Meaning and Metaphor - Assignment 2 James Madison University

Instructions: Type or clearly write your answers to each of the following questions for submission in class on Tuesday, 9/2. Remember, semantics is about thinking carefully about meaning, and this your first week attempting to do so. It may take a bit of time and reflection on your part, and then don't worry if you're not sure it's all correct. [This assignment will be marked only as an acceptable or unacceptable effort.]

1. After reading through the middle of page 16 in Chapter One of our textbook, find or create your own example sentences, each with simple context, illustrating three different kinds of meaning for the English noun "meaning" or the English verb "(to) mean." Explain what notion of "meaning" applies in each case.
2. Find or create an example where, even used in context, a question using one of those same terms ( the noun "meaning" or the verb "(to) mean"), could have two or more possible interpretations. Explain the ambiguity and discuss how each interpretation might lead to a different response to the question.
3. Think about the sentence "Darth Vader is Luke's father." Try to explain, using the terminology about meaning introduced in your reading from Chapter 1 of our textbook, how that sentence is not a simple tautology like "a rose is a rose."
4. Do exercise 7 in the "Questions for discussion" exercises at the end of Chapter One of our textbook, but just consider any four of the words listed. You are also welcome to use a dictionary and/or an English usage guide to help you!
5. Finally, having now tried your best on all of the above, make a list of questions you have about terminology, concepts, etc. for Chapter One through page 16 (and remember to read the remainder of the Chapter for class. :) )