Learning Together
Words for trying hard
Learn the different words for trying hard, and how they are not quite the same.
'Try Again' is about effort, so it uses several words for trying hard. They're close, but not the same:
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| brace (yourself) | prepare for something difficult (before the effort) | The sailors braced themselves against the strong wind. |
| endeavour | an attempt at something new or difficult | Please make every endeavour to arrive on time. |
| strive | try very hard to achieve something | We encourage all students to strive to do their best. |
| toil | work very hard and/or for a long time | Ants toil tirelessly to save food for the rainy season. |
In the poem: the spider climbs "with strong endeavour"; the King thinks it "will strive no more"; it "toils so hard"; and at the end "Bruce of Scotland braced his mind", and only then tried once more.
So they come in an order: first you brace yourself, then you endeavour, you strive towards your goal, and if it takes long enough, you toil.
Think of things in nature that show effort: ants carrying food together, bees building a hive as a team, geese flying in a V to save energy, a tree taking years to grow fruit. Patience and effort are everywhere!
The poem also has neat pairs of opposites, because it keeps swinging between them:
| Opposite | In the poem | |
|---|---|---|
| up | down | the spider goes both ways |
| fast | slow | "now fast, now slow" |
| glad | sad | he wanted his people glad, and became sad |
| win | lose | "will he lose or win it?" |
| succeed | fail | "couldn't succeed" ... "did not fail" |
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