Class 11 compulsory English Book 1 Unit 2 Communication

 

Communication

Ways with words

A. The words in the crossword puzzle are from the text. Find them in the text to solve the puzzle based on the clues given below.

Down
1. to be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion – obsessed
3. to move slowly and quietly in a particular direction – creep
4. orderly, logical and Consistent – coherent

Across
2. to utter rapidly or unintelligibly – babble
5. to insert something between other things – interpose
6. an unreadable handwriting – squiggle

B. Use the following words in sentences of your own.

Massive:
He died from a massive heart attack.

Consciousness:
He moaned with pain before losing consciousness.

Catch-as-catch-can:
We went hitchhiking for a week and lived catch-as-catch-can.

Give up:
I’m too close to my goal to give up now.

Abandon:
As a baby he was abandoned by his mother.

Lousy:
He blamed Shreya for a lousy weekend.

Editing:
He’s editing a book of essays by Ritesh Berlin.

C. Word formation: Adjectives and Adverbs

b. Write the following words in the right columns. Change the adjectives into adverbs and nouns into adjectives.

Adjectives	Adverbs
Careful	Carefully
Perfect	Perfectly
Automatic	Automatically
Certain	Certainly
Fair	Fairly
General	Generally
Proud	Proudly
Rapid	Rapidly
Proper	Properly
Final	Finally
Common	Commonly
Beautiful	Beautifully
Frequent	Frequently
Heavy	Heavily
Hungry	Hungrily

 

Nouns	Adjectives
Rain	Rainy
Bush	Bushy
Spice	Spicy
Snow	Snowy
Blood	Bloody
Cloud	Cloudy
Bag	Baggy
Mood	Moody
Air	Airy
Cream	Creamy
Dust	Dusty
Ice	Icy
Fun	Funny
Ease	Easy
Hand	Handy
Oil	Oily
Greed	Greedy
Health	Healthy
Hill	Hilly

c. Fill in the gaps with the appropriate adjective or adverb.

i. Pramila is playing quietly (quiet/quietly).

ii. Hari speaks very loudly (loud/loudly).

iii. Mukesh is a careful (careful/carefully) driver.

iv. The test was easy (easy/easily) and we finished in time.

v. He is fitting the automatic (automatic/automatically) door in my house.

vi. My uncle speaks perfect (perfect/perfectly) Chinese.

vii. It was raining very heavily (heavy/heavily).

viii. She looked very calm (calm/calmly), but I am sure she was feeling very nervous.

Answer the following questions.

a. Why is free writing called ‘automatic writing’?

Free writing is also called ‘automatic writing’ because it is a continuous process of writing which is free from spellings, grammar and topics.

b. How do you differentiate writing from speaking?

Writing is editable and can be made more logical but it’s not possible in speaking. Writing is something evidential because it can be examined in future too but speaking is non evidential.

c. What is the biggest obstacle in the writing process, according to Elbow? Do you agree with him? Why? Why not?

The biggest obstacles in the writing process are the thoughts like what to write, contemplation of wrong grammar, wordiness of right editing etc. according to the Elbow. I favor his words. If writer started caring about his grammar, spelling, coherence and editing from first he can’t learn free writing properly.

d. How can free writing overcome ‘writer’s block’?

Writers block are thoughts like what to write, how to write coherently, how to write right words and so on. Such method tends to be writing than free writing. But free writing allows writer to write whatever he/she want without any limitations. Hence free writing overcome writes block.

e. What do you mean by ‘voice’ in writing?

Words, vocabularies and writing style is considered as voice in writing.

f. Elbow uses a simile to explain that freewriting “is like writing something and putting it in a bottle in the sea.” What does this mean? Explain.

If we put something in bottle and put it in the sea, nobody will go to sea again in search of that bottle and see what’s inside that. Similarly, if we write something in our copy and leave that, it won’t be examined by anybody else later.

Critical thinking

a. How does the author persuade readers in this essay? What is he trying to communicate to the readers?

The author here in this essay has suggested his suggestions for improving writing skills for all his readers. According to him, the best way to improve writing skills is free writing. Free writing should be done repeatedly to improve writing skills. He calls it automatic writing where a writer can express his feelings spontaneously. Free writing never accepts feedback. He also adds that the most important part of freewriting is “don’t change”. For him, editing is the biggest obstacle in the writing process. Compulsive and premature editing habits hinder the writer’s creativity. The writing process becomes difficult as well as dead through the editing process. For writers, free writing should be kept away from the editing process that gets in the way of the author’s authentic feeling and natural way. According to him, the main source of strength in our writing is the “voice” which includes sound, rhythm, and plot. It is the power that makes the reader listen to the writer. It is the energy that pushes meaning into the thick skull.

b. Elbow said, freewriting “is an exercise in bringing together the process of producing words and putting them down on the page.” Do you agree with his statement? Why? Why not?

Yes, I agree with his statement. The main thing about free writing is that it is not editable. This will make the writing less bogged down because the words will be easier to enter. Free writing is like our hidden voice that comes naturally when we start. We started producing words naturally. This is sound, plot and rhythm and is the main source of strength in our writing. A massive and complex series of edits was the biggest obstacle to the writing process, according to Elbow. Therefore, he asks us to start writing freely without considering the results. We just generate the words and write on the page. When we forget about editing, our free writing becomes fluid. This helps us the next time we start writing freely.

c. How did you learn to write? What was particularly difficult in writing? What inspired you to write? What are some of the challenges that you still face while writing?

I learn to write by practicing free writing on different topics from my English teacher. The most difficult thing in writing for me was to start writing. I felt a lot of difficulties at the beginning. Then I started doing things repeatedly. Every time I write, the writing looked better and better. I created a blog page and write blogs daily. Written articles related to stories, reports, news etc. inspired me to write. There are some of the challenges that I still face which are as follows:

1. Grammatical errors
2. Spelling Errors
3. Lack of Ideas
4. Poor Creativity