17
22 May
For each word below, suggest other words that seem to go with it, e.g. Pirate → parrot, eyepatch, treasure map etc.. Can you make your words into a lively scene?
ICowboy. IIMermaid. IIISurgeon.
Based on a game in Think and Speak (1929) by NL Clay.
18
22 May
Tilting at Windmills
by Miguel de Cervantes
Introduction — Quexana is a woolly-headed, Spanish country gentleman, bordering fifty, from La Mancha, southeast of Madrid. Bewitched by tales of romance, he has dubbed himself Don Quixote, Knight, and set out in search of ‘adventures’ with his companion Sancho Panza. His quest is to capture a giant as a love-offering to his lady Dulcinea (a pleasing fantasy inspired by an old flame) and he has just been promising Sancho his own realm too.
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19
21 May
Study this list of words and commit them to memory. When you are ready, hide the list and see how many you can recall.
Hide List
IChocolate. IICushion. IIISofa. IVLamp. VTelevision. VITablet.
Variations: See if you can mentally put these words into A to Z order. How many can you work into a single sentence?
Based on a game in Kim (1901) by Rudyard Kipling.
20
21 May
Introduction — One day, Charles Babbage was in his drawing-room showing off his calculating machine to two friends from Ireland, Dr Lloyd and Dr Robinson. He showed them how the machine automatically flipped back and forth between multiple programs ad infinitum, and remarked that there may be a parallel with the laws governing Evolution. The spark in the eyes of his two visitors made him even bolder.
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21
21 May
Words that indicate the ‘essence’ of something often use suffixes, e.g. leader → leadership, supreme → supremacy, and so on. Suggest at least three nouns of this sort for each suffix below:
I-SHIP. II-CY. III-TUDE. IV-TY.
Suggestions
IAuthorship, Courtship, Scholarship. IIBankruptcy, Candidacy, Constancy. IIICertitude, Fortitude, Magnitude. IVFrailty, Normality, Purity.
Based on Straightforward English (1949) by NL Clay.
22
21 May
The Follies of Youth
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Introduction — In Crabbed Age and Youth, Robert Louis Stevenson argued that we should not try to silence the opinions of the young, however foolish they may seem. He did not pretend that the young are wise and pioneering thinkers. He thought they were mostly thinking nonsense. But it was better to come up with bad answers to good questions than to ask no questions at all.
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