When and Where Did I Find It: I found this word in our Ruddell and Shearer (2002) article on the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy. This word was located in one of the sample lists made by the classes that were part of the study. I noticed this word when I looked back at this article in class tonight.
What It Means: According to dictionary.com, insensate refers to something that lacks sensation or human feeling. This word is often applied to an inanimate object, as it lacks feeling. Another definition of this word can refer to someone who is "foolish" or "without sense." While I feel that the first definition is the primary definition and will be the one I will refer to, this word was not used in context in the article. Rather, "insensate" is part of a list of words, so it is possible that this word could take on either meaning in its original context.
Insensate (adj.) In dictionary.com Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/insensate
Level of Familiarity: While I feel that I have most likely seen this word before in the course of my reading, I had no idea what this word meant when I read it from the list tonight. Since this word was not used in a sentence within the article, I was unable to use context clues to guess its meaning.
Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? Yes, I want to know this word well as I feel that I may come across it in the course of my reading in the future. Also, as a future English teacher, I feel that this is an adjective that it would be beneficial to know.
Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so Who and Why? I feel that others should be aware of this word and its meaning, as it can be a useful way to describe inanimate objects that we encounter in our everyday lives. Rather than merely stating that a computer does not have feelings, one can describe the machine's lack of feelings using this word.
Hi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I finally got access to your blog. Interestingly enough, I never received an email from you, but because I follow another one of your blogs I was able gain access that way. Do you know if you included me in the original email? I only ask because I want to make sure I am aware of all potential "glitches" when using blogger as an instructional tool. Thanks!
In regards to the word you chose for this post, "insensate" is a curious word isn't it? Like some of the other words on the list, I was curious as to where the middle school students found this word and why they wanted to nominate it. Do you think it was used in something they were reading in their English class?
Also, I was left wondering where you found the definition for this word. Since you said you didn't know it and there was clearly no way to determine its meaning from the context, what reference did you use? It would be helpful to your readers to cite this as part of the information you include in the WHAT DOES IT MEAN.
Finally, don't forget you need to post another word to your blog before class this Wednesday. I'm looking forward to learning what your next words are. Maybe you will want to find a word in one of our class readings that would have more immediate relevance to our work in 625? Just a suggestion....
Enjoy searching for words that are meaningful to you!
Dr. Jones