EDUC 6500 - Intensive LET Review 1

General Education - English

Module 001 - General Education - English

At the end of this subject, the student is expected to:

1. Use the basic rules in agreement and grammar
2. Identify study thinking skills through academic reading and academic writing
3. Recall the important facts about the literature of the world

Basic Agreement and Grammar Rules

1. The title of a book or a movie is always considered singular.
Examples:
Wrong: Romeo and Juliet are written by William Shakespeare.
The Avengers are a movie that we all enjoyed watching in the cinema.
Right: Romeo and Juliet is written by William Shakespeare.
The Avengers is a movie that we all enjoyed watching in the cinema.
2. The verb agrees with its subject in person and in number. If the subject comes
after the verb, the verb must still agree with the subject.
Examples:
Wrong: Luis do not take part on this conference.
Right: Luis does not take part on this conference.
Wrong: Along the lonely stretch of beach was the fishermen mending their nets.
Right: Along the lonely stretch of beach were the fishermen mending their
nets.
3. Infinitives (to + base form of the verb) are always in the simple form.
Examples: To drive very fast on this road is not advisable.
To love is the greatest job of all.
My dream is to swim like a mermaid.
4. A singular form of verb is used when two or more subjects are joined by or or
nor.
Examples: Life with or without you goes on.
Christmas is not a time nor a season.

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5. The verb is not affected when the phrase in a sentence is introduced by

together with, in addition to, including, besides, as well as, and of.
Examples: The CEO, together with his assistants, is attending the national
conference next week.
Shaina’s pocket books, including her laptop, were stolen yesterday.
A list of things to do is followed by my bestfriend everyday.
6. Grammatically connected sentence elements must be put close to each other
in a sentence.
Examples:
Wrong: I, after the wedding ceremony, went directly to Kit’s house.
Right: I went directly to Kit’s house after the wedding ceremony.
7. Sentences that started by it use the singular form of the verb, while the
number of the subject of a sentence started by there determines the verb to be
used.
Examples: It was the first time I thought deeply about love.
There is a problem within the system of the school.
There are onions on the food tray.
8. Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Politics, Physics refer to areas of study
and plural in form but takes the singular form of the verb.
Examples: Mathematics is my weak point.
Ina’s favorite subject is Physics.
9. There are nouns that are singular in form but funcion collectively (family,
herd, crowd, food, furniture, information, organization, gang) and there are
nouns that are in plural form but singular in meaning (news, measles, aerobics,
jeans).
Examples: The crowd cheers with joy.
The news is alarming.
10. Compound nouns that are regarded as units use the singular form of the
verb.
Example: Cheese and crackers is my favorite afternoon snack.
Bread and butter is my breakfast every morning.
11. The verb agrees in number with the nearer subject if the compound subjects
are joined by either-or, neither-nor, and not only - but also.
Examples: Either he or she cooks dinner.

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Neither the teacher nor the students are sleeping in class.

Hans not only eats fruits but also vegetables.
12. The indefinite pronouns all, both, few, many, several, and some use the
plural form of the verb. The indefinite pronouns one, either, neither, any,
anything, another, other, everybody, everyone, each, someone, something,
somebody, nothing, and nobody use the singular form of the verb.
Examples: I think all of them are having fun watching Netflix.
Everybody is required to stay inside the house until this pandemic
ends.
13. The number of takes the singular form of the verb, while A number of takes
the plural form of the verb.
Examples: The number of participants in the dress making competition is few.
A number of clubs are being demolished due to the issue of
marijuana.
14. To show ownership or possession, add apostrophe (‘) or apostrophe and s (‘s)
to the noun.
Examples: My mother’s specialty is adobo.
Princess’ bag is pink.
15. Modifiers should be placed near or close to the words they modify.
Example:
Wrong: Hoping to excuse my absences, the note was given to my English
teacher.
Right: Hoping to excuse my absences, I wrote the note that was given to my
English teacher.

