Advice for Young Inventors

Unit 9: In-Store Innovations

• Various activities are presented, including matching inventors to their inventions and reading letters from inventors.
• Professor Gilbert provides advice to budding scientists through letters.

Letters and Advice for Young Inventors

• James, aged 16: Feels his inventions are a waste of time and wants to convince his father otherwise.
  • Think of products you use every day in various places.
  • Most inventions come from simple ideas.
  • Imagine what life would be like without inventions such as cars, TVs, or computers, and discuss this with your father.
  • Clever people should continue having good ideas and inventing new products.
• Nancy, aged 15: Has a great idea for a new invention and wants to know what to do.
  • Ensure nobody steals the idea.
  • Make drawings and plans.
  • Find someone to provide funding to develop the idea.
  • Protect the idea by getting a patent.
  • Consult a lawyer.
• Nigel, aged 15: Interested in inventing and seeks advice on how to get started.
  • Many inventors get ideas by accident, such as the inventor of Velcro, who got the idea from sticky grass on his dog's fur.
  • Think differently about everyday things and ask questions (what is it for, who needs it, how can it be different).
• Edward, aged 13: Asks who the greatest inventor of all time is.
  • Leonardo Da Vinci is a personal favorite due to his diverse inventions, including submarines, parachutes, compasses, saws, canals, bridges, and contact lenses.
• Lizzie, aged 14: Inquires about the most important invention in the world.
  • The importance of an invention depends on the situation: airplanes for holidays, telephones for communication, and computers for work.
  • Everything from air conditioners to zippers was an important invention when it first appeared.
• Morgan, aged 12: Asks if young people make good inventors.
  • Young people often have lively minds and see things in new ways, leading to success in a short time.

Vocabulary and Grammar

• Vocabulary exercises focus on matching words with their meanings (e.g., convince, bothered, lawyer, ground, tricky, brilliant, compass, colleague, assess, achieve) and completing sentences with correct prepositions (for, from, in, of, on).
• Grammar section focuses on question tags and their usage.
• Question Tag Usage: Grammar points covered include question tags.
• Question tags are used to confirm information or seek agreement.
• When the statement is positive, the tag is negative, and vice versa.
• Special cases and exceptions in question tags are noted, including the use of "shan't I?" and "won't he?"
• Words indicating negation (no, never, not, seldom, rarely, scarcely, neither, little, few, hardly, no longer) require a positive tag.
• Indefinite pronouns (everyone, someone, everybody, somebody, nobody, no one) typically use "they" in the tag.
• With phrases I think/believe/expect/deny, the tag is based on the second part of the sentence.
• The presenter also highlights usages for tag questions along with the phrases you'd better, you'd rather and others.
• In imperative sentences, "won't you?" or "will you?" are generally used.
• Examples of question tags are included, to illustrate these rules.

Grammar Exercises

• A multiple-choice exercise focuses on question tags.

"A Doll's House" Act Two Summary:

• The play deals with the themes of marriage, societal expectations, and self-discovery. Specifically, through the main character Nora.

Act Two Plot

• Christmas Day: The setting is a messy room suggesting Christmas Eve festivities.
• Early in the act, Nora is troubled by her current situation.
• Nora's Interaction: Nora and Mrs. Linde discuss Nora's intentions. Nora is troubled by the implications of her actions and what might happen to her family if she disappeared.
• Doctor's Health: Mrs. Linde learns Dr. Rank is suffering from a disease inherited from his father.
• Nora's Loan: Mrs. Linde thinks that Rank is the one who lent Nora the money that she needed. Nora denies that suspicion.
• Nora's Deception: Mrs. Linde notices Nora has changed since the previous day.
• Torvald Dismisses Krogstad: Nora asks Torvald to keep Krogstad employed. Torvald declines and states he cannot work with Krogstad due to familiarity concerns.
• Torvald replacing Krogstad with Mrs. Linde at the bank creates more issues.
• Torvald sends a letter dismissing Krogstad.
• Rank's Confession and Nora's Reaction: Dr. Rank tells Nora he expects bad news soon because of his health.
• When the end is near, he will soon, leave a calling card with a black cross to show that he is near the end of his life.
• Nora attempts to ask Dr. Rank for help, but cannot after he professes his love for her.
• She realizes she would be taking advantage of his feelings and stops herself from saying anything.
• Nora tells Dr. Rank how much she likes his company, but explains that he has misunderstood her intentions.
• Krogstad's Demands: She tells Dr. Rank that she likes him as a friend.
• Krogstad enters and announces he has been fired. Torvald must promote him to a better job in the bank for the problem to be solved.
• She implies she has the courage to kill herself.
• Krogstad leaves a more in-depth letter detailing Nora’s secret.
• Nora's Confession to Mrs Linde: Nora confesses to Mrs. Linde that she forged a signature.
• Mrs tells Nora she will attempt to talk with Krogstad to attempt a compromise.
• Dance Prep: Nora tries to stall her husband from reading the letter.
• Tarantella Rehearsal: To prepare for the costume party, Torvald helps Nora rehearse the tarantella; she dances wildly.
• The fact that Torvald coaches Nora for the dance to no avail is another sign of the couple’s discord.
• Krogstad left but will return the following night.
• Nora has thirty-one hours until the performance is over, which means thirty-one hours to live.
• Torvald likes the idea of a beautiful wife who does not have to work but serves as a showpiece.
• Nora's father regarded her in a way similar to Torvald—as a means to giving a home its proper appearance.
• Everything is about how everyone sees her.
• This is Torvald's defining character trait; he is unable to develop. Torvald's understanding remains.
• He is the only character who continues to believe in the charade, probably because he is the only person who doesn't harbor a hidden complexity. Every other character does.
• Nora's use of pet names for her to win his cooperation is an act of manipulation on her part. At first, Nora's interaction with Dr. Rank is similarly manipulative.
• When Nora explains that Dr. Rank’s bad health owes to his father’s promiscuity, for the second time, we come across the idea that moral corruption transfers from parent to child.
• Nora's torment and her refusal to interact with her children when she feels like a criminal. She is aware of the true nature of her marriage.

