98. The Point! (the end)

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The story (and the series of posts) is coming to an end.

The final task presents you with the summary of the last part of the film, from which ten snippets of text have been removed. There is one snippet too many in the key to the exercise; but do believe me, it’s a lot easier to watch the whole film and find out before checking!

The Point!

but tacitly accepted by all the villagers	instead of being pointless
everything he and Arrow ran into had a point	much to his surprise
for a fleeting moment	whether it shows or not
glad that Oblio was back	which was unfolding under his very eyes
he had just witnessed	while all the others lost theirs
he had met

“Oblio was too excited by the things he had learned in the Pointless Forest to pay

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attention to the huge bird which was hovering over his head (and Arrow’s, for that matter). The bird took them in its claws and, (1) ___, Oblio and Arrow were hanging on for dear life, thinking it would be natural for them to be scared; well, (2) ___, Oblio realized he wasn’t afraid. Rather, he was glad to enjoy a...bird’s eye view over the Pointless Forest, and feel even more excited at the things he could thus see.

“How weird it seemed to Oblio that, (3) ___, all the things and creatures in the Forest always brought some point to his experience.

“As soon as the Mammoth Egg got hatched, the just born chick started cooing in ways that sounded like questions to Oblio: What? – Where? – Who? – Why? He didn't have too much time to think about the miracle of life (4) ___: there came The Pointed Man again, assuring Oblio that there was no place for him in the Pointless Forest.

“It took Oblio a good deal of trouble to recover Arrow from Vanishing Point, and the incident finally convinced him that the only pointless thing (5) ___ in the Pointless Forest was the Pointed Man.

“It was time to rest after such a long, full day.

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“And back they went to the Pointed Village, where Oblio’s mother was struggling to come to terms with the decision – taken by the vile Count, (6) ___ – that ended in her dear Oblio’s banishment. She didn't seem to have any support, not even from Oblio’s father; she was sure they should have challenged the Law. At the end of the day, who makes the laws of a country? How good are those laws, after all, and who is supposed to obey them?

“Voices outside were hailing Oblio’s coming back. The cantankerous Count was infuriated by such daring act; it’s just that the King, (7) ___, had a different opinion: the Count may have misread the will of the people as far as Oblio was concerned, since the only person in the village who flew into a rage at Oblio’s presence was him – the prideful Count.

“Oblio explained to the King that what he learned in the Pointless Forest was very important: (8) ___; therefore he must have one too.

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“And indeed, a point grew on Oblio’s head, (9) ___.

“But that didn't matter so much any more; people just started assuming that every man has some kind of point, (10) ___”.

The boy who listened to the story understood the lesson.

How about you?  

97. The Point! (summary)

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Here is a summary of this story, famous in its genre because of the deep truth underlying Oblio’s experience.

After watching, choose the alternative (a or b) which best matches the storyline.

1. “And so the story goes that Oblio got to the Pointless Forest not only because the people in the Pointed Village had chosen to abide by the law and comply with the Count’s decision, but also because – despite shedding bitter tears – (a) he had a chance to discover something other than what he already knew / (b) he had the same inclination to obeying as his former fellow citizens did. As you have already found out, nobody had been to the Pointless Forest before, so why not explore it?

But wait, all the place was so thick that Oblio didn't quite figure out how they would get through. Out of the blue, a Pointed Man appeared, pointing in all directions, which actually meant that he was pointing in no direction at all.

The Point!

2. With the Pointed Man gone, an uneasy silence set in, which made Oblio

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feel scared. He vowed that (a) he would always follow Arrow / (b) he and Arrow will stick together at all times.

3. Arrow had already sensed something dangerous looming in the distance: a swarm of giant bees. When they finally managed to hide for safety, Oblio heard a voice coming from up above: it was the Rock Man, kin to the Stone Folk. Oblio was in awe while listening to the Rock Man, who was so kind as to encourage Oblio to open his mind as well as his eyes. He explained to Oblio that reality is different: (a) you don’t have to have a point to have a point / (b) you should play it cool and go nice and easy, just like jazz does.

There came the Pointed Man again. His presence is agreeable to Oblio, yet every time he pops up he only tries to convince Oblio of the pointlessness of it all. Indeed, every appearance makes Oblio reflect on his experience and on how much he has learned.

The Bottomless Hole they are about to fall into makes Oblio realize how afraid of darkness he is, and how lonely the place is whenever the Pointed Man vanishes.

