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Keywords

lesson guide, vocabulary building, developing vocabulary, Common Core State Standards

Submission Type

Research

Preview

I recently assigned an old children’s tale to my senior undergraduate students called “!e Story of the Cruel Giant Barbarico, the Good Giant Benefico, and the Little Pretty Dwarf, Mignon,” written by Sarah Fielding, who lived from 1710 to1768. It was an unfamiliar story to them and written in the archaic style of 18th century English. The primary characters in the story were the giants, Barbarico and Benefico, and the sweethearts, Fidus and Amata. The names clearly reflect characteristics of the players in the story. By using root Latinate forms, Sarah Fielding foreshadowed the characters’ primary personality attributes: Barbarico (barbarous: foreign, crude, savage) was evil; Benefico (bene"- cum: kindness) was tender and nurturing; Fidus ("des: trust, faith, honesty) was true; Amata (amana: lover) was romantic and loving. A few students in the class of thirty-two recognized the roots, but the majority did not. Though their university requirements include foreign language study, I was surprised to learn how few recognized the use of ancient Latinate roots. Understanding language is fundamental to using it successfully, and life-long vocabulary study is a key to that understanding.

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