Academic Writing/Writing in the Discipline

I. Patterns of Paragraph Development
 A descriptive essay relies sensory details or concrete descriptions to communicate its
point or thought. Writers should have a broad knowledge of adjectives and modifiers in
order to create an image.
 “How to Do” or “How Something Works” essay are called process essay. The objectives
of the writer are to tell how a certain product is produced, how something is done
through demosntration, and how a certain process or method is used.
 An argumentative essay shows the stand of the writer - whether he is in favor of the
issue or not. The evidences, reasons that support the stand, and conclusion are also
presented in this type of essay.
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 Comparison-contrast essay shows the relationship between two or more items by

prsenting or determining their similarities and differences.
 To present the reasons and results of something is the goal of the cause-effect essay.
The writer can write this type of essay by stating a single cause with multiple effects or
multiple causes with single effect.

II. Sentence Errors

A. Fragments
A fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence but without a complete
thought. Fragments are incomplete sentences. There are five types of fragments:
 Dependent clauses
Examples: How he was rejected.
As the wind approaches the south.
When the principal arrives.
 Participial Phrase
Examples: Burning down the house using a single candle light.
Eating different kinds of sushi in the sushi bar.
Placing the pots under the sun.
 Infinitive Phrase
Examples: To catch birds for the cages.
The dream to swim along the Pacific Ocean.
To meddle with other people’s lives using the social media.
 Afterthought Fragments
Examples: Like the cold summer breeze dancing above the west coast.
For example, sky, sea, river, and bruise.
Such as dancing in the dark, singing under the rain, and playing in the
park.
 Appositives
Examples: An applicant who was wasting time in the human resource office.
A book which was written by Lang Leave placed on the table.
A cat that meows so loudly in the kitchen.
B. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Modifying a word or a phrase not clearly stated in the sentence is called dangling
modifiers. Sentences with these errors cause confusion among the readers.
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Example:
Wrong: With a breath of disappointment, the red dress was returned to the
women’s section.
Right: With a breath of disappointment, I returned the red dress to the women’s
section.
C. Faulty Parallelism
Faulty parallelism happens when the words do not go in the same category or
direction. To avoid this error, a writer should always consider the same grammatical
structure.
Example:
Wrong: She likes dancing, singing, and to watch movies.
Right: She likes dancing, singing, and watching movies.
D. Run-on Sentences and Comma Splice
When two sentences is combined into one without the use of punctuations to
separate the thoughts, run-on sentences occurs.
Example: My sister Hannah graduates from college she will be teaching in a public
school next school year.
Correction: My sister Hannah graduates from college. She will be teaching in a public
school next school year.

Academic Reading/Study and Thinking Skills

A. LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS
When reading, a reader encounters literary associations like figures of speech, rhetorical
devices, and idioms. These devices are used in order to create an artistic way of expressing
things in a story or literary piece.
Figures of speech are those devices that goes beyond the literal meaning of the words to
create a special effect or feeling. The suggestive power of words gives the writer the
opportunity to make the naunces, connotations, texture, emotions, tone, and color
embedded in the figurative language. Below are the types of the figures of speech:
1. Simile - a comparison between two unlike objects by using the word like or as.
Example: Griffin was as white as a clean paper after he watched the horror movie
entitled The Conjuring.
2. Metaphor - an indirect comparison of two objects that are unlike in most respects. It
does not use the word like or as.
Example: Goldwyn is a cheetah in the football field.

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3. Personification - giving human attributes, characteristics and capabilities to

nonhuman objects like inanimate things, abstract ideas or animals.
Example: The sharp scissors will bite your fingers if you don’t use it properly.
4. Apostrophe - an address or call to the absent as though he were present or to a dead
person as though he were alive.
Example: Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are.
5. Hyperbole - use of extreme exaggeration for an artistict effect.
Example: I will die once I get the chance to see Justin Bieber!
6. Irony - signifying the opposite of the literal meaning of a word or the opposite of
what is expected.
Example: The name of the biggest dog in the universe is Tiny.
7. Oxymoron - two contradictory terms are placed or combined in a sentence to
produce a striking effect.
Example: Breaking up with your long-time partner is indeed a sweet sorrow.
8. Metonymy - substitutes a word that is closely related to a thing or naming a thing by
its parts or attributes.
Example: The pen is mightier than the sword. The pen represents the written words and
the sword represents the military force.
9. Synecdoche - representing a whole using a part of it.
Example: Sofia just started learning her ABC’s in school. ABC is representing the whole
alphabet.
10. Paradox - making some kind of emotional sense by using a statement that seems
contradictory.
Example: I will declare a war for peace.
Literary writers also use rhetorical devices. They are considered as sound devices that
help the readers in analyzing the meaning, tone and color of the piece through rhyme and
rhythm. The following are the common rhetorical devices:
1. Assonance - also called as vowel rhyme which uses repetition of vowel sounds.
Example: Row, row, row your boat.
2. Alliteration - repetition of initial consonant sounds or repetition of a succession of
conconant sounds.
Example: A better butter makes the batter better.
3. Onomatopeia - using the sound of what object it denotes to produce a desired effect.
Example: The loud buzzing of the bee is indeed deafening.