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4. Oblio also learns from the giggling Three Graces – the very image of fertility and motherhood. The fat Ladies bring laughter and merriment, making each other happy. Yet he still doesn’t understand why they are behaving in that way because (a) he’s still too young / (b) they aren’t saying anything.

5. On the Fall Line, the Industrious Industrialist speaks to Oblio about the spirit of entrepreneurship. Timing and honesty – the two qualities he considers indispensable for doing business - fall short of meeting the Tree’s expectations, for Oblio (a) can’t plant roots in the soil of the Forest / (b) doesn’t show any interest in doing business.

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6. Eventually he leaves as he showers his golden leaves, which are supposed to turn into gold – but not before asking Oblio (a) why he didn’t look pointed / (b) where he came from, and what nationality he was. A tricky question indeed, which seems to be asked at exactly that point in the discussion in which the helpless “outlaw” – in this case, Oblio – is vulnerable. Interestingly enough, the Industrious Tree apparently does not care what a man’s face, creed, or colour is as long as he accepts to do business with him.    

96. The Point! (II)

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The typical cloze test, invented long ago for institutions to check students’ or candidates’ knowledge, is about to change. It won’t take long to admit units that have been called form-meaning pairings, which make sense only when used together. On the contrary, insisting on the existence of slots for individual ‘words’ will only add to people’s fragmented knowledge – with a little luck, no one is doing things with this purpose in mind!

Obviously, such changes take time simply because it is a lot easier to make things stay as they are (see previous episode) than innovate.

Completing the cloze below will be easier indeed if and only if you have watched the previous episodes attentively. You’ll find the key after the page break.

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The national 1. _______ in the Land of Point was a game called Triangle Toss. And Triangle Toss was a game for people with pointed heads. The object of the game was to 2. _______ a triangle as far as you could and then run to the opposite end of a field and catch it on the point of your head. But 3. _______ Oblio had no point, he would throw a triangle and Arrow would jump up on his shoulders and the two of them would run to the opposite end of the field, Arrow making the 4. _______ on the point on the top of his head.

Now, most of the kids in the town thought that it was all right to allow Oblio and Arrow to compete as a team. But there was 5. _______ one kid who was the son of the evil Count, who was the 6. _______ to the King. And the Count’s kid insisted that, since Triangle Toss was for people with 7. _______ heads, and Oblio obviously did not fall into that category, he should not be allowed to play. Well, to settle the dispute, it was decided to have a contest – best two 8. _______ three tosses and catches. If Oblio won, he’d get to play; but if the Count’s kid won, Oblio wouldn’t be allowed to play.

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And that brings us to the game.

At the end of the game, Oblio had beaten the Count’s kid two out of three. And when the Count heard of his son’s disgraceful 9. _______ at the hands of this pointless Oblio, he was outraged. So he went to the King and reminded him of the Law of the Land, which was that all things and all people in the Land of Point was to have one. Since Oblio didn’t have one, he was 10. _______ violation of that law, which called for his banishment. Now, the King, who was a good king, was painfully aware of his duty, which was to convene the Tribunal and to conform to the Count’s 11. _______. And that’s what he did. 

And when the Tribunal reviewed the case, it could only arrive 12. _______ one conclusion: Oblio had no point; he was therefore guilty of being in violation of the law. And so it was decided that he and Arrow – for Arrow was found guilty of complicity – be banished from the Land of Point to the Pointless Forest.

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The next day, Oblio’s mother and father and all the townspeople gathered to bid a sad farewell to Oblio and Arrow. Now, everyone thought that banishment to the Pointless Forest was 13. _______ excessive, but the Law was the Law, and the people were good, law-abiding citizens, and –well – that was the first time anything like this had ever happened and no one knew quite what else to do. So Oblio and Arrow set 14. _______ for the Pointless Forest where all things are pointless and nothing is pointed.

By the way, the distance between the Land of Point and the Pointless Forest was directly proportional to the 15. _______ of time it takes to sing a song--

A BIT	A LITTLE	AMOUNT	ASSISTANCE	AT
CATCHES	DEFEAT	FEAT	HEIR	IN
INSISTENCE	OFF	OUT	OUT OF	PASTIME
POINTED	POINTLESS	SINCE	THIS	TOSS

Unforyunately, the episodes are not available on the free youtube application. The link is the same: The Land of Point

95. The Point! (I)

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Honest, how many of the lexical units based on point (noun) are you sure you know the meaning of? How many do you use in your active thematic vocabulary?

When you have consulted the examples attached in the previous post, it's time you watched the first part of a film that I hope you will enjoy: it's by courtesy of this as yet exceptionally generous World Wide Web, where information is - you'll have to admit it - at your fingertips!
The Point!

