ENGLISH II

1ST QUARTER REVIEWER LITERATURE AND BACKGROUND OF CHINA AND JAPAN China
Yellow Race -Asian Race/Mongolian Race *Mongol, invaders from China -Used to describe the skin color/the yellowish skin Ancient Chinese Literature -Ming Dynasty (1500 BC) -Oracle bones/animal bones were used in writing -Silk and bamboo Population -1.3 billion -China is the most populous country in the world -20% of the overall population is in China Geography -East Asia -Middle Kingdom Economy -Agriculture *Harvesting and farming Predominant Religions -Buddhism *Largest religion in China -Taoism *Lao Tzu

*Freedom, simplicity and contemplation of Nature -Confucianism *Confucius *Social conduct, morality and knowledge Literature Chou Dynasty *Hundred Schools Period (Confucius and Lao Tzu) *Lasted for 400 years *Most Glorious Era of Chinese History *Buddhism was embraced by the Chinese Tang Dynasty *Golden Age of Chinese Poetry *Famous poets like Li Po, Wang We and Tu Fu *Period of disunity *They had the most effective system of govt Sung Dynasty *Time of Prosperity *The government was refined China has one of the oldest civilizations in the world therefore they have one of the oldest literatures. Additional Information on Literature -Non-Creative *Based on fact and its worth is based on accuracy E.G. Newspaper articles -Creative *Based on writers imagination, artistic skills and creativity. E.G. Shih, folk tales, free verse, drama, novels

 Japan
(Based on Japan: A Pocket Guide, 1996 Edition Foreign Press Center) Literature Nara Period (710-794) Japanese literature traces its beginnings to oral traditions that were first recorded in written form in the early eight century after a writing system was introduced from China. Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) is an anthology of myths, legends and other stories. Nihon shoki (Chronicle of Japan) is a chronological record of history. Fudoki (Records of Wind and Earth) compiled by provincial officials beginning in 713, describe the history, geography, products and folklore of the various provinces. Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) is an anthology of 4,500 poems composed by people ranging from unknown commoners to emperors and compiled around 759. It is considered as the most brilliant literary product of this period. Heian Period (794-1185) In the resplendent aristocratic culture that thrived early in the eleventh century, a time when the use of hiragana alphabet derived from Chinese characters had become widespread, court ladies played the central role in developing literature.

One of them, Murasaki Shikibu wrote the 54-chapter novel Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji). Sei Shonagon, wrote Makura no soshi (The Pillow Book), a diverse collection of jottings and essays. Others also wrote diaries and stories, and their psychological portrayals remain fresh and vivid to present-day readers. Edo Period (1603-1868) Around this time the function of literature as a means of social intercourse broadened. Renga (successive linked verses by several people forming a long poem) became a favorite pasttime, and this gave birth to haikai (a sort of jocular renga) in the sixteenth century. It was the renowned seventeenth century poet Matsuo Basho who perfected a new condensed poetic form of 17 syllables (5-7-5) known as haiku, an embodiment of elegant simplicity and tranquility. Genroku Era (1688-1704) City-dwelling artisans and merchants became the main supporters of literature, and professional artists began to appear. Two giants emerged in the filed of prose: Ihara Saikaku, who realistically portrayed the life of Osaka merchants, and Chikamatsu Monzaemon, who wrote joruri, a form of storytelling involving chanted lines and kabuki plays. These writers brought about a great flowering of literature.

Later Yosa Buson composed superb haiku depicting nature, while fiction writer Ueda Akinari produced a collection of gothic stories called Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain). (Also refer to Echoes II book for other information regarding Chinese and Japanese literature)

-A popular saying based on truth and practical experience An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Time heals all wounds. Honest is the best policy. You cant ride two horses with one ass. Paraphrase

THE VINEGAR TASTERS

Vinegar -Symbol of Life The 3 Vinegar Tasters *Sour Confucius *Bitter/sad Buddha *Happy Lao Tzu

-To restate the meaning of a passage/saying in your own words -Comes from the Greek word paraphrazein. -One of the most important writing skills

COMMON ERRORS IN SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Sentence

EPIGRAM, PROVERB & PARAPHRASE

Epigram -A short, witty, thought-provoking saying Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses. Confucius The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth. Lao Tzu Do or do not. There is no try. Yoda Proverb

-A group of words that expresses a complete thought. -A sentence contains a subject and a verb. Phrase -A group of words that functions in a sentence as a single part of speech. It does not contain a subject and verb. Clause -A group of words with its own subject and verb. -There are two basic types: independent clause (can stand by itself as a complete sentence) and subordinate clause (it contains both subject and verb but no complete thought).

