UMSA – English Language 1 (TMA) – Class 1 a

Paragraph Reading Analysis

 We will read the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow

I) The next to throw dirt onto the lid of the coffin was Howie, who’d been the object of his
worship when they were children and in return had always treated him with gentleness and
affection, patiently teaching him to ride a bike and to swim and to play all the sports in which
Howie himself excelled. It still appeared as if he could run a football through the middle of the line,
and he was seventy-seven years old. He’d never been hospitalized for anything and, though a
sibling bred of the same stock, he remained triumphantly healthy all his life
Roth, Philip (2007) Everyman, Vintage Books NY Pg 5

Consider the underlined words and phrases and define a sematic field1 that they may belong to:

The next to throw dirt onto the lid of the coffin was Howie, who’d been the object of his worship
when they were children and in return had always treated him with gentleness and affection,
patiently teaching him to ride a bike and to swim and to play all the sports in which Howie himself
excelled. It still appeared as if he could run a football through the middle of the line, and he was
seventy-seven years old. He’d never been hospitalized for anything and, though a sibling bred of
the same stock, he remained triumphantly healthy all his life

Consider the following:

1) Would you consider the term ‘object of worship’ a bit too strong to describe a relationship
between siblings?
2) Is triumphantly a typical modifier of healthy? Why has the author used this adverb?
3) How many people are able to say that they: (try to put a percentage over the general
population for each)
a. Treat their siblings with gentleness and affection?
b. How many have the patience to teach their siblings?
c. How many excel at sports?
d. How many can run a football at age seventy-seven?
e. How many have never been hospitalized by the time they’re 77?
Can you see a pattern in the items above?

1
Semantic (or sometimes called lexical) fields are a technique often used by writers to keep a certain image persistent in
their readers' mind. They are a collection of words which are related to one another be it through their similar meanings, or
through a more abstract relation.
For example, if a writer is writing a poem or a novel about a ship, they will surely use words such as ocean, waves, sea, tide,
blue, storm, wind, sails, etc... Again, it is a collection of words which relate to each other in a semantic (which means
meaning) or abstract way.