WRITERS' WORKSHOP

Oxford Tutorials/N. Lund

Week/Lesson 9. Adjectives

“The essential structure of the ordinary [English] sentence… is a noble thing”
Winston Churchill, My Early Years

a. memorize definitions for the five major kinds of adjectives
b. study the “Ten Sentence Patterns with Examples”
c. write ten sentences following the format sent by the tutor via email
          (due 48 hours before class)
d. pick five favorite adjectives from the “Beyond Cool” list below and
write five sentences using each of those adjectives at least once
e. see how many adjectives you can find in the literary passage below
f. prepare for a vocabulary quiz (10 words)
g. prepare for a quiz on literary terms (5 terms)

DEFINITION & EXAMPLES

Adjectives: an adjective is a word which describes a noun or pronoun
by giving more information about it (size, color, kind, quality, etc.) e.g.
black swan; small girl; tall tree; cool water; fat pig; wise man.

MAIN TYPES OF ADJECTIVES:
1. Typical (informative): big house; short man; cheap trick; old tree
2. Numerical (involving numbers): one chance; second man; three ships

3. Demonstrative (pointing): this book, that rug, these trees

4. Possessive (ownership): my money, your brother, our country
5. Comparative (degree): good job, better job, best job
     6. Interrogative (question-asking): which assignment? what book?
     7. Indefinite (unspecific number): some men; any citizen; all people;

 few students; many children

ADJECTIVE QUESTIONS: Adjectives answer these questions:
1. Which one?: this one; that one; the red one; the little one
2. How many?: a few books; many people; twelve apples
3. What kind of?: a worthy man; a rotten apple; hot weather

ADJECTIVE USES:
   1. Attributive adjective: the adjective directly precedes the noun which

         it modifies: America is the home of brave citizens. 

     2. Predicate adjective: some form of the the verb "is" connects the adjective
         to the noun which it modifies: The citizens of America are brave. 

    3. Substantive adjective: the adjective stands alone as a substitute for

         a noun: America is the home of the brave.

Part of Speech	Function or "job"	Examples: words	Examples: sentences
3. Adjective	describes (modifies) a noun or pronoun	a/an, the, five, some, good, big, red, this, that, my, your, our	Look at the red car. The engine is huge. My house is empty.

LITERARY PASSAGE

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, Chapter 1: Marley’s Ghost

Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge. a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dog-days; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas.

BEYOND COOL! (45)

N. Lund/Oxford Tutorials

adept (highly skilled; expert); admirable

assiduous (constantly attentive; eh-SIJ-yoo-us)

astute (shrewd; keenly discerning)

auspicious (favored by fortune; aw-SPISH-us)

benefic (gracious; charitable); brilliant

canny (careful; shrewd); clever

cogent (compelling; convincing; KOE-jent)

commendable; compelling

dazzling; deep; delightful; discerning

ebullient (filled with excitement; ih-BULL-yent)

elegant; engrossing; enticing; entrancing

eximious (choice; excellent: egg-ZIM-ee-us)

fantastic; formidable

germane (relevant; jer-MANE)

glorious; gorgeous; graceful; grand

impressive

ineffable (beyond expression; in-EFF-eh-bull)

Ingenious; inspiring; inventive

invigorating (refreshing; in-VIGG-or-ate-ing)

magnificent; majestic; masterly; meaningful

mind-blowing; mind-boggling; monumental

phantasmagorical (characterized by fantastic imagery)

piquant (pleasantly pungent; stimulating: PEEK-ent)

pleasant; profound; propitious (favorably disposed; preh-PISH-us); provocative

puissant (powerful; potent; PWISS-ent)

pulchritudinous (full of beauty; pul-krih-2-din-uss)

radiant; refreshing

refulgent (shining radiantly; rih-FULL-jent)

remarkable; resourceful; riveting

sagacious (keenly perceptive; seh-GAY-shuss)

savvy (shrewd and well-informed)

salubrious (favorable to health; seh-LOO-bree-us)

scintillating (full of sparks; brilliant; SIN-till-late-ing)

sedulous (carefully diligent; SEDJ-oo-lus)

sensational; shrewd; staggering; stimulating;

strange; striking; stunning; stylish; sublime

substantial; superb; superior

thrilling; thought-provoking; tremendous

trenchant (forcefully deep/effective; TREN-chent)

veracious (truthfully accurate; vurr-AYE-shuss)

visionary; weighty

winsome (very pleasant and charming; WIN-sum)

wonderful; worthy

zany (outlandishly ludicrous; ZAY-nee)