Fragment -A group of words that cannot stand alone as a sentence. Types of Fragments: Dependent-Word Fragments -Some word groups that begin with dependent words are fragments. Among the dependent words and phrases that may cause statements to be incomplete are: although, because, etc. E.G. John Lennon is a cool cat. > Because he transformed rock n roll forever. Nicholas Cage is an unimpressive actor. > Although Say Anything was a pretty good movie. -ing and to Fragments -Word groups with an ing word at or near the start of the word group are often participial phrases. Word groups with to at or near the start of the word group are often infinitive phrases. They can not stand alone. E.G. Participial phrase: Getting high grades Infinitive phrase: To accept defeat Correcting ing and to Fragments:

1) Attaching the fragment to the complete thought that precedes/follows it. > Feeling like a complete dork, Veronica realized she left her school books at home. 2) Adding a subject/verb to the fragment to make it a complete sentence. 3) Changing words as necessary. Missing-Subject Fragments -As its name suggests, the missing-subject fragment lacks grammatical subject. E.G. I went to the show expecting it to be a crashing bore. And discovered, to my surprise, that it was a lot of fun. Correcting Missing-Subject Fragments: 1) Connect the fragments to the previous sentence. > I went to the show expecting it to be a crashing bored and discovered, to my surprise, that it was a lot of fun. 2) Make/add a pronoun. Run-On -A run-on sentence is two or more complete sentences that are

capitalized and punctuated as if they were one. 2 Kinds of Run-On: With no punctuation E.G. James rushed down the subway steps an over-excited fan followed close behind. Comma splice E.G. James rushed down the subway steps, an over-excited fan followed close behind.

Insidious (Adj.) -Slowly and subtly harmful or destructive Anomaly (Noun) -Something that deviates from the norm or from expectations Furtive (Adj.) -Done in a way that is intended to escape notice Pristine (Adj.) -So clean and neat as to look as good as new Intermittent (Adj.)

Correcting Run-On Sentences: 1) Use two separate sentences. > James rushed down the subway steps. An over-excited fan followed close behind. 2) Use a coordinating conjunction and a comma. These are the most common coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet. > James rushed down the subway steps, and an over-excited fan followed close behind. 3) Use a semicolon. > James rushed down the subway steps; an over-excited fan followed close behind.

-Occurring at irregular intervals Inscrutable (Adj.) -Not expressing anything clearly and thus hard to interpret Retrench (Verb) -To cut out, cut back, or omit something Plausible (Adj.) -Believable and appearing likely to be true, usually in the absence of proof Quip (Noun) -A witty remark, especially one made on the spur of the moment Zenith (Noun) -The high point or climax of something

VOCABULARY

Skeptical (Adjective) -Tending not to accept things but to question them Intransigent (Adjective) -Stubbornly or unreasonably refusing even to consider changing a decision or attitude Lethargic (Adjective) -Physically slow and mentally dull as a result of tiredness, disease, or drugs Rectify (Verb) -To put something right

Listen, the part about The Vinegar Tasters and Epigram, Proverb & Paraphrase were not in the Pointers, but theyre sort of intertwined with Chinese & Japanese Literature so I included them. If youre confident that theyre not included in the exam, then dont study them. The whole part about Japanese Literature was taken directly from the paper Ms. Grefal gave me, so it is a bit long. I didnt know which parts I should take out, and which parts were important, so I gave up on summarizing it and just included the whole thing. The best thing you can do is read it a couple of times, memorize the ones I underlined and italicized, and remember them. Good luck! -Ayana Tolentino

READING
The Madman on the Roof by Kikuchi Kan -Pgs. 77-83 of your Echoes II book The Happy Mirror (A Japanese Folk Tale) -Pgs. 92-94 of your Echoes II book

NOTE FROM ME
I hope this helps in your review of English II for the First Quarter Exams blah blah blah.