Lesson Plan: Death of The Purple Prince
II. While Reading Tasks: Word Inference
- prolific |prəˈlifik| adjective- (of an artist, author, or composer) producing many works: he was a prolific composer of operas.
- virtuoso |ˌvərCHo͞oˈōsō| noun (pl. virtuosi |-sē| or virtuosos) a person highly skilled in music or another artistic pursuit: a celebrated clarinet virtuoso | [ as modifier ] : virtuoso guitar playing.
- genres |ˈZHänrə| noun-a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.
- prodigy |ˈprädəjē| noun -a person, esp. a young one, endowed with exceptional qualities or abilities: a Russian pianist who was a child prodigy in his day.
- spontaneous |spänˈtānēəs| adjective-performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus: the audience broke into spontaneous applause
- passionate |ˈpaSHənit|adjective-showing or caused by strong feelings or a strong belief: passionate pleas for help | he’s passionate about football.
- riveting |ˈrivitiNG| adjective-completely engrossing; compelling: the book is a riveting account of the legendary freedom fighter.
- ecstatic |ekˈstatik| adjective-feeling or expressing overwhelming happiness or joyful excitement: ecstatic fans filled the stadium.
- unify |ˈyo͞onəˌfī|-verb (unifies, unifying, unified) make or become united, uniform, or whole: [ with obj. ] : the government hoped to centralize and unify the nation. unifier – noun.
- eccentric |ikˈsentrik|-adjective-(of a person or their behavior) unconventional and slightly strange: my favorite aunt is very eccentric.(pl. eccentricities-noun)
Reading Comprehension: Fill-ins
He had plenty of eccentricities: his fondness for the color purple, using “U” for “you” and a drawn eye for “I” long before textspeak, his vigilant policing of his music online, his penchant for releasing huge troves of music at once, his intensely private persona. Yet among musicians and listeners of multiple generations, he was admired well-nigh universally.
Grammar Focus: Word -Recognition
Prince recorded the great majority of his music entirely on his own, playing every instrument and singing every vocal line. Then, performing those songs onstage, he worked as a bandleader in the polished, athletic, ecstatic tradition of James Brown, at once spontaneous and utterly precise, riveting enough to open a Grammy Awards telecast and play the Super Bowl halftime show. Often, Prince would follow a full-tilt arena concert with a late-night club show, pouring out even more music.
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