My English Biography PT Roadmap by TANG SHIN HWEE SHERILYN

What I did: I read the excerpt and underlined the words that I felt enhanced and impacted the storyline. After underlining the words, I searched up the meaning of the words and connected them to the context and the content to the excerpt to understand why the author used such words to express certain things.
Why I did this task: I felt that by understanding why the author uses such words, I am able to apply them to my future writings to make them more interesting. Also, I would be able learn more of the inside meanings of certain words and use them in the future.

Excerpt 17

dumb (line 5): using the word "dumb" compares the authors knowledge
at first and at the end
preyed (line 12): the word preyed means that it got hunted by and in this excerpt it shows that the anger and bitterness hunted on her even if she did not want it, it was unavoidable
groped (line 15): the word means to search blindly, by using this word, it shows that she was desperate to find her way through all the struggle
play (line 28): by using the word play, it shows that the author really enjoyed the process of writing and it was not a chore for her but instead it was fun and thus she "played" with it
still (line 45): the word "still" is usually associated with air and her world being "still" means that there is no activity inside, activity being emotions and sympathy
life (line 62): even though the object is a non-living thing, the author describes it with the word "life" as everything had a name and it was very valuable
vainly (line 64): using this word shows how desperate the author is to fix back the doll as she felt really remorseful

Excerpt 26A
· seamless (line 13): to show that the stories were continuous and never ending

· burnished (line 13): to show that the story has been talked about a lot like how you burnished something very smooth

· fresh of the boat (line 30 -31): to show that the African student was very innocent, young and active just a fish fresh of the boat

· fearsome vision of justice (line 48): to show that his way of justice was a fearful way that he would throw someone off the railings to teach them a lesson

· semi-professional (line 78): to say that the singer was not professional as his father, even though he did not have a band to back him up, his performance was as good

· prominent (line 99): to show that the trait of being prominent was passed down from generation to generation

· bequeathed (line 112): to show that because he was so proud of himself and wanted to give his name to his son, he used the word ‘bequeathed’ instead of ‘passed on’ as it sounds more royal

· survived the distance (line 116): it shows that even though they were long distances apart, their love never faded but stayed strong and lasted

· terrain (line 121): it shows that he keeps his treasured items protectively in a place

· explicitly (line 132): to show that it really focused on the subject of race and it the word also means ‘bad’ in a way

· expecting (line 139): this shows that Obama’s father was not the kind of person that the reader thought he would be so Obama used the word ‘expect’ to tell the readers that his father did it otherwise

· lecture (line 140): it means more of a talk than a scolding thus showing that Obama’s father had good intentions of “scolding” him

· veracity (line 145): uses this word instead of ‘truth’ as this word also means accuracy, so he talks about the truth and accuracy of the stories told

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