language is very important when identifying the author's position instead of saying the red team lost he chose to describe the outcome of the game as a stolen victory that's very strong language and hints to the author's bias towards the red team since he compared their loss as being the victim of a crime omitting information from a piece of writing can also be a form of bias by leaving out information an author can inform the reader on only what he wants us to know and therefore sway our opinion on the subject let's look at a few examples nicole is notorious for being late to work in this sentence the reader is left to assume why nicole is always late could she be a bad worker is she bad at time management all we know is that she is often late and the word notorious emphasizes how this is not a positive trait for her to have the sentence doesn't shine a positive light on nicole what if the author were omitting some information let's look at a similar sentence nicole is notorious for being late to work because she doesn't have a car and lives far away now that we know nicole's circumstances she doesn't sound like such a bad worker does she the fact that she lives far away and doesn't own a car even makes her sound like she works very hard to get to work although she's often late if the author didn't share this information we likely wouldn't have come to this conclusion reading critically and finding missing pieces in an author's narrative is an important way of identifying the author's position facts and opinions can sometimes seem very similar that is why readers must consider the writer's personal feelings when they wrote the piece and qualify what is credible and what should be questioned we do this by identifying emotional language keeping track of opinion statements and identifying information that is omitted or not clearly stated doing these things can lead to meaningful discussions on the subject but also filter the relevance of the information we take and to make our comprehension of the subject clearer here is a short exercise to practice what we've gone through today which sentence doesn't show the author's position one yellow flowers are my favorite two yellow flowers are better than purple ones three there were purple and yellow flowers on the lawn four there were homely purple flowers next to the yellow ones the answer is number three since this sentence contains no adjectives and doesn't state anything other than the basic facts on the situation all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players shakespeare's words have a ring of truth even though they might not be literally true metaphors like this one help bring ideas to life but what is a metaphor [Music] metaphors are a type of figurative language figurative language uses figures of speech to make written and verbal communication more effective easier to understand and more striking metaphors are a specific type of figurative language called imagery there are seven types of imagery in figurative language similes metaphors and illusions use non-literal comparisons that illuminate ideas personification uses a non-literal comparison exclusively to a person as in the leaf danced across the lawn alliteration assonance and otomonopia use sounds to create different feelings in the audience than the literal words would normally convey getting back to our specific topic metaphors are words or phrases that compare two things unlike a simile they do not use the words like or as to compare the words instead they state that one thing is another thing like in the quote from shakespeare the world is a stage metaphors are used in literature movies plays and even in day-to-day speech you might even find yourself using metaphors without realizing it some commonly used metaphors include love is a battlefield there's a blanket of clouds time is a thief he's a night owl all these examples compare two things directly love is compared to a battle clouds are compared to blankets time is compared to a thief and man is compared to an owl of course we know that a man is not literally an owl but the comparison helps us to visualize things in a much more vibrant way how boring would it be to say he likes to stay up late at night on a consistent basis other types of metaphors use indirect comparisons a couple of examples include work has dried up their ideas are difficult to swallow in these metaphors you have two steps in the comparison and the first example work is not being compared to dried up but rather to something that can be dried up you can use your imagination to fill in the comparison maybe an empty swimming pool or a dry desert oasis similarly ideas are not being swallowed ideas are being compared to something that you eat that is hard to swallow maybe a dry cracker or a peanut butter sandwich this type of indirect comparison allows someone to fill in an image with personal experiences maybe you've never been to a desert but you have gone through a hot dry summer maybe you've never eaten a peanut butter sandwich but you have had to swallow a big pill making images personal helps draw you into the story and makes it that much more visceral here are some examples of metaphors outside of everyday speech in the poem the tiger by william blake he expounds on the beauty and danger of the wild tiger tiger tiger burning bright in the forests of the night what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry the first line of the poem says the tiger is burning bright of course the dagger is not literally on fire but this comparison is used as a metaphor to illustrate the tiger's bright color and even the tiger's dangerous nature like getting burned by a fire the tiger can be a dangerous beast in the novel a little princess the author francis hodgson burnett wrote she looked as if she had never had quite enough to eat her very eyes were hungry as you can see metaphors help make language more colorful and easier to understand by bringing new color and life into common objects and ideas i hope that this video has helped you understand more about metaphors i've told you to clean your room a million times when i was your age i had to walk 15 miles to school barefoot in the snow ever heard statements like that before these are examples of an overstatement or hyperbole which is one of the things we'll be looking at in this video we'll also be looking at the opposite of a hyperbole an understatement and how writers use these figures of speech to enhance their work [Music] so as you can tell from those two examples a hyperbole is defined as obvious and intentional exaggeration it's an extravagant statement or figure of speech that is not intended to be taken literally we use hyperbole or at least hear it quite often in day-to-day conversation for example you might say to a friend i haven't seen you in an eternity you saw this friend just last week but to get the point across that it has felt like a long time you exaggerate by using a word that implies it's been forever since this is an exaggeration and is not meant to be taken literally it is a hyperbole it is crucial to keep in mind that there are certain elements that make a hyperbole's function differ depending on context in this case the word eternity was used to create emphasis but in a different situation it could be used ironically if you just recently saw your friend and coincidentally encountered him 20 minutes later then making the same hyperbolic statement would have an ironic effect whether for emphasis or irony hyperbole is never literal and is always an intentional and obvious exaggeration hyperbole is not just something that we use in conversation authors have used it as a literary tool for centuries take shakespeare's a midsummer night's dream for example the character aegis is in opposition to the relationship between his daughter and demetrius saying with cunning hast thou filched my daughter's heart obviously demetrius did not literally steal the blood-pumping