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There is no denying that language is symbolic. I take it to be the rule, for in fact we use the language to mean something, and we expect our interlocutors to see what we mean. If you have already watched the first part of this highly symbolic cartoon film, you have come to know something about Oblio, and the land he was born in. Now, being born somewhere should be a blessing for all those who actually realize that there's a lot to learn in a lifetime. To learn, that is, often the hard way. Only when you finished watching all the (eight) episodes will you grasp the underlying idea; for the time being, there's this stop-and-check of the first episode. Only then are you asked to go on watching Part Two.

Triangle Toss

'This is the town and these are the people

This is the town where the people all stay

This is the town and these are the people

That’s the way they wanted it

That’s the way it’s going to stay

"Everything’s got one

Everything needs one

Couldn’t be without one

Everyone has one

"Years ago, there was a place called The Land of Point. That was because everything in the Land of Point had one: the barns, the houses, the carts, everything – 1. _______ the people. Everyone in the Land of Point had a point on the top of his head. Everyone, 2. _______, with the exception of Oblio.

"Now, although Oblio was born 3. _______ a set of normally-pointed parents, and although he was born physically perfect in every 4. ________ respect, he was born without a point. He was round-headed. And as time passed, Oblio became increasingly 5. _______ his uniqueness. And so did everyone 6. _______, which made life in the Land of Point rather uncomfortable for him and his parents. You see, Oblio became 7. ________ an involuntary celebrity. And he was subject to the sometimes cruel and 8. _______ harassment of his schoolmates. He was 9. _______ being the only pointless person in the Land of Point and, in an effort 10. _______ make life easier, his mother knitted a pointed cap 11. _______ to wear, so as to conceal his pointless condition; but it didn’t do 12. _______ good because everyone knew he didn’t have a point, so it only managed to make Oblio a little 13. _______ . In fact the _______ real friend he had was his dog Arrow.

"Me and my Arrow

_______ than narrow

Wherever we go

Everyone knows

It’s me and my Arrow…"

ANY	AWARE OF	A SORT OF	ELSE	EVEN
FOR HIM	FROM	LONELIER	MANY	MUCH
ONLY	OTHER	STRAIGHTER	THAT IS	THAT WAS
TO	TO	UNEASY	UNUSUAL

  

94. The complex world we live in

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‘I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.’ Socrates

The Vocabulary Movement stated, among other fundamental ideas, the fact that knowing a word – we finally agreed in the previous post to call it a lexical unit (precisely because it may be represented by more than one stretch of letters) – makes it easier to recognize the structure the unit is used in. Again, what about the structure? Don’t we have to know that, too?

I’ll take an example, and if its combinatorial possibilities make it easier for me to get to the meanings it has developed, I will agree that knowing that lexical unit is enough for me to build fluency. Now, knowing the lexical unit with all its combinatorial possibilities should lead us to the next step: how many of them are necessary for a student to say he or she has a command of the whole field that the nucleus has developed?

I chose POINT (noun) – from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online (LDOCE). You will find the full display with examples in the attached pdf: The Point

How many of the following uses do you know?

1. [countable] a single fact, idea, or opinion that is part of an argument or discussion:

point about

2. the point

3. [uncountable] the purpose or aim of something:

point of

4.  [countable] a particular place or position:

5. [countable] an exact moment, time, or stage in the development of something:

6.  [countable usually plural] a particular quality or feature that something or someone has

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Socrates drinking hemlock (condemned to commit suicide)

somebody's/something's good/bad points

point of

7.  [countable] one of the marks or numbers that shows your score in a game or sport:

8.  [countable] a sharp end of something:

9. boiling point/freezing point/melting point etc

10. the point of no return

11. point of departure

12. be on the point of (doing) something

13. up to a point

14. to the point

15. make a point of doing something

16. when/if it comes to the point

17. in point of fact

18. not to put too fine a point on it

19.  [countable] a sign (. ) used to separate a whole number from any decimals that follow it

20. [countable] a mark or measure on a scale:

21.  [countable] a very small spot of light or colour:

22.  [countable] one of the marks on a compass that shows direction:

23.  [countable] a long thin piece of land that stretches out into the sea:

24.  [countable] British English a piece of plastic with holes in it which is attached to a wall and to which electrical equipment can be connected:

25. points

[plural] British English a piece of railway track that can be moved to allow a train to cross over from one track to another.

Then again, you might like it in the shape of a 'semantic flower', like this (Visual Thesaurus):