Clay Lane

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New posts, old posts, and a few brainteasers

December 6 November 23 OS

The Long Arm of Rob Roy

Dorothy Wordsworth recorded the magical effect of mentioning Rob Roy to a shy crofter’s wife.

The Long Arm of Rob Roy

I recently added this post, The Long Arm of Rob Roy.

It is taken from an entry in Dorothy Wordsworth’s diary of a visit to Scotland in 1803, in the company of her brother, poet William Wordsworth, and their friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In this extract, Dorothy recalls the magical effect that the mere mention of Rob Roy MacGregor’s name had on their hosts, a family of kindly Scottish crofters living beside Loch Lomond.

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Composition

Join each group of ideas together into one sentence, in at least two different ways.

1 Mrs Macfarlane spoke little. Dorothy mentioned Rob Roy. Mrs Macfarlane told a dozen tales of him.

2 There was a shower of rain. Dorothy got wet. Mrs Macfarlane gave her dry clothes.

3 Rob Roy stole from the rich. He gave to the poor. Dorothy likened him to Robin Hood.

Show, Don’t Tell

Suggest lively actions to make these simple scenes more interesting.

Show, Don’t Tell

This is adapted from an idea in School Certificate English Practice (1933). It draws on a fundamental principle of writing often called ‘Show, Don’t Tell’, which encourages writers to paint lively, attention-grabbing images of something rather than make bald statements of it.

How would you show that a man had long arms? In her Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland in 1803, Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of poet William, was struck by how Scottish people spoke of Rob Roy’s prodigious reach:

“They told us that he could garter his tartan stockings below the knee without stooping.”

This is so much better than simply saying ‘Rob Roy had long arms’ and leaving it there.

Suggest similar ways to impress the following scenes on the imagination. How would you show that...?

1 A pool was stagnant.

2 A cave was huge.

3 A dog was helpful.

Show Example

Owl

Make as many words as you can using the letters of one nine-letter word. Can you beat our score?

Owl

From Polywords

I have added a new Polyword to the collection.

Make as many words as you can using only the nine letters you are given below. Your words should all be four letters or more in length, and they should all contain the letter highlighted in the centre of the grid. You may not use the same letter twice. There is one nine-letter word to find.

See All Words

aeon almoner aloe alone amen anew earl earn elan enrol lame lamer lane lawmen lawn lawnmower lean learn lemon loam loan lone loner lore lower male mane manor mare marl meal mean melon meow moan moaner molar mole moral morale more morn mower mown name near norm normal omen oral owner real realm ream renal roam roan role roman rowan wane warm warn weal wean wear woman women wore worm worn wren
lawnmower morale normal alone enrol learn lemon loner lower manor melon molar moral mower owner realm roman woman women aloe amen anew earl earn lame lane lawn lean loan lone lore male mane mare meal mean meow moan mole more mown name near omen oral real roam role wane warm warn wear wore worn worm wren
aeon almoner aloe alone amen anew earl earn elan enrol lame lamer lane lawmen lawn lawnmower lean learn lemon loam loan lone loner lore lower male mane manor mare marl meal mean melon meow moan moaner molar mole moral morale more morn mower mown name near norm normal omen oral owner real realm ream renal roam roan role roman rowan wane warm warn weal wean wear woman women wore worm worn wren

Manners Makyth Man

The Revd Edmund Saul Dixon urged young readers of Dickens’s Household Words to mind their manners.

Manners Makyth Man

I recently added this post, Manners Makyth Man.

The Revd Edmund Saul Dixon was a frequent contributor to Charles Dickens’s periodical Household Words. This extract comes from the start of what was really a review of several books on etiquette, from England, France, and French-colonial Algiers. Dixon was particularly impressed with those cultures in which class distinctions did not lessen the obligation to be courteous: he thought everyone should be polite to everyone else. The subject matter might have led to a rather preachy article but Dixon handled it with the kind of light touch that we would expect his editor to demand.

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Composition

Join each group of ideas together into one sentence, in at least two different ways.

1 He has bad manners. He won’t get on.

2 Sometimes we need advice. Sometimes friends can help. Sometimes books must be used.

The Blues, the Greens and Belisarius

Samuel Goodrich tells the story of the Nika Rebellion in AD 532.

The Blues, the Greens, and Belisarius

I recently added this post, The Blues, the Greens, and Belisarius.

This is the story, told here by American author Samuel Goodrich, of the Nika Rebellion in AD 532, named after the repeated cry of the rebels: Nika! Conquer! The revolt broke out after two sets of rival sports fans in Constantinople, the capital of the Roman Empire, suddenly made common cause against the Emperor, Justinian. Fortunately, he had the rising young general Belisarius on his side, and even more fortunately Justinian’s wife Theodora thought of bringing him in.

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Composition

Join each group of ideas together into one sentence, in at least two different ways.

1 Justinian was a Blues fan. The Blues turned against him.

2 The rebels demanded Justinian resign. Theodora told him to refuse.

3 Justinian could not control the rebels. Theodora asked Belisarius to help.

Impossible Adjectives

Find a single adjective to describe ‘what cannot be’.

Impossible Adjectives

From Think and Speak

Exercises of this kind were set in School Certificate English Practice (1933) by NL Clay.

What can’t be stopped is unstoppable, what can’t be shaken is unshakeable, and what can’t be divided is indivisible. See if you can continue the pattern with these words.

That which cannot

1 be believed is ...

2 be eaten is ...

3 be wounded is ...

Variations

See if you can think of three similar examples of your own. Start with the adjective, e.g. unbreakable. Visit Impossible Adjectives for more.