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Thinking about Language

Question I: Look at the following sentence from the story.

Suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall.

'Hailstones' are small balls of ice that fall like rain. A storm in which hailstones fall is a 'hailstorm'. You know that a storm is bad weather with strong winds, rain, thunder and lightning.

There are different names in different parts of the world for storms, depending on their nature. Can you match the names in the box with their descript ions below, and fill in the blanks? You may use a dictionary to help you.

1.    A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: _ _ c _ _ _ _

2.    An extremely strong wind: _ a _ _

3.    A violent tropical storm with very strong win ds: _ _ p _ _ _ _

4.    A violent storm whose center is a cloud in the shape of a funnel: _ _ _ n _ _ _

5.    A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean: _ _ r _ _ _ _ _ _

6.    A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement and causes a lot of damage:   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 Answer I:

1. A violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle: Cyclone

2.    An extremely strong wind: Gale

3.    A violent tropical storm with very strong winds: Typhoon

4.    A violent storm whose centre is a cloud in th e shape of a funnel: Tornado

5.    A violent storm with very strong winds, especially in the western Atlantic Ocean: Hurricane

6.    A very strong wind that moves very fast in a spinning movement t and causes a lot of damage: Whirlwind

Question II: Notice how the word 'hope' is used in these sentences from the story:

(a)   I hope it (the hailstorm) passes quickly.

(b)  There was a single hope: help from God.

In the first example, 'hope' is a verb which means you wish for something to happen. In the second example it is a noun meaning a chance for something to happen.

Question III: Relative Clauses

Look at these sentences

(a)   All morning Lencho -who knew his fields intimately -looked at the sky.

(b)  The woman, who was preparing supper, replied, "Yes, God willing."

The italicized parts of the sentences give us more information about Lencho and the woman. We call them relative clauses. Notice that they begin with a relative pronoun who. Other common relative pronouns are whom, whose, and which.

The relative clauses in (a) and (b) above are called non-defining, because we already know the identity of the person they describe. Lencho is a particular person, and there is a particular woman he speaks to. We don't need the information in the relative clause to pick these people out from a larger set.

A non-defining relative clause usually has a comma in front of it and a comma after it (some writers use a dash (-) instead, as in the story). I f the relative clause comes at the end, we just put a full stop.

Join the sentences given below using who, whom, whose, which, as suggested.

1.    I often go to Mumbai. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India. (Which)

2.    My mother is going to host a TV show on cooking. She cooks very well. (Who)

3.    These sportspersons are going to meet the President. Their performance has been excellent.

(whose)

4.    Lencho prayed to God. His eyes see into our minds. (whose)

5.    This man cheated me. I trusted him. (Whom)

Sometimes the relative pronoun in a relative clause remains ‘hidden’. For example, look at the first sentence of the story:

(a)   The house -the only one in the entire valley -sat on the crest of a low h ill.

We can rewrite this sentence as:

(b)  The house -which was the only one in the entire valley -sat on the crest of a low hill.

In (a), the relative pronoun which and the verb was are not present.

Answer III:

1.    I often go to Mumbai which is the commercial capital of India.

2.    My Mother who cooks very well, is going to host a TV show on cooking.

3.    These sportspersons, whose performance has been excellent, are going to meet the President.

4.    Lencho prayed to God, whose eyes see into our minds.

5.    This man whom I trusted cheated me.

Question IV: Using Negatives for Emphasis

We know that sentences with words such as no, not or nothing show the absence of something, or contradict something. For example:

(a)   This year we will have no corn. (Corn will be absent)

(b)  The hail has left nothing. (Absence of a crop)

(c)   These aren't raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins.

(Contradicts the common idea of what the drops of water falling from the sky are)

But sometimes negative words are used just to emphasize an idea. Look at these sentences from the story:

(d)  Lencho ...had done nothing else but see the sky towards the northeast. (He had done only

This)

(e)   The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body. (He had only this reason)

(f) Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money. (He showed no surprise at all)

Now look back at example (c). Notice that the contradiction in fact serves to emphasize the value or

Useful ness of the rain to the farmer.

Find sentences in the story with negative words, which express the following ideas emphatically. 1. The trees lost all their leaves.

2.    The letter was addressed to God himself.

3.    The postman n saw this address for the first time in his career.

Answer IV:

1.    The trees lost all their leaves.

Not a leaf remained on the trees.

2.    The letter was addressed to God himself.

It was nothing less than a letter to God.

3.    The postman saw this address for the first time in his career.

Never in his career as a postman had he seen that address.

Question V: Metaphors

The word metaphor comes from a Greek word meaning ‘transfer’. Metaphors compare two things or ideas: a quality or feature of one thing is transferred to another thing. Some common metaphors are

•      The leg of the table: The leg supports our body. So the object that supports a table is described as a

Leg.

•      The heart of the city: The heart is an important organ in the center of our body. So this word is used to describe the central area of a city.

In pairs, find metaphors from the story to complete the table below. Try to say what qualities are being compared. One has been done for you.

Object   Metaphor     Quality or Feature Compared

 Cloud Raindrops Hailstones Locusts Huge mountains of clouds the mass or 'hugeness' of mountains an  epidemic      (a       disease) that spreads very rapidly and leaves many people dead

Answer V

 Object Cloud Raindrops Hailstones Locusts Metaphor

Huge mountains of clouds new coins frozen pearl Plague of locusts

Quality or Feature Compared

The mass or 'hugeness' of mountains. Excessive value like money and metal. Ornamental value, hugeness of ice.

An  epidemic      (a    disease) that spreads  very rapidly and leaves many people dead.

Farmer   An ox of a man

A hard working and laborious person.