Michael Clay Thompson's The Word Within the Word program uses etymology, not memorization. Latin and Greek stems are presented as a system of thinking, a way of building, analyzing, spelling, pronouncing, using, and choosing words. In consequence students will know far more than the list of words encountered in this course—the tens of thousands of words which are not listed, but which are expressions of the system. It is our middle and secondary level, vocabulary-building curriculum that is like no other and of which we are very proud. It is a complex, demanding, erudite, and witty curriculum.

1.Is a dullard a person who is dull company? List 2 Mystery Questions Directions: Answer the following questions with complete sentences defining the stem used in the sentence: Example: Does an interstate highway stretch across more than one state? Yes, it goes between (inter) at least two states. 1.Is a dullard a person who is dull company? 2.Is entomology the science of human cultures? 3.Are incisive comments irrelevant and time-consuming? 4.Is it good to be remiss in your duties? 5.Are captious questions designed to catch and embarrass you? 6.Is a king an anarchist? 7.Are peaceful nations in a state of belligerence? 8.Did the scribes of ancient Egypt sing for the Pharaoh? 9.Can an incredulous person believe what is happening? 10.Does an anthropologist hate mankind?

Mystery Questions: ANWSERS

Four Level of Grammar Parts of Speech Parts of the Sentence Phrases Clauses

4-Level Analysis Write the sentence down and determine the four levels of grammar. John Silver, long you’ve been a mate of mine. Parts of speech Parts of sent. Phrases Clauses

4-Level Analysis Write the sentence down and determine the four levels of grammar. John Silver, long you’ve been a mate of mine. Parts of speech noun adv. pron./v v. adj. noun prep. pron. Parts of sent. --- subj./ pred.--- subject complement Phrases prep. phrase Clauses one independent clause, a simple declarative sentence The name John Silver is not the subject of the verb; it is a noun of direct address. In this sentence, the subject is contracted with the helping verb of the predicate. The prepositional phrase at the end modifies the noun mate, and so is like a big adjective.

Nouns from The Word Within the Word  List #1

The Word Within the Word  Ideas #1 The purpose of the Ideas pages is to expand the brain’s contact with the stems. Typically, activities require little more than cognition and memory. The Ideas pages start at that point where class activity often stops. The categories of the Ideas are: Synthesis: Synthesis is the process of bringing ideas together. It is mental fusion. Combining dozens of previously unrelated facts into a single coherent idea is synthesis. In synthesis, the mind must search for previously hidden identities, perceive unnoticed relationships, discover unlikely implications and applications. Divergence: Divergence is the opposite of synthesis. It is the ability to think of numerous suggestions, possibilities, examples, or facets. Divergence is the generation of alternatives; it is brainstorming . Divergence needs a safe emotional environment for the wild and unusual ideas which make creative solutions possible. The thinking gets tough because it is new thinking. Many thinkers stop when they encounter this wall of difficulty, but it is beyond this wall where the new, creative responses lie. It is the thinking after the silence that will often produce the most creative solutions to a problem. Analysis: Analysis is simply the process of taking something apart, of separating it into its component and studying the components one at a time. The beauty of learning a system of language, rather than a batch of lists of words, is that for the first time students can analyze the parts of a word. Students can show how a word’s meaning is made up of smaller meanings.

The Word Within the Word  Ideas #1 The purpose of the Ideas pages is to expand the brain’s contact with the stems. Typically, activities require little more than cognition and memory. The Ideas pages start at that point where class activity often stops. The categories of the Ideas are: Evaluation: Evaluation is the process of weighing alternatives. When students synthesize facts into the recognition of the problem, and when students generate possible solutions to the problem through divergent thinking, they still have to perform what may be the most difficult mental operation of all: to evaluate the alternatives and determine which one is best. This must often be done amid competing value structures. Emotion: The emotion questions will probably surprise many students who have no idea that language (words) can contain and inspire so much anger, passion, humiliation, and affection. Even the most scholarly words are capable of expressing intense emotions. Intuition: The intuition questions are aimed at the oft- neglected right brain, and they are designed to make images and visions simply emerge from I-know-not-where. Intuition is not a process that can be easily forced, it seems to come best when we are relaxed, and for that purpose we have to allow time for the intuitive spirit to be fully activated. Aesthetics: The aesthetics questions run the gamut from informal questions about art to simple involvement in sensory experiences described by words. This section is also intuitive, in the sense that the answers to many questions will be personal, non-rational, and will emerge from some inner point of understanding.

The Word Within the Word  Ideas #1 Synthesis: Invent three words that each combine two or more of the stems on List #1. Write definitions for these words. 2. Write a paragraph about an intracranial operation, and use at least ten example words from List #1 in your paragraph. Attach a separate sheet if you need more space. Analysis: What is the difference between interstate highways and intrastate highways? Explain by examining parts of the words. 2. If nav means ship, explain the origin of the word circumnavigate. Evaluation: Are politicians morally obligated to speak unequivocally, or do they have a practical right to be equivocal in order to be elected? Is it wrong to be an introvert, or is it just a matter of style? Is it better to be sociable? Should you force yourself to socialize if you feel like being alone? Intuition: 1. What images flash in your mind when you hear the following words: preschool, misfortune, symbol, deposit, interstellar, descent. 2. If you could do something truly extraordinary, what would it be?