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4. Allusion - refers to biblical, historical, mythological or scientific event.

Example: Goldwyn is the modern Aristotle of our school.
5. Anaphora - repeating a word or words at the beginning of each sentence or clause.
Example: Everything is dark and scary. Everything is sad and gloomy. Everything is
hurting me.

B. STRUCTURAL FORMATION OF WORDS

Below is a table showing the different word formations:

Word Formation Definition Examples

pre (before): preview

(view before)
mis- (wrong) :
adding morphemes in misinterpret (interpret
Adding suffix, prefix, the form of affixes wrongly)
affix before or after the root -ful (full of) : beautiful
word (full of beauty)
-less (lack of or
without) : painless
(without pain)

sun + flower =
two base words are sunflower
Compounding combined to form a
field + trip = fieldtrip
new word
rain + bow = rainbow

part of the original

word is omitted or cellular phone =
Shortening/Clipping clipped to shorten the cellphone
word or to change it to science + fiction = scifi
another part of speech

breakfast + lunch =
parts of separate words lunch
Blending are combined or mixed
into one european + asian =
eurasian

the first letter or first Department of

Acronym few letters of the word Education (DepEd)
is used in abbreviating Self-Contained
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the original name Underwater Breathing

Apparatus (scuba)
Light amplication by
stimulated emission of
radiation (laser)

Literature
Literature originated from the Latin word litera (letter). It is form of expression and presentation
of ideas through any printed matter written within a book, magazine or pamplet. It is also defined as
the significant human experience or story of man. Literature is a body of written works produced in a
particular language, country or age that talks about man’s love, griefs, thoughts, dreams, and
aspirations blended into one harmonious language of expression.
Why is there a need to stduy literature? The reasons for studying literature are: 1) to better
appreciate our literary heritage; 2) to understand the great and noble tradition of the diversed races
of the world, 3) to take pride in our own culture and show deep concern for our literature, and; 4) to
trace the rich origin or foundation of ideas handed down or passed to us by our forefathers.

TYPES OF LITERATURE
I. PROSE - refers to the ordinary form of written language without metrical structure.
a) Novel is a long narrative divided into chapters. It came from the Italian word novella.
It has a certain complexity that deals imaginatively with true-to-life stories through a
connected series of events that spans a long period of time.
i. An epistolary novel is one of the earliest forms of the novel to be developed
that was told through the medium of letters by more than one authors.
ii. Another early form of novel is the picaresque novel which relates to the
adventures of a picaro or a rogue who drifts from one destination to another in an effort
to survive.
iii. Having a prevailing ambiance of mystery, suspense, thrill, and horror, gothic
novel is a prevalent novel in the medieval period.
iv. Historical novel can easily be distinguished for it conveys the social conditions
of a historical period with realistic detail of historical settings and historical facts.
b) Short story is defined as a brief prose that narrates the life of a single character in a
single plot. It is primarily concerned with a single effect conveyed in a significant episode.
c) A play is also a type of prose. It is presented on stage which is commonly divided
into acts with many scenes. The actors and actresses follow the dialogs and actions written in
the script.

