1.
Underline the referring expressions in the following sentences
1. The man who shot Abraham Lincoln was an unemployed actor.
2. If anyone ever marry Nancy, he’s in for a bad time.
3. The poor are the ones who suffer most from the disasters all over the world.
4. I saw a boy climb over the fence last night.
5. Don’t come near the frontier. You may be hurt by a bullet.
6. You can’t get married with such a boy!
7. My hobby is to go fishing with friends when the sun appears in the East.
8. It was thought for many centuries that the world was flat.
9. The book you gave me on Teacher’s Day was worth reading.
10. My parents expected me to send them some gift on their wedding anniversary, but I
didn’t because of my forgetfulness.
11. The parachute is a device to help people to land safely on the ground.
12. While the soldier was moving through the frontier, a bullet stroke him on the head.
13. Nowadays, there are many TV programs very useful for children’s education.
14. The teacher let his students come back home early because of the coming storm.
15. Nutritionists recommended that children should eat foods from each of the four basic
groups.
2. Identify: Referential or Attributive uses of reference
1. The man who shot Abraham Lincoln was an unemployed actor. R
-> a specific person
2. There was no sign of the killer A
-> not identify a specific person/ describe the perpetrator of the act
3. We would love to find a nine-foot-tall basketball player A
-> not a specific person/ describe the desired qualities of a player
4. We would love to meet Santa Claus A
-> not a specific person/ a mythical figure/ not a real person
5. Those who sailed across the Atlantic were heroes. R
-> a specific person group of people who accomplished the historical feat of crossing
the AO.
6. Do you recognize the girl going with Fred last Sunday? A
-> not identify her individually/ describe the girl based on her action and relationship
with Fred.
The Road Not Taken
BY ROBERT FROST
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both.
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
where it bent in the undergrowth .
Then took the other as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
1. Identify the deictic expression in the poem. Clearly state its type (person deixis,
temporal deixis, or spatial deixis)
- Person deixis: I
- Temporal deixis: then / somewhere ages and ages hence
- Spatial deixis:
2. Identify the cases of anaphoric & cataphoric reference in the poem. Analyze value
of reference in presenting the theme of the poem.
3. Identify referring expressions. Classify them into referential or attributive use.
4. Comment on the function of inference in understanding the referring expression:
the road not taken.
2. Anaphoric & Cataphoric Reference:
Anaphoric:
o "The other" (line 5) refers back to "the one" (line 4).
o "That" (line 7) refers back to "the other" (line 5).
o "I" (line 10) refers back to the speaker mentioned throughout the poem.
Cataphoric:
o "Another day" (line 8) refers forward to the future time when the speaker imagines taking
the first path.
o "This" (line 10) refers forward to the experience of choosing one road over the other.
The references contribute to the theme by:
Connecting the speaker's past, present, and future: The anaphoric references link the
speaker's experience at the fork in the road to their future reflection and storytelling.
Creating a sense of reflection and introspection: The cataphoric reference to "this"
invites the reader to be part of the speaker's contemplation.
3. Referring Expressions:
Referential:
o "Two roads" (line 1) are specific and identifiable.
o "The yellow wood" (line 1) refers to a specific location.
o "The speaker" (although not explicitly mentioned, the use of "I" throughout is a
reference).
Attributive:
o "A yellow wood" (line 1) describes the wood, not a specific one.
o "The other" (line 5) and "the one" (line 4) don't identify specific roads, but describe
them in relation to each other.
o "The first" (line 8) refers to one of the roads based on its position mentioned earlier, not a
specific road itself.
4. Inference in Understanding "The Road Not Taken":
Understanding the referring expression "the road not taken" relies heavily on inference.
The poem doesn't explicitly tell us which road the speaker actually took, but through other
clues, we can infer it:
The speaker initially considered taking the first road but "kept it for another day" (line 8).
They ultimately chose the other road, described as "the one less traveled by" (line 12).
