Page 43 - ABCTE Study Guide_Neat

word Proterozoic itself gives us information about the period: protero- is a Greek prefix that means “early”;
-zoic stems from Indo-European roots and means “life.”

“I’ve Got a Bone to Pick with You”

Since we’re on the topic of Neanderthal man, let’s use the above expression as we segue to subtleties of language.

We’ve all experienced the frustration of being misunderstood. Sometimes (particularly when we’re speaking) our
language fails us, and we just can’t find the right word.

Written language is much more forgiving. As writers, we have the opportunity to collect, organize, and compose ideas
with precision and competence. As readers, we benefit from text that has been carefully crafted with a specific goal.

Learning to recognize context cues that provide information about the tone, style, or genre of a given text helps
students pick up on the nuances of connotative and denotative words, identifying idioms and adages, and interpreting
figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

You may already be familiar with many of the terms outlined below but find it helpful to reference this chart for review.

Term Definition Example

Adage A pithy phrase or saying people “You can’t judge a book by its
adopt over time because they cover.”
believe it holds some validity or truth.

Connotative Connotative refers to the implied happy vs. blissful
Words meanings words have and are many
times dependent on context to be At first glance, the two may seem
correctly understood. very close in meaning but blissful
suggests a serene happiness and
perhaps the sense that someone
is unaware of something.

Denotative Denotative refers to words that are table
Words specific in meaning and are lacking
the connotative overtones, such as
the names of objects. It may be helpful to think of
denotative words as those that
can be easily represented by a
picture or symbol. For example,
when you see a table you know
it’s a table, a piece of furniture.