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d) Legends are usually about the origin or birth of a place or an object in a form of
fiction or narrative.
e) The stories about animals and inanimate things that behave like people are called
fables. The purpose of this type of prose is to mold the attitudes and morality of the youth by
enlightening their minds.
f) Essays are also considered as prose where the writer’s viewpoint or opinion is
expressed. The best example of essay is the editorial page of a newspaper.
II. POETRY is a type of literature which is written in a verse form or in metrical structure. It
fomulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged
to create a specific response through its meaning, sound and rhythm.
a) Narrative Poetry
i. Epic is about the adventure and triumph of a hero with supernatural powers in a
lengthy poem.
ii. The short version of epic or a short story in verse is called a tale. This kind of
poetry tells a story in as simple and straightforward as possible the emotion or phase of
life.
iii. The poems that are adapted for singing is considered as a ballad. It is usually
short and tells a simple and serious story about love, tragedy and supernatural beings.
b) Lyric Poetry
i. Folksongs or ‘Awiting Bayan’ belong to the category of lyric poetry for they are
sung to express love, despair, grief, doubt, joy, hope and sorrow.
ii. ‘Awit’ is a realistic poetry sung by orators and has 12 syllables per line, while
Corrido is a poetry about fantasy that is recited and has 8 syllables per line.
iii. The song for the dead or lamentation, the elegy, voices out the author’s
personal grief for a loved one.
iv. The most majestic type of lyric poetry is the ode. It is a poem about a deep
reflection or noble feeling on a certain thing or object.
v. Sonnet, which is one of the most popular lyric poetry because of Shakespeare,
deals with emotions, feelings or ideas written in a 14-line poem.
c) Dramatic Comedy
i. Tragedy ends unhappily as the hero or protagonist struggles along the journey
until he meets his death.
ii. Comedy originated from the word komos (festivity and rivalry). The flow of the
story usually is light and amusing and usually ends happily or the protagonist or main
character succeed in the end.
iii. Melodrama is usually full of sorrow and arouses intense emotions but has a
happy ending for the principal character.
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iv. Farce is a light dramatic composition that uses highly improbable situations,
stereotyped characters, extravagant exaggeration, and violent horseplay.

References and Supplementary Materials

Do Vs. Does English Grammar Rules. Retrieved from:
https://www.grammar.cl/Present/Do_Does.htm; March 21, 2020
Self-Teaching Unit: Subject-Verb Agreement. Retrieved from:
https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/moduleSVAGR.htm; March 21, 2020
Gerunds and Infinitives as Subjects. Retrieved from:
https://www.englishgrammar.org/gerunds-infinitives-subjects/; March 21,
2020
The Word “Nor”in Sample Sentences. Retrieved from:
http://www.manythings.org/sentences/words/nor/1.html; March 21, 2020
Patterns of Development in Writing. Retrievedfrom:
https://web.iit.edu/cac/student-resources/writing-guides/writing-process/patte
rns-development-writing; March 21, 2020
Grammar: Run-On Sentence and Fragments. Retrieved from:
https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/runonsentences;
March 21, 2020
Literary Devices. Retrieved from:
https://literarydevices.net/figure-of-speech/; March 22, 2020
The Truth about Literature. Retrieved from:
https://www.ancient.eu/literature/; March 22, 2020
Literature (Fiction). Retrieved from:
https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/literature-fiction/; March 22, 2020
Prose. Retrieved from:
https://literarydevices.net/prose/; March 22, 2020
Glossary of Poetic Terms. Retrieved from:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/prose-poem; March 22,
2020
What is Prose? Definition and Examples of Prose. Retrieved from:
https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/prose; March 22, 2020
What is Poetry?. Retrieved from:
http://www.poetry.org/whatis.htm; March 22, 2020
Kinds of Poetry. Retrieved from:
https://www.skuola.net/letteratura-inglese-1700/kinds-poetry.html; March 22,
2020
Types of Poetry. Retrieved from:
https://www2.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/PoetryTypes01.ht
m; March 22, 2020
Grammar. Retrieved from:
https://www.slideshare.net/h4976/grammarlet-review; March 22, 2020
Grammar Rules Review. Retrieved from:

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https://www.englishgrammar.org/rules-review/; March 22, 2020

LET Reviewer in English (English and American Literature). Retrieved from:
https://www.infinithink.org/2015/02/let-reviewer-in-english-american-and-engli
sh-literature.html; March 22, 2020

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