Monthly Archives: June 2019

D-Day

Posted on June 10, 2019 | Leave a comment

I meant to post this reading on D-Day and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet last Thursday, on the 75th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe. In my end of the school-year haze, alas, I spaced it out, as we liked to say in the 1970s.

Better late than never, I guess.

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.

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The Devil’s Dictionary: Presidency

Posted on June 8, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Presidency, n. The greased pig in the field game of American politics.”

Excerpted from: Bierce, Ambrose. David E. Schultz and S.J. Joshi, eds. The Unabridged Devil’s Dictionary. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2000.

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Cultural Literacy: Epicureanism

Posted on June 8, 2019 | Leave a comment

It’s time to get out for a walk, so I’ll wrap up this morning with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on epicureanism.

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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Albigensian Crusade

Posted on June 8, 2019 | Leave a comment

“(1209-1229) A crusade launched by Pope Innocent III against Waldensian and Cathar heresies in southern France and carried out primarily by northern French forces, Primary targets of the crusading army were the counts to Toulouse, Raymond VI (d 1222) and Raymond VII (d 1249). In 1229 Raymond VII submitted to the crown of France. When Alphonse of Poitiers, Raymond VII’s son-in-law and brother to the King of France, died in 1271, the possessions of the counts of Toulouse devolved upon the crown of France and southern independence was irrevocably lost.

The crusade revitalized Occitan literature and gave it a new impetus towards the exploration of the narrative, resulting in a flowering of the sirventes, verse and prose narrative works, and vidas and razos (short prose biographies and commentaries on troubadours and their poetry). The crusade is most vividly narrated in the 13th-century Occitan epic Canso del la crozada.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Sandbag

Posted on June 8, 2019 | Leave a comment

This context clues worksheet on the verb sandbag almost certainly results in a certain lack of judiciousness on my part when choosing which of Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Day merit or require worksheet treatment. In any case, this verb is used both transitively and intransitively.

In that worksheet’s context, sandbag means, as a transitive verb, sandbag to conceal or misrepresent one’s true potential, position, or intent, esp. in order to take advantage of; used intransitively, it means to hide the truth about oneself so as to gain an advantage over another. In other words, it means basically the same thing whether one uses it with a direct object of not.

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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Term of Art: Verb Phrase

Posted on June 8, 2019 | Leave a comment

“1. Also verbal phrase. In traditional grammar, a term for the main verb and any auxiliary or combination of auxiliaries that precedes it: can spell; may have cried; should be paid; might have been transferred. 2. In generative grammar, a term roughly equivalent to the traditional predicate. It includes the traditional verb phrase with (at least) any complements of the verb, such as the non-bracketed parts of the following sentences: (They) have understood his intention); (Susan) was very patient.”

Excerpted from: McArthur, Tom. The Oxford Concise Companion to the English Language. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

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Word Root Exercise: Dox

Posted on June 8, 2019 | Leave a comment

Here is a worksheet on the Greek word root dox. It means belief and praise, so the word orthodox suddenly makes a lot more sense, as do the other words on this relatively short exercise.

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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Sinclair Lewis on Advertising

Posted on June 7, 2019 | Leave a comment

“Advertising is a valuable economic factor because it is the cheapest way of selling goods, particularly if the goods are worthless.”

Sinclair Lewis

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.

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War of the Worlds

Posted on June 7, 2019 | Leave a comment

The story of Orson Welles’ broadcast of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds fascinated me as a grade-schooler. I think I was first exposed to it in around fifth grade. But even at that tender age, I was surprised that people were taken in by it–but also sympathetic that they were. I remember trying to imagine myself in the place of the folks who thought Welles was delivering news, rather than a science-fiction story. I could, but only barely.

Any way, here is a reading on Orson Welles’ broadcast of War of the Worlds along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

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.

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Term of Art: Curriculum

Posted on June 7, 2019 | Leave a comment

“The curriculum comprises the subjects and courses taught in any educational institution. It is a formal statement, by the institution, of what is to be learned. In British schools, following the 1988 Education Reform Act, the curriculum is determined nationally and consists of a number of core subjects that must be studied by all school students. (See P. Wexler, Sociology of the Curriculum, 1991.)

Excerpted from: Matthews, Gordon, ed. Oxford Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.

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Posted in Essays/Readings, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

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