“Last winter I forced myself through his Tale of Two Cities. It was a sheer dead pull from start to finish. It all seemed so insincere, such a transparent make-believe, a mere piece of acting.”
John Burroughs, Century Magazine 1897
Excerpted from: Bernard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged fiction/literature, literary oddities
“The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.”
Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
Tagged philosophy/religion
Since the idea of success is something schools now flog, albeit in a vapid and decontextualized sense, we should not be surprised to learn that when we talk, in our social studies classes, about successors–to thrones, offices, and the like–our students understand this as someone who has experienced success, rather than someone who has succeeded in the sense of following someone else in a position of power or authority.
This week’s Text, in an attempt to clear up this misconception, is three context clues worksheets on succession, successor, and successive, which are, respectively, a noun, a noun, and an adjective.
That’s it: I hope you find these useful.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“…he is like a man who is trying to run in a dozen directions at once, succeeding thereby merely in standing still and making a noise. Sometimes it is amusing noise and alive; often monotonous.”
V.S. Pritchett, The Spectator
Excerpted from: Bernard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged fiction/literature, literary oddities
“I found the novel tiresome because people never seemed to matter in the least; they would have gone down under any system, so why blame capitalism for their complete and appalling lack of character? Mr. Dos Passos’ America seems to me a figment of his own imagination, and I doubt the value of his reportage of our period.”
Herschel Bricknell, Review of Reviews
Excerpted from: Bernard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
Tagged fiction/literature, literary oddities
Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the expression touch and go. My students really rise to the challenge when presented with one of these idiomatic expressions, and they often, in fact, ask to do another when we’ve completed one.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
Albert Einstein Motto for the Astronomy Building at Pasadena Junior College
Excerpted from: Howe, Randy, ed. The Quotable Teacher. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 2003.
Posted in Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences
Tagged cognition/learning/understanding, philosophy/religion
Here’s a worksheet on the Greek word root agog, which you will know doubt recognize as the basis of the word pedagogue. It means leader and to lead. With another Greek root, ped/o (child), you can see how pedagogue means, literally, “leader of children,” i.e., teacher.
Unlike the longer word root exercises on this site, this is a short exercise meant to open a class session before continuing on to a period-length lesson.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
“Of his earlier poems, many are very licentious; the later are chiefly devout. Few are good for much.”
Henry Hallam, Introduction to the Literature of Europe 1837
Excerpted from: Bernard, Andre, and Bill Henderson, eds. Pushcart’s Complete Rotten Reviews and Rejections. Wainscott, NY: Pushcart Press, 1998.
Posted in English Language Arts, Quotes, Reference
Tagged humor, literary oddities, poetry
Although Will Ferrell famously mangled it in “Anchorman,” your students needn’t, especially if you guide them through this Cultural Literacy Worksheet on the expression “When in Rome (do as the Romans do).” I’ve tagged this as an idiomatic expression. It apparently originated with Saint Augustine, who related it as advice to a traveler to Rome for the first time.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
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