MODULE 2 – LESSON 6  It also goes a very long time without any full stops.
Within this
OVERCOMING INDIFFERENCE
I. VIGNETTE /vinˈyet/
 It is a French word that means “little vine.”
 It is a small impressionistic scene, an illustration, a descriptive
passage, a short essay, a fiction or nonfiction work focusing on one
particular moment; or giving an impression about an idea, character,
setting, mood, aspect, or object.
 It is neither a plot nor a full narrative description, but a carefully
crafted verbal sketch that might be part of some larger work, or a
complete description in itself.
II. “BY THE RAILWAY SIDE” BY ALICE MAYNELL
 In “By the Railway Side,” from 1893, Alice Meynell uses techniques
such as strong descriptive words, strong imagery, and the five senses
to evoke the reader’s imagination. The main idea of the writing is that
the speaker is in a railway station in Italy and admires the language
around her, the reader talks about the beautiful delivery in the vowels
and consonants of the Tuscan language. This all takes place in the
grand hot September setting of Tuscany. These techniques plus using
the senses to portrait a clear foreign setting allows for a very
descriptive and typical travel writing piece. The piece only deviates
from typical travel writing a small amount when it comes to the level
of diction sophistication. This may deter readers with a simple
vocabulary and low grammatical understanding. However, I do not
believe this was enough of a deviation, rather more of a writing style
for the author.
 Meynell uses a strong description of the senses of sound to vividly
describe her environment. She described the vowels in the Tuscan
language as a nice melodious and canorous sound. This was a
description of the language that she was surrounded by in this part of
Italy. Then suddenly the loud train comes into the picture, disturbing
the sound of the Tuscan language. She describes this sound as loud
and violent through every syllable.
 The author uses strong descriptions and imagery to make the setting
come alive, which is a common aspect of typical travel blogs. The first
sentence of this piece reads, “My train drew near to the Via Reggio
platform on a day between two of the harvests of a hot September; the
sea was burning blue, and there were a somberness and a gravity in
the very excesses of the sun as his fires brooded deeply over the
serried, hardy, shabby, seaside ilex-woods.” There is an extremely
large amount of description in this first sentence.
sentence you can see a description of temperature, sight, and
environment. An element of imagery that can be seen elsewhere in the
writing is personification. “But as the train arrived its noises were
drowned by a voice declaiming in the tongue.” The personification in
this quote is saying that the noises are drowning. All descriptions and
literary techniques are commonly used in travel writing that is meant
for readers to make the read pleasurable. However, her use of these
things is very sophisticated and very high level.
 Another very typical aspect of travel writing is having an introduction
that is directly diving into the story. In general travel writers like to
jump into a situation that is travelling. One person that successfully
utilized this was Michael Paling in his travel journey where day 7
begins with a horse carriage ride. In this example she uses a train
scene where she is just about to arrive to her location.
 In conclusion, “By the Railway Side,” was a typical travel writing
because it used various imagery techniques to support setting, the 5
senses to support the atmosphere, and a beginning sentence that
immerses the reader into the travel story immediately.
PAST CONDITIONALS
1. Past Real Conditional
FORM:
[If / When ... simple past ..., ... simple past ...]
[... simple past... if / when ... simple past ...]
USE:
 The past real conditional describes what you used to do in particular
real-life situations.
 It suggests that your habits have changed and you do not usually do
these things today.
Examples:
o If I went to a friend's house for dinner, I usually took a bottle of
wine or some flowers. I don't do that anymore.
o When I had a day off from work, I often went to the beach. Now,
I never get time off.
o If the weather was nice, she often walked to work. Now, she
usually drives.
 o Jerry always helped me with my homework when he had time.
But he doesn't do that anymore.
USE:
o A: What did you usually do when it rained?
B: I usually stayed at home.  The past unreal conditional (also called conditional 3) is used to talk
about imaginary situations in the past.
 You can describe what you would have done differently or how
IMPORTANT: Used to something could have happened differently if circumstances had been
different.
 The form "used to" expresses the idea that something was an old
habit that stopped in the past. Examples:
 This form is commonly used in past real conditional sentences to o If I had owned a car, I would have driven to work. But I didn't
emphasize that something was a habit. own one, so I took the bus.
 The examples below have the same meaning as the examples above. o She would have traveled around the world if she had had more
money. But she didn't have much money, so she never traveled.
Examples: o I would have read more as a child if I hadn't watched so much
o If I went to a friend's house for dinner, I used to take a bottle of TV. Unfortunately, I did watch a lot of TV, so I never read for
wine or some flowers. I don't do that anymore. entertainment.
o When I had a day off from work, I used to go to the beach. Now, I o Mary would have gotten the job and moved to Japan if she had
never get time off. studied Japanese in school instead of French.
o If the weather was nice, she used to walk to work. Now, she o If Jack had worked harder, he would have earned more money.
usually drives. Unfortunately, he was lazy and he didn't earn much.
o Jerry used to help me with my homework when he had time. But o A: What would you have done if you had won the lottery last
he doesn't do that anymore. week?
o A: What did you usually do when it rained? B: I would have bought a house.
B: I used to stay at home. o A: What city would you have chosen if you had decided to move
to the United States?
IMPORTANT: If / When B: I would have chosen Seattle.
 Both "if" and "when" are used in the past real conditional. IMPORTANT: Only use "If"
 Using "if" suggests that something happened less frequently.  Only the word "if" is used with the past unreal conditional because
 Using "when" suggests that something happened regularly. you are discussing imaginary situations.
 "When" cannot be used.
Examples:
Examples:
o When I had a day off from work, I usually went to the beach. o I would have bought that computer when it had been cheaper.
I regularly had days off from work. Not Correct
o If I had a day off from work, I usually went to the beach. o I would have bought that computer if it had been cheaper.
I rarely had days off from work. Correct

EXCEPTION Conditional with Modal Verbs

2. Past Unreal Conditional  There are some special conditional forms for modal verbs in English:
FORM: would have + can = could have
would have + shall = should have
[If ... past perfect ..., ... would have + past participle ... ] would have + may = might have
[... would have + past participle ... if ... past perfect ...]
 PROSODIC FEATURES OF SPPECH

 Prosodic features (sometimes known as suprasegmental phonology)

are those aspects of speech which go beyond phonemes and deal with
the auditory qualities of sound.

1. TONE
 It refers to significant (i.e. meaningful, contrastive, phonemic)
contrasts between words signaled by pitch differences.

2. STRESS
 The degree of force with which a syllable or a word is uttered.

3. INTONATION
 It refers to the rise and fall of voice pitch over entire phrases and
sentences.
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