organ from egyus's daughter saying that he has stolen her heart is an exaggerated way to imply that egs is displeased with the situation here's a more recent example from kurt vonnegut's slaughterhouse five when the americans and their guards did come out the sky was black with smoke the sun was an angry little pinhead dresden was like the moon now nothing but minerals here vonnegut describes the aftermath of the bombing of dresden during world war ii the hyperbolic sentence dresden was like the moon now nothing but minerals works to emphasize the destruction of the city after its bombing this arguably has a much more powerful effect than simply saying dresden was badly damaged the hyperbole here may overstate the extent to which dresden was damaged but it drives the point home that the damage was extensive perhaps difficult to put into language beyond the use of hyperbole for a reader who did not experience the bombing of the city as vonnegut did in real life so now that we've looked at hyperbole let's flip things around and look at understatements instead of exaggerating an understatement works by diminishing or minimizing the facts or situation at hand without context these statements appear to be normal let's look at some examples i could have done a little better on the test without context you might assume that this person did reasonably well on the test perhaps scoring an 80 out of 100 however if this person only made a 20 out of 100 his remark would be an understatement he obviously could have done a lot better on the test other examples would be saying it rained a bit more than usual after a storm that lasted an entire week or saying we've had better games after losing 70-0 understatement then is often humorous and usually ironic however it can also be used sincerely in everyday speech for speakers to minimize or downplay the situation take the last example the football player could be commenting on how terribly the game went in a humorous way or he could be minimizing the importance of the loss in an attempt to distract from the terrible score so he could move on understatement is also used quite often in literature here's an example from shakespeare's romeo and juliet what art thou hurt aye aye a scratch a scratch marry tis enough where is my page go villain fetch a surgeon in this scene mercutio has been mortally wounded understatement appears when he reduces his wound to a mere scratch understatement in this case can serve a few purposes for one it tells us something about mercutio as a character his willingness to call his severe wound a scratch suggests that he is courageous and stoic secondly for readers or viewers of the play this initial assessment of the wound may lead to the belief that it is not so severe thus realizing later on that the wound is mortal may come as a more dramatic and powerful shock let's move into the 20th century with f scott fitzgerald the great gatsby i've got a nice place here he said his eyes flashing about restlessly turning me around by one arm he moved a broad flat hand along the front vista including in its sweep a sunken italian garden a half acre of deep pungent roses and a snub-nosed motorboat that bumped the tide offshore here the extravagantly wealthy tom buchanan describes his place as merely nice the latter description shows that the place is much more than nice thus calling it such is an understatement the understatement in this case could say a lot about tom he could be attempting to downplay the magnitude of his estate in order to avoid appearing like a braggart or he may be so used to his wealthy lifestyle that he can only think of what most people would think of as extremely extravagant as nice okay now that we've looked at overstatements and understatement here's a review question to test your knowledge which is an example of hyperbole a the man was very tall b i would have liked to do a little better c the universe could be considered quite large d the spider was the size of a buick the correct answer is d though the spider may be large saying it is the size of a car is an exaggeration separating fact from opinion can be a difficult task in this video we will discuss the distinction between fact and opinion and offer some helpful tips for distinguishing between the two a fact is a statement that can be proven to be true by the use of evidence factual statements are true in all cases and for all people in other words facts are universal some examples include dogs are mammals albany is the capital of new york mount everest is the tallest mountain on earth each of these statements is true furthermore each statement is verifiable and not debatable provided that definitions are agreed upon put simply evidence exists that could potentially prove or disprove each claim opinions unlike facts are neither true nor false an opinion can express a belief attitude value judgment or feeling some examples include dogs are the best mammals in existence albany is the most interesting city in new york world war ii was a terrible war each of these statements expresses an opinion note that each is debatable in other words one can potentially agree or disagree with debate a statement of opinion note that the final statement world war ii was a terrible war strikes many of us as factual however this is a statement of opinion yes most people would consider world war ii terrible however there is always the possibility that somebody out there holds a different opinion as strange as they may seem it is very rare for a statement with a value word like terrible to be factual now that we know the differences between a fact and an opinion it's important to know how to distinguish between them when reading literature let's look at some helpful strategies watch for opinion masked as fact a lot of times professional or technical language can seem factual in particular you'll want to watch out for predictions predictions are opinions since they cannot be verified in the present this is even true if the prediction is being expressed by an expert with an informed opinion a zoologist who predicts that a particular animal will go extinct in 50 years for example is stating an informed opinion this opinion is based on evidence research and expertise but because it cannot be presently confirmed it is not a fact value or judgment words often signal an opinion lebron james is very tall is a statement most people would agree with however the word very makes this problematic what exactly does it mean to be very tall it is not defined what one person considers very tall another may consider average or even short the word very is an example of a value or judgment word here's a list of value and judgment words if you see one of these in a statement then the view being expressed is likely an opinion look for words like should or ought to these words usually suggest a course of action or give advice though this advice may be advisable it is rarely factual no matter how much we agree with a should statement it is by its very nature opinion for instance one should avoid smoking cigarettes maybe sound advice with a lot of supporting evidence but it is still an opinion smoking cigarettes can cause a variety of health ailments on the other hand can be verified and is therefore factual in essence facts can be verified by evidence and opinions are statements of belief attitude value judgment or feeling before we go let's look at a quick review question which of the following statements is factual a ohio is a beautiful state b you should never drive faster than the speed limit c george washington was the first president of the united states or d george washington was a great public speaker the answer is c this is the only option that can be backed up by evidence thanks for watching and happy studying

Channel: Mometrix Test Preparation

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Length: 61min 21sec (3681 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 30 2021