Buzz
I. KEY CONCEPTS TO REMEMBER
1. Texts must exhibit cohesion to naturally link sentences and paragraphs, making the author's ideas easily accessible to readers or listeners. Comparing the opening passages of a letter from a father to Enrico (in the piece 'Mother's Fault') with a segment from the textbook on page 18, and the opening of 'The School Gate' with a passage from page 19 of the textbook, we observe: the cohesion in the former pair makes the writer's intentions clear and easily understandable, whereas the latter pair lacks cohesion, resulting in confused and obscure meaning, making it difficult for readers to grasp.
2. Within a text, there are both content and formal connections. The writer must ensure coherence and cohesion among sentences and paragraphs, while also using appropriate linguistic devices (words, phrases, etc.) to link them together.
Example: The opening passage of 'The School Gate' demonstrates connections as follows:
- In terms of content: A mother unable to sleep → watching her child sleep peacefully.
- In terms of form:
- 4 sentences all revolve around the word 'child.'
- The first 2 sentences repeat the phrase 'unable to sleep.'
- By the third sentence, 'unable to sleep' transforms into 'sleep.'
- The phrase 'Now' bridges the second and third sentences.
- Contrast between 'mother unable to sleep' and 'the child sleeps easily...'
Thanks to both content and formal connections, the paragraph's meaning is clearly conveyed, making it easily understandable for readers.
II. PRACTICE - EXERCISES
A. Guidelines for Completing Exercises in the Textbook
1. Read the 5 sentences in this passage carefully, ponder for a moment, and you'll be able to determine their logical order to create a tightly cohesive passage. (Hint: The sentence order should be (1) - (4) - (2) - (5) - (3)).
2. Fill in the appropriate words in the blanks to link the sentences in the passage together. The words are: grandmother, grandmother, grandchild, Grandmother, grandmother, grandchild, And that's...
3. Just by reading the third sentence, you'll immediately notice that the first two sentences are still connected. The first sentence talks about the mother, the second about the child, seeming disconnected, but the third sentence links them together into a cohesive unit: 'Mom will take the child to school, holding the child's hand through the gate, then letting go and saying...'. Therefore, there's no need to add the word 'thus' to connect the two sentences.
In addition to the aforementioned content, students are encouraged to explore further the section Expressing thoughts on the poem A Visit to Your House by Nguyen Khuyen to prepare for this lesson.
Alongside the materials covered, students should prepare for the upcoming lesson with the section Preparing Proverbs to solidify their grasp of their Grade 7 Literature knowledge.