Quotes Explained

• "It’s sweet of you to bother so much about me, Nora. Especially since you know so little of the worries and hardships of life."
• Mrs. Linde offers help securing a job for Torvald, but they do not like Nora.
• “No one has said I borrowed the money. I could have got it in some other way. (Throws herself back on the sofa.) I could have got it from an admirer. When a girl's as pretty as I am.” suggests appearances are very important to Nora.
• "But, Mr. Krogstad, I have no influence! [...] How on earth could you imagine that I would have any influence over my husband?”
• Nora’s shock at anyone believing any differently reflects her lack of power.
• “The Christmas tree must be beautiful. I’ll do everything that you like, Torvald. I’ll sing for you, dance for you…” shows that making everything seem nice is what Nora cares about.
• “You see, Torvald’s so hopelessly in love with me that he wants to have me all to himself – those were his very words. When we were first married, he got quite jealous if I as much as mentioned any of my old friends back home. So naturally, I stopped talking about them." says that it is clear that their love is control.
• “Anyway, it’s wonderful really, in a way – sitting here and waiting for the miracle to happen” - The “miracle” Nora refers to involves Torvald taking the responsibility for forging the loan documents. She also believes it will make the marriage new again.
• “When I lived with papa, he used to tell me what he thought about everything, so that I never had any opinions but his. And if I did have any of my own, I kept them quiet, because he wouldn’t have liked them. He called me his little doll, and he played with me just the way I played with my dolls.” During the confrontation, Nora explains to Torvald that their relationship, to similar to her father. She has lived like a doll her entire life and is concerned only about her appearance.
• “I believe that I am first and foremost a human being, like you – or anyway, that I must try to become one. I know most people think as you do, Torvald, and I know there’s something of the sort to be found in books. But I’m no longer prepared to accept what people say and what’s written in books. I must think things out for myself, and try to find my own answer." says Nora in an effort to challenge him because she must find her own self and beliefs.

Questions and Answers

• Mrs. Linde moves in order to fend work, but to also rekindle an old flame.
• Krogstad blackmails Nora because he is demanding she make Torvald keep him in a job.
• The "wonderful thing" is that Nora believes that once Torvald finds out that she forged a paper, he will sacrifice his own reputation to save her.
• Both committed forgery, but for justifiable reasons, and have been living with the guilt of their crimes.
• Nora believes she is seen as a doll. The men in her life view her as a pretty object without any thoughts of her own that they can use as they want.

“Tears, Idle Tears” by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Summary

• Presents the emotional turbulence in the poet's mind after seeing the beautiful natural setting of Tintern Abbey.
• Alfred Lord Tennyson recollects the memory of his loved one after seeing the scenic beauty of Tintern Abbey.

Structure

• Contains four stanzas. Each stanza has five lines in it, containing a total of 20 lines.
• There is not any specific rhyme scheme in the poem. Only the last line of each stanza ends with the same word "more". The poem contains an internal rhythm which makes the poem more interesting to read.

The Prosody of Tears, Idle Tears

• Consists of an interesting metrical structure. Each line of the poem contains ten syllables.

Themes

• Encompasses the theme of death, love, and sadness.
• Death: The poet laments the loss of his beloved friend and presents his mental state in the poem.
• Love: It is love for a friend whose presence makes the poet happy and satisfied.
• Literary Devices
• All poetic devices such as metaphors were present in the excerpt.

Symbolism

• Rich in symbolism and the use of imagery.
• "Autumn-fields" and other symbols were used to enhance the meaning.

“Tears, Idle Tears” Analysis

• The overall summary for each stanza was given and described.

Historical Context

• Written by Alfred Tennyson in 1847. His beloved friend Arthur Henry Hallam died a premature death.

Figures of Speech

• Several figures of speech were given.

"The way advertisements can affect people" - Passage Summary

• Working Hours and Productivity*
• Extra hours worked do not improve productivity. A person's productivity can decline quickly in excess of 50 hours.
• Time Of Day*
• People are more productive at certain times in the day.
• Workplace Stress and Health*
• Workplace stress can lead to exhaustion and poor health.